{"id":1473,"date":"2020-12-26T22:21:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T03:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2021-01-02T16:34:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:34:58","slug":"going-orwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/going-orwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Orwell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidily defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition, we\u2019re not far from that point. But the process will still be continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.”<\/p>George Orwell, 1984<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The University of Michigan (my alma mater, sad to say) has created a \u201cWords Matter Task Force.\u201d The WMTF, as it is called, is apparently bent on lowering the consciousness of all who are associated with the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WMTF, set up by the school\u2019s Information and Technology Services (ITS) department, has declared that it finds more than two dozen words and phrases possibly offensive to people, including \u201cpicnic,\u201d \u201cbrown bag\u201d and \u201cblacklist.\u201d … The WMTF offers alternative words to use, for instance urging people to say \u201cgathering\u201d instead of \u201cpicnic\u201d and \u201clunch and learn\u201d instead of \u201cbrown bag.\u201d<\/p>

\u201c…Among other banned words include \u201cdummy,\u201d which should be replaced by \u201csample,\u201d and \u201ccrippled,\u201d which should be replaced with \u201cweakened.\u201d And instead of saying \u201ccrazy,\u201d staff are encouraged to say \u201cunthinkable.\u201d The task force also said \u201coff the reservation\u201d should be replaced with \u201coutside the norms\u201d or \u201crogue.\u201d<\/p>https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/university-claims-words-picnic-brown-bag-are-offensive<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The WMTF isn\u2019t going full Orwell just yet, as the substitutes are not (yet) limited to only one word. However, as in all fascist and communist organizations, \u201cself-censorship\u201d is critical to getting along. In fact, it might be better \u2013 because one does not care to offend anyone \u2013 to say nothing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This idea will sit well with our elitist overlords; for a quiet, acquiescent population is easily controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the \u201cbest and brightest\u201d gather at their cocktail parties they speak about the vulgarity of the Great Unwashed and our outdated and outmoded adherence to ideas like honesty, integrity, and transparency. Filled with a sense of titillating superiority, they dismiss pathetic ideas such as the human connection to God. While our elites in Congress give their corporate buddies hundreds of billions of dollars, and themselves $57,000 raises, they beneficently allocate $600 for the masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Line up for your vaccines, folks (because another \u201cstrain\u201d of COVID is surely on the way), and say nothing about the latest lockdown while you lose your business or your job. However, we can feel comforted by the thought that Jeff Bezos has increased his wealth by another billion or so, as our local hospital suspends \u201cunnecessary\u201d cancer treatments or hip replacement surgeries because of the latest \u201coutbreak\u201d of COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the WMTF can come up with a substitute word for \u201ccondescending cruelty,\u201d which may offend someone somewhere.  I think I\u2019ll suggest that to my former (once great) institution of higher learning, which has, in the language of the WMTF, become doubleplus-ungood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1473"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1488,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions\/1488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjmaclean.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}