I am a writer. Since I was in primary school, making up Christmas stories about Santa and his reindeer; since I was in elementary school, recounting the tale of my first kill on a hunt, since middle school, spending hours at a keyboard in my efforts to craft a novel, I've always wanted to create stories and spin words together in some shape, form, or fashion that means something to people.
I've realized since high school that, although prescriptive grammar and proper word structure is important, the most vital importance lies in the meaning of the words that one spins together. There is strength in words, and I feel like America has lost that simple grasp.
Need I repeat it? America is burning.
Jeff Daniels, in his role as Will McAvoy on HBO's "The Newsroom," erupts in condemnation of America's glaringly disappointing 21st century state. It was one hell of a way to open a television drama, and garnered the attention of hundreds of thousands of viewers from across the country. When a college student asks McAvoy and the other guests of a Q&R session, "What makes America the greatest country on Earth?" one of his initial joking responses lists the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution as the best pieces of American literature.
The truth is that our literature corresponds directly with the state of our nation. From mirroring British literature to the birth of American literature in the early 19th century, from the heroic works of romanticism to the first horror masterpieces from the legendary Edgar Allen Poe, one must only turn to the words of our nation's writers to see the timeline of the United States.
Today, our literature and our computer screens are riddled with constant reminders of political correctness and the need to tiptoe around the emotions of others, in case a phrase or sentence rubs someone the wrong way. When President Obama, in his recent address following the Orlando shooting, claimed that what we call ISIS and other terrorist groups - religiously radical or otherwise - matters not, he was mistaken. Words are powerful, and though both right and left wings often twist them in their own favor, the truth is that the choice of a single word makes all the difference in foreign and domestic policy. The opinion of the people is the heartbeat of democracy, and the people have to realize that again before we dive further into the heat of war and power struggles that await us.
We can never sacrifice our right to language and to words in order to avoid hurting the feelings of others. While words bent on evil and degradation are harmfully powerful and infamous in their own right, one group of people has no right to obstruct the right of others to use the words they please. Employers, businesses, organizations, they can all protect their own reputations as they see fit to do so within their own boundaries, as is their right. However, people themselves cannot be infringed upon for speaking in personal capacities as they see fit.
When we realize that the words from a person's mouth or from a person's pen are as powerful as the guns and weapons they are speaking against or in favor of, we will realize where we can start or end the wars around us.
