War of the Words

The battle over language is an important one, and the manipulation of public perception is a trick that the Statist has perfected. Unfortunately, opposition to Statism frequently falls short in the linguistic counter offensive.

The Great Communicator

One man in recent history was successful at manning this resistance. President Reagan was so effective that he drove his opposition crazy by beating them at their own game. He won many battles in the war of words, not by resorting to their tactics of flattery and inaccurate words, but instead he spoke with plainness to the people — he was not a man of many words, just a man of honest words.

This conflict over language and ideas is captured extremely well in the following passage:

"Reagan dissected the Statist’s language and recast the morality of the message. Americans are not at war with each other over money and class. And when Americans keep the fruits of their labor, it is a good thing. This is both seminal and fundamental. The Statist’s vocabulary provides the Conservative with opportunities to highlight the Statist’s duplicity and the bankruptcy of his ideas by stripping the rhetorical veneer from his message and contrasting it with the wisdom of the Conservative’s principles. The battle over language, like the battle over ideas, is one that conservatives should relish." [Mark R. Levin, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, pg. 143]

The constant battle over public opinion is rather dirty most of the time, but Reagan stayed above the fray by painting accurate pictures of his opponents and critics, thus exposing their lies for all to see. The left hated Reagan because of this, and while he was around they could not get away with their distortions and deceptions. Reagan was a great spokesman for conservatism because he was honest with the people. (Don't bring up national security issues as being dishonest either, every president has to make certain decisions while keeping large amounts of information from the public view.)

Intellectual Honesty

This term is almost always misused, but I think its proper place is this: not ignoring facts, not denying truth, not dismissing real history and good traditions, accepting the role of faith in discourse, trying to see the argument from both sides, and abstaining from the misuse of language for the purposes of sensationalism and reckless reporting.

Conservatism is the only political philosophy that can truthfully outline its fundamental principles and values for all to see with nothing to hide. The ideas and policies embraced by conservatives will withstand the harshest scrutiny because they work and they have been proven by all of human history. Some people are not intellectually honest in how they portray and defend conservatism because they are either ignorant, uneducated, or inarticulate; but also even the best spokesman will fall prey to the allurement of being slightly dishonest in his language because those who fight against him are relentless in their use of intellectual dishonesty.

It Goes Both Ways

The ends do not justify the means; however, and most often reason will not condone fighting fire with fire. But in this world the defenders of truth are imperfect and sometimes feel justified in garnering support and winning debates with inaccurate language. Both sides of the political spectrum and everyone in between are all guilty of verbal sabotage to one degree or another. No matter who is right and who is wrong, the use and misuse of language is at the heart of most debates. Having a working knowledge and exercising a great deal of discernment are necessary to arrive at the truth of most issues.

We must proceed with caution so as not to be deceived by those people and ideas that are not what they seem to be, but we cannot dismiss a position merely because someone is trying to be clever with their words. So instead we must be careful what we believe and who we listen to. When someone comes along who talks constantly and seems to say just the right thing, as if his words were parsed, screened, and scripted, who rarely speaks an unprepared word, be extremely wary, for such is the way of a deceiver.

The Man Behind the Mic

Now public speaking is a skill that most of us can learn, and I am not saying we should oppose having refined orators in elected office. What I am saying is that true leaders, real statesman, stand on principle and know how to speak from the heart — when they do it you know it. Thus you can measure the character of the man by what is in his heart.

Others who are false prophets and charismatic demagogues will play the tune of the pied piper and sing the sweet song of the siren, and before people know it they're marching off the cliff to their own destruction. If someone is blatantly lying we can generally tell, but the meticulous twisting and distorting of truth with carefully chosen words can oft times go unnoticed even by very astute individuals. Most brutal dictators had a way of charming or hypnotizing the masses, and many malevolent individuals who seek to fundamentally change our society and remake it in their own image will employ the same tactics.

Who Will Win the War?

The war of words is over how we use and perceive language, over who claims ownership to what terms, and over how the fundamental institutions and traditions of our society are described and defined. We cannot allow people to call welfare a "tax cut" and sound business practices "unfair." The war has many fronts and is waged all around us. Listen carefully and pay close attention to what is going on around you, and above all make sure you are fighting the war of the words on the right side. If all those who believe in liberty and believe in freedom and believe in the rights of the individual over the state will stand up and pay attention, then the America that God and the Founders created will prosper and be protected.