Dimensionally Barrett

By now, many of us are aware of the various “dog whistles” in use along the political spectrum. However, there are a few that bear special attention. Snyder points to “exception” and “extremism” as two major terms to keep an eye out for. An authoritarian will not flinch at declaring a state of emergency and use that as an exceptional circumstances to suspend the rule of law.  As for extremists and extremism, this refers to any and all whose views are in opposition to the regime’s. Anyone holding those views is a de facto extremist.  “ Extremism   certainly sounds bad, and governments often try to make it sound worse by using the word   terrroriism   in the same sentence.” However, as Snyder points out, “there is no doctrine called  extremism .” Again, tyrants only use the term to isolate and target those whom they deem outside   their   mainstream. Dissidents in the twentie...

This chapter, it seems to me, is less about “being kind” to language than recognizing language’s power, not just to communicate outwardly with others, but as the means by which we frame and order out thoughts and take in the messages from without. Snyder here is asking us to be aware of the epistemic nature of thought and words and how we as individuals can shore up and reinforce thinking independently and critically while offering tools on how to do so. Snyder introduces us to Victor Klemperer, a phonologist and scholar of Jewish origin who used his training to combat Nazi propaganda. He noticed how.the a term like “the people” was exclusionary; it meant some but not all people. This may seem tangential, but I don’t think it is: the term of “people” in German is   Volk , and had been used, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries as equivalent to “national spirit”. This was part of a larger philosophical movement that sought to identify the uniqueness of the German people withi...