Words, Instant Gratification, Language, And Society

When I was a boy, growing up in the 90’s, my parents made sure to teach me the power of words.

Words are a powerful tool. Throughout history language, written and spoken, has established governments, destroyed empires, glorified gods and immortalized people.

Used properly, words can be uplifting. A kind remark, an expression of love or thanks, an encouraging discussion, or even an inspiring speech.

But used improperly, words destroy. In fact, it is far easier to destroy with words than it is to create. Adolf Hitler, the most infamous and despised war criminal to ever walk the face of the Earth, was also, at one time, one of the most powerful men in all of creation.

He did much of that through language. Despite the despicable nature of his views and the sheer evil of his actions, his true power resided in his personality. Through speeches, political influence and persona, Hitler took the reigns of a country and systematically brought about physical, mental, financial and moral destruction on a scale the world had never seen before and hasn’t seen since. And that all started with the words he chose to use.

Words can inspire or words can destroy. Sadly, with each passing day, it seems like the world is more and more in favor of destroying.

I grew up in a time when words weren’t taken so lightly. Calling someone a racist or a bigot was a big deal. A serious accusation. When I was a kid, I didn’t have the protection of a keyboard and computer screen to say what I wanted to say. If I had comments, they had to be delivered directly.

Unfortunately, for all the innovation and opportunity the internet has afforded us, it has also created an era of entitlement. One of instant gratification with a complete lack of personal responsibility with regards to the words we say and the effect they have on people.

The Internet has given us an era of nameless, faceless keyboard warriors who throw around n-words, racial slurs and accusations with alarming casualness. Perhaps the one thing more disturbing than the actual words being used is the attitude that accompanies them.

These words often don’t belong to any sort of real cause or belief. They’re not typically part of a campaign or enlightenment effort. Most of the time, they’re simply used to hurt. With internet anonymity comes the idea that there are no longer any consequences to a person’s words. But there are always consequences.

The biggest consequence of this abuse of words is that people have become desensitized. In layman’s terms, it means that the longer someone is exposed to something, the less impact it has on them.

In 2014, folks simply aren’t impacted by words the way they used to be. With the decreasing impact of words on people comes an irresponsible use of them. You wouldn’t need to look far on the internet, or social media, to see examples of this.

We witnessed this with Chick-Fil-A, a company founded on Christian beliefs that many people were supposedly ignorant of, until the controversial subject of gay rights came up. Suddenly, anyone who supported gay rights had a target and their biggest weapon was their choice of words.

We saw it most recently with the whole Paula Deen controversy. A talented and respectable woman who made one mistake 30 years ago. Without hesitation, every race-card carrying member of the “We Are Victims” society of America took it upon themselves to relentlessly harass and tear her down, ironically with more hateful words, until it became more popular to trash someone else.

Words, and the way they can be used, have the potential to be the most wonderful or most dangerous thing on the planet.

Life isn’t easy. Nothing is handed to you. You’re entitled to nothing. There are plenty of real victims out there and 99% of them aren’t on the internet screaming about being victims. There are also plenty of real-life bigots and racists and homophobes in the world and 99% of them aren’t wasting their time on Twitter or in the comments section of YouTube trying to offend other people.

However, there’s one thing I know for certain. Real victims and real bad guys have far more respect for the power of words than you or I.

Words can create or words can destroy. By tearing down and destroying, we’ve created a generation of false victims and fake bad guys and by doing so, we’ve made it easier for the real bad guys to keep doing their thing and harder for the real victims to get the justice they deserve.

Can you imagine how much better off the world would be if we invested half as much time using words to create as we do using words to destroy?