Orwell: Latter Day Political Scientist

I think that if you really want to understand politics you have to read 1984 or at least be aware of its main concepts, principally the use of language as a cloak to true motives, e.g. the "Ministry of Peace" is really the War Department in the book.

This type of thing happens all the time in politics, but often in more subtle tones. The typical model is not to use antonyms as in 1984, but instead to use meaningless names that suggest ideas that everyone would agree with in principle. The most famous example is from the abortion debate with the "Pro Life" and "Pro Choice" crowds disguising the gradations of the issue with camps whose names evoke principles that no one could disagree with (who would not be "pro life" or "pro choice"), but which in reality stand for uncompromising extreme ideas that no other society in the world adheres to. On the "Pro Choice" side: only in America are third trimester abortions allowed, also, most countries require that a woman get the permission of her personal physician before she can get the abortion, and perhaps most importantly, all countries that have legalized abortion have done so through the legislature, i.e. they had to compromise in order to get it on the law books. On the "Pro Life" side: all western countries allow abortion to one extent or another; getting rid of abortion is not an option! Hello!

Another example is that of the Association formerly known as the Trial Lawyers of America, one of the most powerful lobbies in the country. It is now known as "The American Association for Justice." What the hell does that mean? I guess having lawyers in the title rubbed all those lawyer haters in America (pretty much everyone without a J.D.) the wrong way. But the name change doesn't alter the fact that the AAJ is still a lobby for the interests of lawyers, which in only the most convoluted way can be seen as working toward justice. Sure lawyers are supposed to work towards justice, but does that actually happen all that often in practice? Only imperfectly at best. It's far more accurate to call it the trial lawyers association because those are the people that really benefit from its actions. Adding Justice to the title suggests that it works for everyone, or that it actually cares about justice and not just maintaining the right to sue insurance companies for as much as a jury is willing to reward.

What I think these examples show is the importance of language to the ongoing battle of politics. It does not matter in a direct way, but language is the medium through which politics moves. It's subtleties and variations help to shape debates and mold beliefs. Language does not decide anything, but it does inform decisions and alter perceptions. In this way it helps to stall the abortion debate by hiding the gradations that could lead to real compromise on the abortion issue. Perhaps in compromise America could move beyond these two absurdest camps by allowing both sides to maintain some of what they want, while still recognizing that their is a solid majority of the people that want limited but available abortions (Bill Clinton's saying that abortions should be safe, available and rare is something that most Americans would agree with and will continue to agree with).

With regard to the trial lawyers one sees an example of a recurring theme within the lobbyist world: the hiding of tacit self-interest behind some vague notion of the public good. Do lawyers sometimes bring justice to people? Sure. Is that what the trial lawyers association is really working toward? Not really. Thus in politics one must always be aware that as in 1984, the meaning of words cannot be taken at face value.