Right Speech Under Fascism
It is commonly recognized that one of the things authoritarian systems do is police language. Like we talked about last week, language creates the possibility of thinking about something, which creates the possibility of doing something about it. In order to act, we need language to talk to each other about what's happening. If a fascist government convinces us to use their words for what's happening, they are convincing us to act within their frameworks and understanding.
The Buddha's guidelines on speech support us in resistance to fascist language, most importantly by understanding that euphemisms for horrors are a kind of lie. Calling a genocide genocide, or a regressive tax a regressive tax, is central to protect protecting our ability to act in resistance to these kinds of violence.
We'll continue our discussion of right speech tonight looking at political—and politicized—speech particularly, and how our practice of speaking the truth as skillfully as possible, and listening critically, is a form of resistance and radical compassion.
