Orwell & "Double Speak"

Politicians, preachers/priests, and the media twist our words to give words or phrases double meaning.  Equal opportunity = preferential treatment.  Compassion = using our tax dollars to buy votes and fund programs.  Non-judgmental = blame society for everything while absolving individuals of responsibility.  When the progressive left labels something as being “dismissive” they actually mean it is in regard to an argument they can’t refute but won’t admit.  Any situation they want to change or can’t control a “crisis,” and anyone they don’t want you to listen to as “dangerous.”  Anyone with a dissenting opinion they refer to as “misinformation.” 

Orwell believed that double speak disables society from critical thought.  The progressive left goal is to defend the indefensible.  Goal of political language is to obscure reality.  The more society fails to ask questions the greater power they have thus making society complicit.

A lot of this speech reduction was from 2010-2015 when universities began to have safe spaces, labeling speech as harm, etc..  They were reframing disagreement to their radical ideas as harm and that brings speech into the realm of violence, and then that in turn means that speech is violence.  That enabled the progressive left to do character assassination, reduce social status, thus dehumanizing their opposition.  This led to cancel culture in 2016.  In 2021 and 2023, use of censorship flourished.  They now want to exile free speech and psychologically this emotionally feels like death.  Now the progressive left has moved more radically into assassination to silence someone forever.