The Power of Language

Written by Bob Jones

word count: 1282

Bob Jones

11-19-96

period 3

Mrs. Fox

The Power of Language

Of all possible human qualities, the one that wields the most power is the ability to use, understand and communicate effectively through language.  A proficient use of language allows us to clearly communicate an exact idea from one person to another person or group of people.  This precise science of being able  to convey exactly what you want equates to the acquisition of power.  An important link between language and power is persuasion.  The power of persuasion is so strong it allows certain individuals to influence, and therefore, control thousands, even millions, of people and bind them together in search of one common cause. 

This tactic of persuasion is also called propaganda.  Propaganda is the spreading of information in order to influence public opinion and to manipulate other people's beliefs.  The message of propaganda is primarily intended to serve the interests of the messenger, thereby increasing his power.  All propaganda is a systematic effort to persuade.  The propagandist gives a one-sided message, accentuating the good points of one side and the bad points of the other position.  Propaganda is most widely distributed through public speaking and use of the mass media.  The propagandist speaks in an attempt to persuade the audience to believe his way.  With the support of the audience, the speaker gains power.

Propaganda as an art of persuasion has been used for thousands of years.  In the fifth century BC, when Pericles addressed his fellow Athenians on the merits of their city compared to the tyranny of Sparta, he was making propaganda, even though much of what he was saying was true.  Many centuries later, Lenin, the Soviet revolutionary, realized the value of propaganda to indoctrinate educated people.  He employed another tactic toward the uneducated, called agitation.  This process involved the use of slogans, stories, half-truths, and even outright lies in order to avoid the need for complex arguments.  The Nazi government of Germany from 1933 to 1945, was very adept  at propaganda.  In order to gain power,  Adolf Hitler used his ability to tell each audience what it wanted to hear.  He stirred fears of communism when talking to businessmen, and preached the values of socialism when talking to factory workers.  After his party won control of the government office, he appointed Joseph Goebbels as head of the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.  Through Goebbels, Hitler gained power over the press, radio, theater, films, music, and literature.

People naturally have this feeling, or intuition, about something.  They know how they feel and believe about a subject, but it is something that they don't take the time to verbalize; they merely contain it in their minds as a belief.  However, there are certain people who verbalize and put into words these internal feelings of the masses and gain the trust of the people.  These certain people are our leaders.  By speaking about and placing importance on the beliefs and values that these people have never before heard articulated, the leaders gain the confidence of the people.

Political leaders are the primary examples of the people we put our trust in.  In 1960,  John F. Kennedy was elected to the office of President after four nationally televised debates against vice-president Richard Nixon.  It was generally conceded that these debates helped Kennedy more than Nixon.  In April of 1961, after Russia successfully launched the first man into outer space, John Kennedy asked for a greatly increased budget for space research.  Kennedy said, powerfully, "I believe that this nation should commit itself, to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to the earth."  Kennedy is considered  to have been a driving force behind the mission to the moon which was successful in 1969.  It was the power of his language that made the trip possible.  It was also Kennedy who coined the phrase, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."  This became the battle cry for the capitalist, American way of life.

On January 26 and 27, 1830, the United States Senate heard one of the greatest speeches ever delivered before it.  Daniel Webster, senator from Massachusetts, made the speech in answer to Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina.  The issue was the nullification controversy.  Hayne, a confederate of John C. Calhoun, has said that the federal government was a mere confederation of states and that the states could refuse to obey any laws passed by Congress.  Webster refuted Hayne's notion with the memorable words, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!"  It placed Webster in the front rank of American orators and won him enduring statesmanship.

There are other ways, besides public speaking that an effective use of language can be used to gain power.  Millions of people encounter written language every day.  Major novelists, such as John Grisham, have written several best sellers that are read and enjoyed by many people.  Various novels of Grisham's have been made into films that are seen at theaters.  It is in this way that John Grisham has gained power.

There are other examples that bear larger importance.  On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the church in Wittenberg a list of 95 theses, or propositions.  They denied the right of the pope  to forgive sins through the sale of indulges, among other challenges.  The theses were widely circulated in Germany and Europe and caused a great controversy.  It was from this demonstration of written language that later spawned the Protestant Reformation.

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that he later called "the central act of my administration, and the greatest event of the nineteenth century."  This document, the Emancipation Proclamation, gave freedom to all of the slaves held in the rebelling Confederate states.  This written document held a great deal of power and had an enormous impact of the history of the United States.  It serves as a further example of the power of language.

Every day the are thousands of judicial trials going on in the world and for each of them there is an attorney.  Attorneys wield a great deal of power through the language and ideas that they convey to the court.  The power of lawyers is priceless to some people, for in the language of their attorney lies their life.  In the extremely popular criminal case of O.J. Simpson, we see the perfect example.  Mr. Simpson hired a "dream team" of lawyers to argue his case for him and they were successful.  Through the power of language, attorneys such as Johnnie Cochran overcame massive scientific evidence, such as DNA blood typing finding Mr. Simpson's blood at the scene of the crime, to retrieve a 'non-guilty' verdict.  Mr. Cochran invented the phrase, "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit."  This clever slogan is an example of the how language can be used to persuade people to think a certain way.

Language is encountered every day, by everyone, in one form or another.  Its power can be vast, unlimited, and far-reaching.  A proficient use of language can allow us to communicate an exact idea or to persuade others to one point of view.  Throughout history, leaders have used this fact to control their constituents and the 'gullible masses.'  Propaganda is one form of persuasion that is prevalent during war time and revolution.  Famous politicians and orators have used language to get them elected into office.  Writers and authors have used written language to convey their specific message as well.  Language is the basis for all knowledge and for all power.