In light of the president’s press conference on Thursday, it seems necessary to revisit the idea of nonsense (non + sensical), but I won’t, not really except to say that like evil, nonsense should be self-evident. Apparently, it isn’t. There are those that in spite of what seemed to be quite a bit of nonsense, choose to interpret the 45th president’s press conference as the president fulfilling his campaign promise to shake things up and undermine the status quo. The fundamental miss in all of this is that to take something down from the inside, it helps to understand how what you’re taking down works.
The Press uses words to inform and for effect. If your goal is to take them down, you should use your words. The president uses words, but not very well, really not at all, see Sweden for reference. There is a profound sort of inarticulateness from the current Commander-in-Chief that is insulting. Ironic that the example for calumniate in the link is, “foes were calumniating him in the US press” . Well, not exactly.
Calumniate, or to make false and defamatory statements appears quite a lot in William Godwin’s novel, Caleb Williams or Things As They Are. Sadly, although written in 1794, one of the primary things that drive the plot still has quite a bit of resonance today. A wealthy character is able to ruin the life of someone lower on the social scale, with his words, in the form of a baseless criminal accusation. Falkland, the wealthy character, is helped in this by a myriad of other characters that simply believe what he says because of his position.
He is conferred an extra amount of belief by everyone. I’ll go ahead and spoil the endings. Yes, there are two versions. In both, turns out Falkland is guilty of two heinous crimes, murder and allowing two other people, without means, to be hung for it. Three, when you count his role in the false imprisonment of the title character for telling the truth, 1794 people.
I suppose there will always be those who automatically defer to wealth. That’s their choice, but those people have chosen laziness. See 45s pep rally in Florida. It takes much less effort to cheer and hold banners than it does to ask a person of privilege, a world leader, to stop being an asshole. Especially when you’ve deemed the assholeness a virtue. It can be, but it takes finesse.
Caleb Williams is a little more charitable. Falkland is both a product and victim of an old way of thinking. If that thinking was heading toward obsolescence in 1794, there is definitely no excuse for it now. Things as they are indeed.
Tedium! 