Truth is power
We who strive to uphold the connection between democracy and reality need to use the language of inclusion, empowerment, and truth.
Dear ones:
As we head into the historic second impeachment trial for the previous president, it seems a good time to consider truth, lies, and language. And by “good time,” I mean an urgency we cannot ignore. Our country is grappling with its commitment to democracy, which implicates a corresponding commitment to truth.
We have a history of sweeping our past under the rug: the building of an economy on enslaved people’s labor, the thievery of land from indigenous communities, the invalidation of the value of women’s labor, the erasure of the experience of LGBTQ people. These are but a few examples. One might be forgiven for arguing whether our democracy is indeed built on embracing truth.
The idea of a government accountable to its people, despite the limits placed (always) on the “people” included in that statement, is also an idea of a government committed to the well-being of its people. And, by definition, taking care of people in a real way means functioning in reality.
Notice the minimizing language used by the Republican party members who are trying to distance themselves from the lies and misinformation of their colleagues: “kooky,” “loony,” “fringe.” They claim not to know what the lies reference, using the term “conspiracy theories” to conceal the vicious, violent rhetoric they contain.
Notice, too, the different impact of various ways of describing the events of January 6: a riot, an insurrection, a demonstration or rally that went “out of control”; an attack on the Capitol vs. an attack on a session of Congress vs. an attack on members of Congress.
There was a violent attack intended to stop the certification of a free and fair election. This attack grew from a coordinated misinformation and propaganda campaign (see NYT article and other sources linked below the photo). An elected official of the Republican party endorsed political violence. The party has yet to name these truths, and yet to seek either atonement or accountability for them.
Truth is, indeed, power. And those who want to retain power in a small, elite group also invest in bending access to truth to their ends, restricting it, and even overriding it with their use of language. We who strive to uphold the connection between democracy and reality need to use the language of inclusion, empowerment, and truth.
Thank you, as always, for your company on this journey.
The coordinated propaganda campaign: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/trump-election-lie.html?searchResultPosition=30
The costs to taxpayers as a result of efforts to overturn election results: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/cost-trump-election-fraud/?itid=hp_mr_3
The clear link between the rhetoric of one member of Congress and the ex-president: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/03/marjorie-taylor-greene-trump-political-violence/