Tag Archive for 'How the English Language Controls the World'

Jackson’s Journal – On Freedom and Conditioning (Hat Toss)

jackson published on May 9, 2011 in superforest journal, technology and zeitgeist. 18 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

(image via theblackmelvyn.com)

Gooood morning SuperForest!

I’ve been thinking a great deal about the idea of freedom, which, in my eyes seems to be a synonym for the words love, and happiness. If you are free, you are love, and you are happy.

So what is standing in the way of my happiness, if anything is standing in the way at all?

That has been my meditation point lately.

(image via flickr)

I begin by acknowledging my conditioning. My patterns have been conditioned by many external forces. An analogy could be to look in the mirror and notice to your surprise that you are wearing a variety of stacked hats upon your head, and some of those hats are large and floppy enough to get in ones eyes and obscure ones vision.

(image via flickr)

So I stand before the mirror and I examine my many hats, taking each one off and praising it before setting it down. Here firstly is my “American” hat, which dictates that I be “independent” and strive for success. In this case success is defined as the accumulation of goods, money, or power. A very interesting hat! I must thank it for giving me my drive and my rebellious streak, my aversion to standing in lines and my love of a good steak now and then.

(image via flickr)

Next is my “Male” hat. This hat represents all of the male conditioning I have been gifted over my life. Be strong, be macho, hunt, be silent, protect, absorb pain and injury without comment, bury ones feelings. Another interesting hat! This hat gives me wonderful perspective on what my culture dictates a male should act like, while giving me further insight on what lies outside the male norm and also what females are supposed to act like.

I go on and on, removing hats. Here now my “education” hat, which stipulates that I respect and revere authority, not stick out, look with contempt on those less educated than I, strive to set myself apart from the rest, be judged according to my own merits and not the merits of my place within a group.

(image via flickr)

Next my “class” hat, which teaches me that I am superior to those poorer than myself, and dictates that I behave in certain ways. The biggest possible upset to my class hat is not to be poor, for that is forgivable, but to be poor AND accept any form of assistance, public, private or otherwise. I am a rich, white, American, I should be independent, pull myself up with my own boot laces, carve out a place for myself in the landscape. No help is allowed while wearing my class hat. People who are welathier than myself are my superiors.

I go on removing hats, until there is one left.

Now I understand on an intellectual level that I have been conditioned by my environment to behave in certain ways, to feel certain ways, to think in certain ways about a variety of external stimula, but what took me by surprise was the last remaining hat: Language.

I am an American. I speak English (plus a smattering of other languages), and I subconsciously expect the rest of the world to speak English as well. English is fast becoming the de facto lingua franca of this planet. If you cannot speak English, modern thinking goes, you will never make any real money.

What is amazing to me is the realization that besides speaking English, I also THINK in English. My very source code for communication both external and internal is English.

So, what’s the big deal? I think in English. So what?

What if I told you that if you speak and think in English you are conditioned towards racism, inequality, hierarchy, and egoic behavior. Inescapably conditioned. Until you realize the edges of your conditioning and are able to gain perspective and step back to admire the conditioning at an arm’s length away.

Here is just a taste, a beginning, an petite hors d oevres to tempt your palette: Consider the words BLACK and WHITE.

Every child in America is taught that there are black people and there are white people. Up until a short while ago (and sadly still to this day) children were taught that white people were superior to black people. This is not news. Now, children are taught that white people and black people are equals, but consider the languaging of that statement.

White -

a : free from color b : of the color of new snow or milk; specifically : of the color white c : light or pallid in color <white hair> <lips white with fear> d : lustrous pale gray : silvery; also : made of silver
2
a : being a member of a group or race characterized by light pigmentation of the skin b : of, relating to, characteristic of, or consisting of white people or their culture c [from the former stereotypical association of good character with northern European descent] : marked by upright fairness <that’s mighty white of you>
3
: free from spot or blemish: as a (1) : free from moral impurity : innocent (2) : marked by the wearing of white by the woman as a symbol of purity <a white wedding> b : unmarked by writing or printing c : not intended to cause harm <a white lie> <white magic> d : favorable, fortunate <one of the white days of his life — Sir Walter Scott>
4
a : wearing or habited in white b : marked by the presence of snow : snowy <a white Christmas>
Here we see words like: free, light, fairness, good, free from spot or blemish, favorable, fortunate.
Let’s examine BLACK -
1
a : of the color black b (1) : very dark in color <his face was black with rage> (2) : having a very deep or low register <a bass with a black voice> (3) : heavy, serious <the play was a black intrigue>
2
a : having dark skin, hair, and eyes : swarthy <the black Irish> b (1) often capitalized : of or relating to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin <black Americans> (2) : of or relating to the African-American people or their culture <black literature> <a black college> <black pride> <black studies> (3) : typical or representative of the most readily perceived characteristics of black culture <trying to sound black> <tried to play blacker jazz>
3
: dressed in black
4
: dirty, soiled <hands black with grime>
5
a : characterized by the absence of light <a black night> b : reflecting or transmitting little or no light <black water> c : served without milk or cream <black coffee>
6
a : thoroughly sinister or evil : wicked <a black deed> b : indicative of condemnation or discredit <got a black mark for being late>
7
: connected with or invoking the supernatural and especially the devil <black magic>
8
a : very sad, gloomy, or calamitous <black despair> b : marked by the occurrence of disaster <black Friday>
No matter how lofty your moral outlook, no matter how high your levels of compassion or enlightenment, if you are using English as your primary means of communication, especially when teaching or communicating to children, you are enforcing innaccurate stereotypes and hurtful untruths in the most insidious way imaginable, by covertly conditioning children to separate people along an arbitrary spectrum of skin color, with “white” being the most favored, and “black” being reviled.
So long as we use the English words white and black and yellow and red to describe human beings, we are condemning them to the very fate that the dictionary describes above. Darker complexioned children will think of themselves as sinister, soiled, devilish, heavy, less-than, and whiter complexioned children will be taught be feel superior.
How nuts is that?
I am consistently amazed at how deep the conditioning rabbit hole goes. The further I hack my way into the jungle of my own interior garden, the more astounded I am at the discoveries made therein.
So, I remove the last hat.
Behold, hatless, I am perfect love!
Cheers to my many hats, and to the hatters who have behatted me! Thank you for the lessons and instruction. Gratitude for the perspective on myself.
For more information and perspective on this line of thinking, I highly recommend Jack Tafoya’s book “How the English Language Controls the World.” Reading this book for me has been like going to have lunch with an eccentric Grandparent who spends the entire meal babbling gibberish only to end the meal by lucidly saying one of the most astounding and thought provoking insights imaginable. It makes all of the gibberish worth it, and by the time you’ve had lunch with the guy several times, the gibberish starts to make sense, then it starts to stick. Cheers, Mr. Tafoya!
Love to All,
Jackson
(image via flickr)