Government Run Amok and the Death of the English Language (and Liberty)

A long time ago, in a culture long forgotten, children learned that their language - in this particular nation, the English language (or the American variant) had certain rules: To be considered a 'sentence', a group of words must include a subject and a predicate. The initial word of a sentence, and all proper nouns, were capitalized. Homonyms - words that sounded alike but had different spellings and meanings - existed, and using the wrong word turned a coherent thought to nonsense. And spelling counted.

In that era, in that culture, there were related ideals, taught side-by-side with the 'practical' applications of "readin', writin' and 'rithmetic" - that individuals were responsible for their actions; that they were judged by the way they presented themselves, both physically and verbally; that a teacher could explain something to you but could not learn it for you; that words have clear and specific meanings and that actions have consequences.

Many factors are responsible for the decline of the language - the ease of transcribing 'thought' (granting some latitude in the definition of the term) to screen via keyboard vice the laborious process of penning it to paper (a process nominally requiring 'attention'), and conversely, the process of 'reviewing' and 'editing' that required infinitely less effort with the medium was disregarded (as was the process); the advent of minicomputers in cell phones giving rise to 'texting', and the congruent 'acceptance' by the semiliterate of its shortcuts and 'abbreviations' as 'the New English'; the overall relinquishment of personal accountability and individual responsibility induced by 'full credit for trying' because 'you have to feel good about yourself' (whether or not you've done anything to earn 'feeling good about'; even the infringement of government at all levels on personal liberty and mandating suffocating 'protective measures' on all for fear someone, somewhere, might 'hurt himself'.

Wrapping the individual members of a society in protective 'regulatory cushioning' has produced more harm to that society than individual 'risk-taking' has ever done: Mandating seat belts, air bags and 'crash-proof' passenger compartments has led to an increase in vehicular accidents - because the false sense of security leads to careless operation on the theory that 'I'm protected anyway'. Hell, mandating bicycle helmets has the same effect on kids - they take stupid risks because they're 'protected', and that's the 'lesson' they take into adulthood. (Interjected random thought: Do infants enjoy their infancy as much as adults enjoy their adultery?)

Mandating 'weapon-free areas' - more succinctly, designated victim zones - would be a fine, high-minded idea in a perfect world, but as should be obvious to even the most casual observer, this is most assuredly not a perfect world, and the evil, the deranged and delusional, those on the fringes of society are not deterred by brightly painted signage: The sheeple who meekly obey become dead statistics, victims of the politicians, bureaucrats and judges who rendered them incapable of defending themselves 'for their own good' (and, of course, 'for the children').

What, you ask, has this to do with the English language slipping into life support? In every case, the government-imposed abdication of personal responsibility has repercussions beyond the individual law or regulation: Layer on layer, law on law, regulation on regulation, literally from cradle to coffin the individual 'learns' that he has no 'responsibility', anything 'bad' that 'happens to' him is someone else's fault, that he 'deserves' to 'feel good about himself', that 'the government' will protect and provide for him. He can 'express himself' in any manner, way, shape or form - or degree of illiteracy - that 'feels good', and there will never be any consequences; that if his gibberish is 'misunderstood' it's the listener's (or reader's) 'fault'; that he's being 'judged' or denigrated - that some bully is (perish forbid! Heaven forfend!) making him 'feel bad'.

Civilization has advanced over the past few million years because people took responsibility for their actions, took pride in their achievements, took risks. 'Literature' has been advanced, and 'great books' have been written, by people who understood and respected their language - and who took responsibility for their thoughts, their craft, their words. We now have Orwellian laws against what is neither more nor less than 'thought crimes'. What we need are personal 'laws' making lack of thought a crime.