Word to the Wise

By Cindy Layton

Actions speak louder than words.

Empty words.

Words fail me.

Words are not loud, people are loud. Words are not empty, people are empty. Words do not fail, people fail.

Words, written or spoken, are the vectors for ideas, the building blocks to communication.

They can build consensus for concepts - like autocracy.

They can incite.

Let’s never again fail to recognize the impact of words, even words that are bastardized and contorted into a post-1984 version of doublespeak:

Liberty

Freedom

Justice

Patriot

Unity

Because words, no matter their meaning, are imbued with the character of the speaker or the writer. It’s the wink or the nod between them that’s the tell. 

There are combinations of words that defy logic and truth. They stand in direct contrast to what can be objectively discerned:

This is not who we are.

This is not my political party.

This is not what I signed up for. 

And there are words that have such power they are unavoidable in their meaning:

Insurrection

Sedition

Treason

Four years of anti-democratic governance have led to the mainstreaming of these words. There is no argument to be made against their assignability.

Regardless of fear and with no equivocation, here is the vocabulary list for 2021, words that must now regain prominence in the lexicon:

Courage

Principle

Democracy 

As the worst of 2020 stretches its octopus-like tentacles into 2021, let us continue to write with clarity and honesty.