The Limits of Political Language

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 393 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  The Limits of Political Language (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

When or why, we began to speak remains unknown. The origin of language has been the subject of speculation for several centuries and scientists have developed several hypotheses about how, why, when, and where we began to speak. For example, some theories consider language mostly as a genetically encoded innate faculty. Other theories regard language as culturally learned by interaction. Because of the lack of any direct evidence, some scholars consider this one of the hardest problems in science.  Recent language studies show that as much as 60 percent of our conversations are dedicated to gossip. Apparently, gossip is something that comes very naturally to us, and we spend about 52 minutes a day gossiping. As the saying goes, “we do not like gossip, but we are entertained by it.”  Gossiping, which usually involves an exchange of social information about acquaintances, has a somewhat undeserved bad reputation. Scientists tell us that 70-90 percent of office gossip is usually true, and that 75 percent of gossiping is non-evaluative, or neutral in nature. Only 15 percent of gossip is negative, and 10 percent is positive.  Today, our political discourse resembles gossiping. George Orwell, in his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language, wrote that political language “is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” But the language of political speak was not always as banal and devoid of substance.  For instance, in 1858 a series of seven debates took place between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate for Illinois, and the incumbent Democratic Party candidate Senator Stephen Douglas. These Lincoln-Douglas debates, also known as The Great Debates of 1858, dealt extensively with slavery, particularly its future expansion into new territories. These were not inconsequential political debates.  Compare the quality, substance and format of the Lincoln-Douglas debates to our modern-day equivalent. Keep in mind that this was a senatorial race and not presidential debates. The format for the debates was that one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then the other candidate spoke for 90 minutes, and then the first candidate was allowed a 30-minute rejoinder. Thus, each debate lasted 3 hours – so much for our attention span.  When Lincoln and Douglas debated the slavery extension issue, they were addressing an issue that had divided the nation. More critically, the issue threatened the continued existence of the Union. The major newspapers covered the debates intensely and reprinted the complete texts of each debate.  Yet, in what could be called the institutional gossip of that time, the newspapers that supported Douglas edited his speeches to remove and correct any errors, but left Lincoln’s speeches in the coarse form in which they had been transcribed. Similarly, the pro-Lincoln newspapers revised Lincoln speeches, but left Douglas’s text unedited.  In the end, Douglas defeated Lincoln and retained his seat in the Senate. At that time the legislature elected U.S. Senators, and it elected Douglas by a vote of 54 to 46. Lincoln lost the election, but he won recognition as a powerful and moving spokesperson for the anti-slavery Republican cause. Lincoln and Douglas would meet again in the presidential election of 1860 and their debates, this time edited by Lincoln, were printed as a book and used as an important campaign document. Such is the political power of language.  Language is perhaps the most important method of human interaction. Our lives are limited by what we can explain through language. Language imposes a limit to thought. Unfortunately, too much of our present day personal and political use of language is not of the quality of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and is mostly dedicated to gossip and trivialities.  In the early 20th century, the Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) became a key figure of a philosophical movement which had language as its subject of study. Wittgenstein held that if we cannot describe something in words, then it does not exist. As he exquisitely phrased it, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.