Reply To: On Tyranny Lesson 9: Be kind to our language
From what Snyder conveys, Hitler used “the people” to reference only those people loyal to him and the party. I think there is a lot of language control going on on the Republican side right now. MAGA and tRump appear to have created their own vocabulary—either by appropriating phrases, using a blender mix of ideological ideas, or simply using words because they have negative connotations. They’ve appropriated phrases popularized by black communities and left-leaning politics and put their own spin on it. So “woke” and “DEI” are now negatively associated with “radical left” ideology. They’ve essentially defined themselves as “anti-woke” and “anti-DEI.” But on the flip side, anyone who disagrees with them is labelled “anti-American.” If they can be contrary, that’s what they will do, and in doing so they make their language aggressive.
They take terms that have longstanding definitions and exaggerate them. So Joe Biden handing over the presidential ticket to Kamala Harris was labelled “a coup” by tRump. Musk also has used the word “coup” for those defending the constitution. He recently said, “Democracy in America is being destroyed by judicial coup.” So both tRump and Musk have inverted “coup” to imply that if someone threatens their decisions, those people are anti-democracy and anti-American and, by inference, traitors. (But note that Jan. 6ers are called “patriots.”) To me this parallels what Snyder said in this chapter that Hitler did—that “any attempt to understand the world in a different way was defamation of the leader” (or, as an American president put it, treason).”
Another big word being abused right now is “fraud.” Apparently, just running a government department as it’s been run for decades is “fraud.” (and how many times has tRump claimed election fraud? Following this logic, basically everything in the government, including democracy itself, is a “fraud.”
tRump and MAGA also like to label Democrats with a hodgepodge of political ideologies that tie them to either extremism or communism (which is ironic considering how much they all seem to love Russia). So Kamala Harris is a “radical left Marxist.” tRump just labelled a judge a “radical Left lunatic.” But do most Americans who hear “radical left Marxist” even know what a Marxist is? Could they answer who Karl Marx was and what he wrote? I doubt it. It just sounds “bad.” Just like “owning the Libs” sounds good.
They are also actively “erasing” words from public discourse. The National Park Service appears to have deleted all mentions of “transgender” and “queer” people from the Stonewall National Monument’s websites.
George Orwell warned that political language used incorrectly “becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” What a vicious circle! No wonder Snyder is championing reading. It not only expands your vocabulary, and understanding of language, it expands your understanding of ideas.
On a related note, the American Library Association warned that current administration is now also actively working to defund libraries, which means people will have less access to books and literacy programs. The AMA is encouraging people to “reach out to their elected leaders and Show Up For Our Libraries at library and school meetings, town halls, and everywhere decisions are made about libraries.” Here’s more on their Show Up For Our Libraries initiative: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/show-up-for-our-libraries
