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The Autocrat's Language

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Re: The Autocrat's Language

#3

Post by bushin »

In days of doubt, in days of dreary musings on my country's fate, thou alone art my stay and support, mighty, true, free Russian speech! But for thee, how not fall into despair, seeing all that is done at home? But who can think that such a tongue is not the gift of a great people!

Re: The Autocrat's Language

#4

Post by adrianratnapala »

Then something cannot be described, it does not become a fact of shared reality. Hundreds of millions of Soviet citizens had an experience of the thing that could not be described, but I would argue that they did not share that experience, because they had no language for doing so.

This is a very good point, but is I think a bit obscured because it seems to mistake the map for the territory. I think what the writer is getting at is that without a shared language it's harder to build up common knowledge. Which means more than just everone knowing something. It also means that they all know everyone knows it, and know that everyone knows everyone knows it, ad infinitum.

Each person can see the Emperor has no clothes, but without sufficient communication they cannot all know that it is safe to laugh at the Emperor.

Re: The Autocrat's Language

#7

Post by dropit_sphere »

> Witch hunts cannot actually be carried out by losers, big or small: the agent of a witch hunt must have power.

Aaaaay, and now the public conversation has finally advanced.

The contention of the far right is that this statement is exactly right, but not in the way the author means. That is: there is no coherent rightist opposition to the national religion of progressivism, and this can be verified by checking for who is doing the hunting.

From he-who-must-not-be-named:

>Think about it. Obviously, if the witches had any power whatsoever, they wouldn't waste their time gallivanting around on broomsticks, fellating Satan and cursing cows with sour milk. They're getting burned right and left, for Christ's sake! Priorities! No, they'd turn the tables and lay some serious voodoo on the witch-hunters. In a country where anyone who speaks out against the witches is soon found dangling by his heels from an oak at midnight with his head shrunk to the size of a baseball, we won't see a lot of witch-hunting and we know there's a serious witch problem. In a country where witch-hunting is a stable and lucrative career, and also an amateur pastime enjoyed by millions of hobbyists on the weekend, we know there are no real witches worth a damn.

Re: The Autocrat's Language

#8

Post by vkou »

dropit_sphere wrote: post #7

> Witch hunts cannot actually be carried out by losers, big or small: the agent of a witch hunt must have power. Aaaaay, and now the public conversation has finally advanced. The contention of the far right is that this statement is exactly right, but not in the way the author means. That is: there is no coherent rightist opposition to the national religion of progressivism, and this can be verified by checking for w…

> That is: there is no coherent rightist opposition to the national religion of progressivism, and this can be verified by checking for who is doing the hunting.

Just because a bunch of people can do some witch hunting on twitter doesn't make it a lucrative and safe career. Twitter slacktivists aside, who do you think currently has an easier job - people fighting for civil rights, or people who are fighting against them?

One side in this fight uses water cannons in freezing weather on unarmed people. The other gets hit by water cannons in freezing weather. One side is untouchable. The other gets routinely beaten, harassed, and arrested - legally or otherwise. One side has killed ~50 people over this year in a series of hate crimes. The other... Punched a few nazis.

Or hell, if you want to talk about twitter slacktivism, have you seen how much abuse feminist writers, BLM activists, and LGBT people receive? You may claim that some martyr or other of the conservative sphere received similar levels of censure, but I assure you, the people on the other side of this are not having easy, cushy lives.

Re: The Autocrat's Language

#9

Post by tacon »

I don't speak German, so it was somewhat surprising to me when I learned that Führer means "leader" (or "guide", according to Wikipedia). And that that word is essentially dead in modern German speech. So how do you refer to the "leader" now?, I asked. I didn't get a good answer to that question, but it would probably take more understanding of German as to how they get by without the obvious word.

I wonder if "news" may be dead in English in the near future.

Re: The Autocrat's Language

#10

Post by im3w1l »

tacon wrote: post #9

I don't speak German, so it was somewhat surprising to me when I learned that Führer means "leader" (or "guide", according to Wikipedia). And that that word is essentially dead in modern German speech. So how do you refer to the "leader" now?, I asked. I didn't get a good answer to that question, but it would probably take more understanding of German as to how they get by without the obvious word. I wonder if "news"…

Leiter, I believe.
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