George Orwell introduced the language of doublespeak in his dystopian novel “1984” published in 1949. Doublespeak is the language of opposites. Up is down and down is up.
The word doublespeak derives from two Orwellian words “doublethink” and “newspeak.” Doublethink is when a person accepts two mutually contradictory thoughts as correct without being aware or troubled by the glaring contradiction between them. Doublethink statements like “war is peace” “freedom is slavery” “ignorance is strength” are made without discomfort. Newspeak is a method of controlling thought through language – it is the language of fake news. Doublespeak combines doublethink and newspeak in language that deliberately obscures, distorts, disguises, or reverses the meaning of words to manipulate public opinion in a mass social engineering effort.
Orwellian doublespeak is the language of the hard Left leading a coup against Western democracies and their national sovereignty. Barack Obama spoke doublespeak when he promised hope and change. Obama deliberately obscured and disguised his hope for changing American democracy into socialism. Most Americans understood hope and change to mean a better life and the realization of the American dream – a hope to improve our democracy not to destroy it.
The left-wing liberal agenda seeks to destroy the socio-political infrastructure of American democracy and transform it into a dependent socialist state with cradle to grave control by the government. Their strategy of destruction is to target the traditional American institutions of family, religion, and education that promote independence, adulthood, individualism, and ego strength – the qualities that made America great and support American democracy and sovereignty.
The 21st century Leftist progressives speak doublespeak – their “progressive” narrative is entirely regressive.
The regressive infantile impulses and temper tantrums exhibited by left-wing liberals today cannot seriously be called “progressive” except by double-speaking Leftists who believe that going backwards is going forward. REGRESSIVE is the accurate word for the infantile behavior and impulses that inform the “progressive” Left. Safe spaces, Play-Doh and counseling for disappointment, segregated black-only lounges are all regressive demands of an increasingly regressed population.
To understand why the progressives speak doublespeak, their goals, who benefits, and the purpose of relabeling up as down and down as up it is necessary to translate doublespeak into colloquial English.
In an effort to translate the language of doublespeak a glossary with explanations is helpful. The glossary will decode the disingenuous Doublespeak of the radical left-wing liberals broadcast incessantly by the colluding mainstream media, taught in the infiltrated educational curricula, and dramatized by the Hollywood gliteratti and television programming in the entertainment industry. There is no informed consent in a society of lies and propaganda. If American democracy is to be preserved it is essential that an informed citizenry understand how they are being indoctrinated toward socialism by a deliberate program of propaganda and doublespeak.
GLOSSARY OF LEFTIST DOUBLESPEAK:
1. Diversity = Differences in appearance
Diversity is a word that refers to variety. It has an inclusive connotation and in a social context means the inclusion of multiple races and ethnicities – black, white, Asian, Hispanic etc. For Leftists, what the word does not include is any variation in thought. Leftist diversity only extends as far as appearances – it does not tolerate any variety of opinions. Leftism is tyrannical in its demands for conformity to its politically correct left-wing narrative of moral relativism and historical revisionism it does not include any conservative opinions or ideas.
In Doublespeak diversity means differences in appearance.
2. Education = Indoctrination
Education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction especially at a school or university. In a democracy public education is “inclusive, both in its treatment of students and in that enfranchisement for the government of public education is as broad as for government generally. It is often organized and operated to be a deliberate model of the civil community in which it functions.” – Wikipedia
Education in America has been commandeered by left-wing liberals and is now a vehicle for indoctrinating American youth from K-12 and throughout college. Conservative voices are no longer welcome in education. What was once a traditional American education of core subjects and pride in American democratic ideals has been transformed into an echo chamber of Leftist propaganda promoting globalism, socialism, American self-loathing, political correctness, moral relativism, and historical revisionism.
In Doublespeak education means Leftist indoctrination.
3. Freedom of speech = Approved speech
Freedom of speech is the foundation for democracy. Without freedom of speech there is no other freedom which is why tyrants always eliminate freedom of speech first. Leftists in America are determined to eliminate freedom of speech by enforcing their own code of political correctness which labels any opposing speech as hate speech. Speakers with conservative points of view are disinvited or intimidated through organized boycotts and violent protests. It is unAmerican to disallow the expression of opposing views but Leftists are tyrannical in their demand for conformity to their approved rhetoric.
In Doublespeak freedom of speech means freedom of approved speech.
4. Globalism = One-world government
Globalism is defined as the operation or planning of economic and foreign policy on a global basis. Globalism commonly refers to international trade among nations. Leftists seek to internationalize the world and are not using the word globalism to mean global trade. When Leftists say globalism they mean one-world government – their intention is to eliminate national boundaries, national sovereignty, and impose one-world government. The irony is that Leftists do not realize they are participating in their own destruction because the globalist elite who will rule the new world order consider the Leftists to be useful idiots.
In Doublespeak globalism means one-world government.
5. Global warming/climate change = Redistribution of wealth
In 1992 UN scientists on The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated: “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.” Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on June 24, 2014 that:
“Extremely likely” is not a scientific term but rather a judgment, as in a court of law. The IPCC defines “extremely likely” as a ‘95-100% probability.’ But upon further examination it is clear that these numbers are not the result of any mathematical calculation or statistical analysis. They have been ‘invented’ as a construct within the IPCC report to express ‘expert judgment,’ as determined by the IPCC contributors.”
Climate change is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on industrialized countries to transfer their wealth to non-industrialized countries. The United Nations is committed to globalization and one-world government and is supported worldwide by Leftists with the same objective.
In Doublespeak global warming/climate change means the redistribution of wealth.
6. Income equality = Redistribution of wealth
Income equality in a democracy is achieved through equal opportunity – there is no guarantee of equal outcome. When Leftist’s speak of income equality they mean compulsory income redistribution that guarantees equal outcome.
In Doublespeak income equality means redistribution of wealth.
7. Progressive = regressive
The word progressive has a positive connotation and is commonly understood to mean something that happens or develops gradually or in stages; proceeding step by step. Synonyms for progressive include continuing, continuous, increasing, growing, developing, ongoing, accelerating, escalating, gradual, step-by-step, and cumulative.
In Doublespeak progressive is synonymous with regressive – the opposite of actual progress (see above).
8. Resistance = Anarchy
Resistance is the refusal to accept or comply with something. In a democracy there are laws and elections designed for citizens to legally and peacefully express their discontent at the voting booth. When Leftists speak of resistance they are fomenting the overthrow of the government.
In Doublespeak resistance means anarchy.
9. Social justice = Reverse discrimination
Social justice in a democracy is achieved through laws and Constitutional protections that guarantee equal rights, equal opportunity, and equal protection under the law. When Leftists speak of social justice they mean reverse discrimination where a two-tier system of justice is acceptable, where sanctuary cities that protect illegal alien felons are endorsed, and where anarchy and violence are fomented to effect social change.
In Doublespeak social justice means reverse discrimination.
10. Tolerance = Intolerance
The word tolerance has an inclusive connotation and is commonly understood to mean the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or
behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. Synonyms for tolerance include acceptance, open-mindedness, forbearance.
In Doublespeak tolerance is synonymous with intolerance – the opposite of tolerance. It is exclusively awarded to those who LOOK differently and withheld from those who THINK differently. Leftists tolerate differences in race, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status but are extremely intolerant of differences of opinion.
Linda Goudsmit — Bio and Archives |Linda Goudsmit is a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She and her husband owned and operated a girls clothing store in Michigan for 40 years and are now retired on the beach in sunny Florida. Linda graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, earning a B.A. in English literature. Having a lifelong commitment to learning, she is an avid reader and observer of life. She has shared her thoughts, observations, and philosophy of behavior in her book DEAR AMERICA Who’s Driving the Bus? Linda is currently working on a children’s book series titled Mimi’s STRATEGY that offers helpful problem solving techniques encouraging resourcefulness and critical thinking skills for kids.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Sebastien. I believe we are in violent agreement on this one.
Orwell even captured the racist supremacy of Hitler’s National Socialists in “1984” when a ruling pig declared, “We are all equal , but some of us are more equal than others”.
@ Ted Belman:
Thanks, Ted. I never left! Keep up the great work.
@ Alastair Gordon
A bit too technical for my taste, but talk about “wings” implies that somewhere in between is the “center”. The modern rule is that both wings support socialism. They merely disagree on which flavor, e.g. communism or fascism. Which still leaves plenty of room for a Big Government center-consensus.
@ Alastair Gordon:
Actually, that’s not the traditional definition of the distinction between right and left wing. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_politics
@ Alastair Gordon:
The traditional definition of left and right doesn’t necessarily have to do with attitudes of individualism versus collectivism. The use of the term originated in the French Revolution and evolved from there. Essentially, the Left were the Jacobins and Socialists and the right their, initially mainly Monarchist, opponents.
“…Right-wing politics involves in varying degrees the rejection of some egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming either that social or economic inequality is natural and inevitable or that it is beneficial to society.[50] Right-wing ideologies and movements support social order. The original French right-wing was called “the party of order” and held that France needed a strong political leader to keep order.[18] British conservative scholar R. J. White, who rejects egalitarianism, wrote: “Men are equal before God and the laws, but unequal in all else; hierarchy is the order of nature, and privilege is the reward of honourable service”.[51] American conservative Russell Kirk also rejected egalitarianism as imposing sameness, stating: “Men are created different; and a government that ignores this law becomes an unjust government for it sacrifices nobility to mediocrity”.[51] He took as one of the “canons” of conservatism the principle that “civilized society requires orders and classes”.[52] Right libertarians reject collective or state-imposed equality as undermining reward for personal merit, initiative, and enterprise.[51] In their view, it is unjust, limits personal freedom, and leads to social uniformity and mediocrity.[51]….”
The central premise of National Socialism, Nazism, is the innate and immutable racial superiority of the Aryan, particularly, German race. It implemented a Keynsian welfare state for its beneficiaries like the one here and in Western Europe, originated by Bismarck under the Kaiser but it did not advocate, even in principle, universal equality, much less any kind of socialism.
It has been sometimes asserted that Hitler and Mussolini, his mentor, to whose ideology of Fascism he added the element of race and made it central, applied left wing tactics to right wing politics. Mussolini was originally a Socialist leader, and the son of a prominent Socialist.
The Mother Lode:
The Prevention of Literature
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prevention_of_Literature
George Orwell
Politics and the English Language
http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit/
George Orwell
The Prevention of Literature
http://orwell.ru/library/essays/prevention/english/e_plit
Good Article though Orwell actually had a much more complex analysis of the corruption of language. However, it is the types of Newspeak and Doublespeak that survived into the contemporary discourse because of the vivid imagery provided by his novels. I am reminded of his own example of bad writing through the retelling of a passage from Eccleastes without imagery in the following Wikipedia article about his two essays on the political distortion of language, written prior to the novels.
There are more types in there and they fit what’s going on. Good article, though, as far as it goes. I would like to see articles that explore more of Orwell’s theory of language and how it applies to contemporary events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language
However, I have observed, and I haven’t read this anywhere, that one important reason the Left seeks to capture the high-ground of the dictionary — while, unlike the dictionary, seeking to reduce possible meanings to one* — is to transfer the emotional force and connotation of things that are universally regarded as horrifying to things that are not. In the end, however, it is often self-defeating because they wind up creating indifference to both, i.e., “Nazi,” “Fascist, and “racism.”
* “…One analyst, Michael Shelden, calls Newspeak “the perfect language for a society of bad writers … because it reduces the number of choices available to them…”
@ Alastair Gordon:
Hi Alastair.
Welcome to the fray. Its been a long time.
11. NAZI = Right Wing
Perhaps the greatest example of Orwellian language inversion is the accepted wisdom that Hitler and his NAZI party were right-wing. Right-wing implies the dominance of the individual over the collective, while left-wing implies the dominance of the collective over the individual.
Surely no right-wing party would be named the National SOCIALIST WORKERS’ Party. And surely there has never been a political movement as extreme as the NAZIs in which the individual exists only to serve the needs of the collective, in Hitler’s case, the Fatherland. Hitler and his NAZIs were so far to the left, that the the collectivist madness of Stalin and Mao paled by comparison.
You really have to give the left credit for this stunning inversion of reality, an inversion largely unquestioned across the political spectrum, yet spectacularly wrong.
OK. Enough of this lady.
Her attitude, like that of so many conservatives, is that left-wing Big Government is bad, but that right-wing BG is good.
When Leftists speak of resistance they are fomenting the overthrow of the government.
That is giving them too much credit.
Leftists are not anarchists nor even minarchists.
They do not want government “overthrown”.
They want to take control of it and then use it to wallop their political opponents.
And in any case, they want it ENLARGED (because bigger government is always in their interest).
Of course, the same could always be said of the right-wingers.
Conservative voices are no longer welcome in [public] education.
That is not true.
The popular, faddish, charter (government-funded) skool movement in the US is an effort to have conservative voices heard.
The legacy of skoolz closing for certain religious and military-associated holidays is an accommodation to political conservatives, i.e. GOP-controlled, construction contractors.
Still popular, abstinence-based education is an accommodation to conservatives.
Massive and ever-growing budgets (tax dollars) for skool capital projects have long been a sign of respect for conservatives.
The momentum surrounding the re-allowance of military recruiters on-campus and the longstanding practice of providing them with the names of students (and their standardized test scores), plus the tying of government-backed, financial aid to draft registration (soon to also be required of XX-chromosomed women) is a concession to conservatives.
The almost-manic, current emphasis on STEM in K-12 is a sure-fire sign that the voices of political conservatives are being respected; it needs to be remembered that the public college system, in the US, was set up along the lines of STEM, which continues to be one of its (if not the) primary selling point (after the conservatives’ favorite diversion, football).
The K-12 emphasis on testing, Testing, TESTING tells us that conservative voices are as heeded as those of the liberals.
[Public education] is often organized and operated to be a deliberate model of the civil community in which it functions.
That is true enough.
But its (mostly) democratic nature doesn’t change the fact that it sucks.
Should it change into a full-blown, non-democratic institution, it would still suck.
P.S.
Skool zoning is institutionalized segregation.