Sanitizing Language Benefits the Advantaged

"Equity language doesn’t fool anyone who lives with real afflictions. It’s meant to spare only the feelings of those who use it." George Packer

This article was shared by a reader and offers an insightful perspective on censoring language. Thanks for drawing attention to it, Youssef!

In The Moral Case Against Euphemism appearing this month in The Atlantic, George Packer discusses the growing trend to rid language of “problematic” terms. He argues that “the project of the [language] guides is utopian, but they’re a symptom of deep pessimism. They belong to a fractured culture in which symbolic gestures are preferable to concrete actions, argument is no longer desirable, each viewpoint has its own impenetrable dialect, and only the most fluent insiders possess the power to say what is real.”

If you have a little extra time, it’s well worth the read.