The Left's control of language is the first step toward tyranny

By Bill Connor, Op-ed Contributor Sunday, March 17, 2024

During Joe Biden’s State of the Union and its aftermath, Americans were again shown the attempts of the Progressive Left to control our language. For three years, members of the Biden Administration have claimed the southern border was under control. “Border Czar” Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, claimed the border was “secure” when questioned about it on Meet the Press in 2022.

Unfortunately for the Democrats, the numbers of contacts at the Border went from around 2 million under four years of Trump to almost 8 million in three years of Biden. Illegal immigration has quickly become the number one issue to Americans, regardless of party, and by a wide margin. During the State of the Union, Biden was pushed by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene to say the name “Laken Riley,” a young nursing student who was brutally murdered by a serial criminal illegal immigrant. Though Biden mangled Riley’s name, calling her “Lincoln” instead of Laken, he correctly said she was killed by an “Illegal Immigrant.” For that, the left proceeded to explode in anger at Biden. When asked about it a day later, Biden defended himself by claiming “technically (Laken’s murderer) isn’t supposed to be here.” A day later Biden broke down under the barrage and apologized. He regretted what he said and clarified “I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented.” This episode highlights progressive language control on American society with the goal of transforming society in their image. It must stop.

To be clear, polls show most Americans consider the term “illegal alien” appropriate for someone who has violated US immigration in entering our nation. That’s particularly true for those illegal aliens who commit other crimes like murder. This term is used by prosecutors in court for those accused of violating immigration laws. Regardless, a top Journalistic Reference Guide developed by the increasingly progressive media tell reporters terms like “illegal immigrant” and “illegal alien” are “Offensive.” Journalists must instead use the terms “unauthorized immigrant” or “undocumented Immigrant” or “immigrant without papers.” Journalists have started to use “i word” instead of “illegal” on par with a racial epithet. The reference guide goes on to urge “Avoid using ‘illegal immigrant’ or ‘undocumented immigrant’ to describe individuals.” That’s right, Progressives are now demanding “immigrant without papers” instead of even “undocumented.” If Americans wonder why news stories bury the immigration status of killers like Laken’s murderer, the guide exhorts reporters “Do not specify a person’s immigration status … Immigration laws are complex.”

From the writings of Karl Marx through the modern manifestations of Marxism in critical theory and it’s various cultural Marxist off-shoots (critical legal theory, critical race theory, critical queer theory, etc.), control of language has been deemed a necessary component to controlling society. Italian Communist Antoni Gramsci wrote about the importance of the control of language to overturning a society’s alleged “cultural hegemony.” He theorized in his “Prison Notebooks” that through overturning the cultural hegemony society’s alleged “oppressed” proletariat would trade places with the oppressive ruling class and wield power. According to Gramsci: “We are taking language … conceived as ideologically saturated, language as a world view, even as a concrete opinion, insuring a maximum of mutual understanding in all spheres of ideological life. Thus a unitary language gives expression to forces working toward concrete verbal and ideological unification and centralization, which develop in vital connection with the processes of sociopolitical and cultural centralization.”

George Orwell, who sided with the Communists during the Spanish Civil War, became disillusioned and then a passionate critic of Communism. Orwell used the term “Newspeak” in his dystopian novel 1984 for Communist language control. Newspeak in “1984” was a way for the party to control people of the fictional “Oceania.” Basically, Newspeak was the language demanded by the party and inculcated into society. It prevented Oceanians from violating any “thought crimes” against the party. People wouldn’t have words to describe how they think or feel and so were controlled. Orwell had seen this in its most hideous form with the Soviets. Importantly, the primary target of communists like Gramsci was always religion, the “opiate of the people,” and through Newspeak God/religion could be stricken from the minds of the people.

Though languages evolve imperceptibly and naturally by the cultural will of the people over time, that is not what’s happening now under progressives. We are experiencing a Gramscian revolution by the enforcement new “acceptable” language even on the President. Whether the demands for use of “gender affirming care” for minor sex change operations (genital mutilation). Or the confused language (and understanding) for sex and gender to the point a Supreme Court Justice is unable and unwilling to define “woman.” The progressive left, through the media and other cultural influencers, is keen on overturning perceived cultural hegemony.

It’s time for Americans to stand up and risk the left’s attacks and stigmatizing. We must use the language we know to be proper and best suited to our understanding. Our national motto, “In God We Trust” must be our lodestar for the society and culture bequeathed to us and what we should bequeath to our children. Without confusion.

Bill Connor, a retired Army Infantry colonel, author and Orangeburg attorney, has deployed multiple times to the Middle East. Connor was the senior U.S. military adviser to Afghan forces in Helmand Province, where he received the Bronze Star. A Citadel graduate with a JD from USC, he is also a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Army War College, earning his master of strategic studies. He is the author of the book Articles from War.