Languages of Science and Politics in the U.S.

This week, we explored the supreme importance of language in shaping thinking. We read how the language used in discussing non-indigenous (especially recent migrants) non-human species has been shaped by and shaped the latent xenophopia that drives American immigration policy. Because if we admitted that most of these “alien” organisms are, in fact, fine, we’d have to admit that most new immigrants are fine.

We also read about how language describing the interaction between a sperm and egg shape public perception. I personally completely bought into the idea of the egg as a passive drifting mass that the sperm must locate, close with, and destroy by fire and maneuver; that’s the language I was taught with.

This sort of thing is alive and well in modern politics. Beyond the aforementioned immigration policies, Conservatives contextualize the refuge crisis by representing refuges as dangerous criminals. Liberals would have us believe they’re all sweetness and light, and the reality, as always, is somewhere in the middle.

Socialized healthcare is yet another issue in which the language played perhaps a larger role than the facts of the issue itself. ACA is too neutral a term, the GOP seemed to say, lets polarize this by calling it Obamacare, neatly dividing the sides of the conversation. If you think Obama is the second coming, Obamacare is great. If you think he’s the antichrist, Obamacare must also be loathsome, as this maybe real FaceBook post demonstrates.

Socialism has become a dirty word, especially amongst the generally Christian political right. Ironic, when much of Christ’s teachings were about giving of yourself, severing familial bonds in favor of societal ones, and charity without thought of benefit. Much of the New Testament reads like a socialist manifesto.

We can link this back to earlier in the course when we discusses eugenics. Another word that has become dirty by association with the monstrous acts of the Nazis and Japanese during WWII.

The language we choose to use profoundly affects the idea we are trying to communicate.