Orwell Was Right

Via Angry Mike

 

Probably no short discourse upon political rhetoric and the political lexicon can match George Orwell's paper "Politics And The English Language." Those of us who've followed developments on the politico-linguistic battlefield over the century past can hardly dispute Orwell's critical assertion:

[O]ne ought to recognize that the present political chaos is connected with the decay of language, and that one can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end.

But of course, political chaos through linguistic degeneration must necessarily start with the perversion of individual words.
 

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What are the central contentions of those who are beating the war drums for a strike on the Assad regime over Syria?

• "The use of poison gas is a violation of human rights."
• "The use of poison gas is forbidden by international law."

The incredible abuse that's been heaped on the essential political term rights has been a thorn in my flesh for many years. The above isn't particularly egregious -- indeed, in one sense it doesn't abuse the word rights itself -- but it serves to illustrate the sort of mischief activists can commit with words.
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