WORD POWER

Words can be the glue that holds the fragmented parts of a society together, or words can be elusive and deceiving. This book argues that words should describe the reality of the thing that the word describes. Too often, words are used to hide or distort the essence of the thing to which the word is attached. The principle of political correctness is an effort to encourage thought about something that changes the true essence of the thing. The trouble with political correctness is that it doesn’t change a person’s deep-set value or belief regarding the thing. The value won’t change because of the use, or non-use, of a word or phrase, but the behavior desired by political correctness may be changed through logical reasoning in creating policy. Word manipulation is used widely in politics to create fear that will drive a particular political policy, such as the claim made in 2003 that Iraq currently had weapons of mass destruction, or to put a memorable epithet on someone to degrade the image of that person, such as the war of words during the 2016 presidential election campaign in the United States.