Why do we need new language
Words create worlds.
When the world we have needs to be re-created, when many of us aspire to ensure our beautiful world continues to exist for humans and all creatures, then we need new language.
My intuition says in many cases we are not really creating new language, for the words to describe the more beautiful world we know is possible have probably been used for thousands of years by people who have always been in a truly symbiotic relationship with the land, oceans and creatures. I want to bring those words into our current lexicon and honour their heritage. Words like Wetico used by the Cree and Ojiwa – describe the rapacious illness of accumulation, destruction, greed, selfishness and violation that the white settlers inflicted on the land and Indigenous people.
At the same time, bring new words for a more beautiful world to life, while also naming the decaying structures in our current world in an accurate way.
Words like Syntropy. Syn = to add, plus, together. Tropos – the manner, the way, the attitude. Syntropic = to add together in a way that results in a higher order/attitude.
Or Cory Doctorow’s word – enshitification – which Macquarie Dictionary has named the word of the year.
As he describes it. Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
And of course, the word of the moment, Broligarchy. A small group of men who control the political structures.
When words have integrity in their etymological code, what we call their Pattern Integrity, they align and become transmissions.
Choosing words with exquisite care is a power act. You + chosen words + speaking = transmission.
Photo Taken November 26th 2024, Article written November 27th 2024
