Speaking up and Talking Back
What Makes us Really Free
The authoritarian attack on the language of dissent and disagreement is, really, the preamble to an attack on thought itself. Of course this is, sadly, not a new thing in the world; pick any dictatorship in history (the Nazis are the prime example)—or, for that matter, the top-down programmed ignorance of any institutionalized religion…
I can’t muster up any sympathy for the people that try to impose this oppressive regime on us. These people—the ones that do this, the people who suppress free-expression and criminalize certain speech, are locked in their own prison of hatred, fear and confusion. Being generally inarticulate, they have, in their great loneliness (think of Trump’s terror at being even momentarily UN-noticed)—these people have a perpetual need to drag the whole world into their personal hell, rather than try to break out of it and join the rest of the human race. In my several incarnations in this world—especially as a broadcaster—I’ve run into a lot of people who fit this description; and, despite my fear sand doubts, I discovered that I couldn’t feel really free if I didn’t say something.
Supposedly Confucius said: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.” …If you can’t use language (even primitive language) to give a name to what you’re thinking and feeling; if you can’t find (and speak) the right word to express yourself, then you’re more likely to act out physically—maybe even put a mask over your face and terrify helpless people and their children. The Nazis never a hard time finding concentration-camp guards…
Anybody who has brought up kids knows that one of the fundamental requirements in helping them to evolve into functioning, thinking, hopefully moral human beings, is to teach them how to speak—how to express (to other people) what’s on their minds and in their hearts... Children start out babbling; they know what they’re saying (and, usually, their parents do, too)—But the rest of the world doesn’t. It’s one of the greatest gifts there is to help them use language to connect to the rest of humanity.
Radically restructuring the venerable Confucian aphorism (even if it loses some of the bite), you might say these days that: “The beginning of ignorance, bigotry and cruelty is when a government restricts, polices, and ultimately numbs the people’s ability to find the right words…
This kind of Orwellian Ministry-of-Truth behavior from our “government” seems to be occurring with increasing speed right now—aided by our ubiquitous new pal, the-dispenser-of-all wisdom-and-truth; yes, ladies and gentlemen, our future supreme leader, the one and only: AI).
Naturally occurring on the inevitable path toward dictatorship is the banning of books, the restriction of public criticism (either in writing, electronic communication, or at public gatherings), the elimination of certain words or phrases and actions from government agencies and websites; and, ultimately—through the habitual self-censorship of the citizenry—the death of critical thinking itself.
Here’s an old Jewish joke I heard from an uncle:
Two Jewish men were in Auschwitz, kneeling in the mud—about to be executed by an SS Lieutenant… The Nazi says, “Any last words, Jewish scum?” One of men turns his head and says, “Go to hell, you Nazi pig!” The other kneeling man leans toward the one who cursed the Nazi and says, “Shh, Mendel, don’t make trouble..”
Free speech is an essential part of life that is worth fighting—and even dying for.
(*This post is inspired by a post from James Greenberg on Substack. I’m not sure how to access it but it’s listed as jamesbgreenberg.substack.com. You can always find it by searching for James Greenberg and Substack).