Essay: Language and Other Masks in Utopian Thought
The process of envisioning or implementing a new society is one of complete reformation. Regardless of the nature or content of the reform, the visionary, aspiring leader, or established leader seeks to introduce entirely new concepts and practices into society. Acceptance of new utopians ways requires, as a basic prerequisite, the rejection of old behaviors and paradigms. Often, thinkers choose to modify the past and conceal the reality of the present to facilitate these changes. However, no new world can be built from nothing: the new ways must inevitably be constructed using old conventions. Language is utilized to skew present, past, and future; reality is severely modified to correspond to the revised ideology. The means to express, disseminate, enact and enforce a reform are all subject to and relegated by, language. Language has always been political on every scale and in every locale, as demonstrated by ubiquitous phenomena in everyday life: in extreme reactions to declarations...