‘Politics and the English Language’
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously observed that the hallmark of totalitarianism is that everyone participating in it is in the habit of lying all the time about everything. We often think of lying as a straightforward matter of making statements that are false. However, a far more common and insidious form of lying involves using vague language, slogans, and needless abstractions instead of speaking precisely, concretely, and factually. Another feature of nascent or creeping totalitarianism is that the general enterprise of lying is accompanied by censorship of guys who DO speak and write precisely, concretely, and factually.
Listening to politicians speak is often an unpleasant experience chiefly because the discerning listener will instantly recognize that if they are not lying outright, they are speaking around the truth or omitting it.
When I was a young and aspiring author, my primary model for learning how to write clear English prose was George Orwell, especially his 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language.” I believe it should be required reading for every high school student in the country. If you or your kids have never read it, it’s not too late! The following are what I believe to be the most relevant passages for understanding the current lamentable state of political speech.
In our time it is broadly true that political writing is bad writing. Where it is not true, it will generally be found that the writer is some kind of rebel, expressing his
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.