No. 9: Practice deep cultural resistance. Be kind to our language.

Sniff words closely. Read slowly. Pay attention.

The Old Truck on Tyranny.

This week continues a series inspired by Tim Snyder’s 2017 book On Tyranny and the “20 Lessons” derived from his study.

Lesson 9: Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the Internet. Read books.

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Have you ever been so bored you made up a game to entertain yourself?

While I was serving time at Holy Rosary Catholic Grade School, I learned that words came easily for me. So, I invented my own language.

“Magic Dream” - Basile Morin, Wikimedia Commons

Not really. I just taught myself to read backwards, word by word. Instead of listening to a teacher slowly explain something, I would read ahead in the textbook, usually finishing it by the third week or so of each term. Then, because I was not allowed to have any other book open on my desk, I would start over. Except this time I would read each sentence, silently, while reversing and re-prouncing each word my own way. Developing my own pronunciations for the words spelled in reverse. I would play with these words and sentences to make them flow like regular English, while pronouncing them however I chose.

For example, the phrase “Developing my own pronunciations for the words spelled in reverse,” would become “Gnipoleved ym nwo snoitaicnunorp rof eht sdrow delleps ni esrever,” in my mind. Plain words like “reverse” would become prettier, like “esrever” — a rushing river. Consonants in longer words, like “pronunciations,” might harden or soften as needed, transforming “snoitaicnunorp” into either snoy-tayCe-nu-norp or snoy-tayK-nu-norp, either of which is kind of fun to say. Vowels would slip in where they were needed. All of which helped keep me awake during yet another lecture about President Maharba N(a)locnil. When I was at peak game, I could hold conversations with myself, thinking forward while speaking backwards. Sometimes I did this out loud, challenging others to make sense of me. That usually didn’t work out so well. Classmates found me weird.

Still, this boredom-induced mental game let me take control of my thoughts as a closeted gay kid. When I stopped to think about how to reverse a word, this gave me a moment to consider and question its meaning. Which helped build some resistance in my mind to the small-town Catholic culture of the 1970s that fervently believed people like me did not exist, or should not if we did. I used this resistance to build another universe in my mind. One where I was normal and other people were the weirdoes. It helped.

So, when historian Timothy Snyder recommends that Americans “avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does,” and “rephrasing what we are told in our terms,” I can confidently report that being a bit weird works as a life hack. Questioning and rephrasing the words we take in to inform our own thoughts is an effective way to resist an abusive culture.

Or, to abuse a good one.

In the past decade it has become fashionable to inject complex, academic terms into conversations without explanation. We hear densely-packed terms like “free market” and “meritocracy” spoken reverently, as if they point towards an ineffable good. Terms like “diversity” and “intersectionality” are often used the same way, as symbolic flags planted on something we are expected to accept as simple goodness and truth.

This now widely used conversation-coding technique is a power play. Socially loaded words and phrases are often sprinkled into discussions like team flags, inviting us to nod in agreement, or give a cheer for our side — whatever side that may be — without need for more background or context. Questioning the team codes could make us look stupid. Asking questions may be seen as impertinent. Disagreement, no matter how slight, may be interpreted as a sign of disloyalty to those whose codes we dare to question.

Humans are designed to enjoy the comforts of belonging to a group. Teamwork is how our ancestors survived. Banishment was a punishment worse than death. So, it is helpful to know where we stand in relation to any group.

Snyder advises we step carefully here. That we keep our brains engaged while online. That we ask hard questions, even of our allies, and rephrase what we are told in our own words, even if we are inclined to agree with the speaker. Perhaps especially then.

Snamuh dluohs od erom naht tsuj kcilc dna drawrof eht swen …