Progressive ideas are unpopular in the U.S. – one study shows that only 8% of the American people identify themselves as “progressive activists.” Despite the lack of public support, radical leftist ideas seem to be unstoppably seeping into society and the polity. How is that possible when voters reject them?
Progressives have an entire palette of methods for getting their way, but perhaps the most insidious one is that they steal language. They rule by words, not by law. Take the word “racism,” for instance. When did you agree that it should be redefined as “privilege plus power”? Never. A tiny group of far-left activists took over certain departments in universities and simply redefined the word – as well as others – to fit their agenda.
It means that Nation of Islam preacher Louis Farrakhan can say that Jews are “termites” on Twitter, but a white cis-gendered Christian male cannot say something negative about Islam. The second is racist and the first is not, according to social justice warriors. A black Muslim can never be racist – by definition.
Language Hacking
A more sinister example of language theft is the notion of redefining an illegal alien as an “undocumented immigrant.” That term is a direct linguistic missile aimed at the heart of civil society: the rule of law.
Often when you hear someone use this term, they are bluntly and unashamedly saying, “I do not recognize the legitimacy of immigration law, and I will, therefore, disregard it, break it and cheat the system whenever the opportunity arises.”
That term is a direct linguistic missile aimed at the heart of civil society: the rule of law.
The term contains within it an open admission that progressives will find another way to implement the rules they are unable to muster democratic support for, in blatant disregard of the will of the people. This transducing of language echoes The Party's three slogans in George Orwell's 1984: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
Subverting Laws
Let us now apply the progressive logic to the migrant “caravan,” such as the one that recently traveled up from Central America to the southern U.S. border – the term another linguistic distortion. The left is screaming that it would be racist and awful in a myriad of ways to stop the aliens from entering the country illegally. They appeal to sympathy, name calling, and every other dirty trick in the book.
But strip away all the words and look only at the actions and consequences. If this “caravan” is permitted simply to walk into the country, a few thousand people have managed to de facto nullify U.S. immigration law. And progressives are doing everything in their power to prevent President Donald Trump from enforcing it.
If they succeed – through the act of name calling and sympathy hacking – they have effectively changed the law without legislation in Congress and without the support of the people.
For 50 years, the progressives have been using these subversive techniques. America is still surprisingly conservative, but not for long. This tiny sliver of the population has managed to have a disproportionate effect on the culture and the law by using linguistic appropriation. And conservatives have allowed it, in part because they have not been aware of the stealth techniques deployed against them.
The best way to protect against brain hacking is to become aware of it and learn to say “no” to word theft. The next time you hear someone use the term “undocumented immigrant,” tell them that you cannot accept that they appropriate your language and disrespect the rule of law.
