Verbal abuse in politics interferes with our moral well-being

Famous book on the nature of language

Carol Forsloff - Mental health experts have defined verbal abuse as just as hurtful as physical abuse, and in some cases it has been punished with severe sanctions.  Yet in politics it remains a pattern, the type used by many people in government or running for political office, but how about the rest of us?

If all of us had equal education, similar backgrounds and similar training on the nature of argument, then political discussions would be more of a worthy experience.  In fact, there was a time in history when men of great stature did assail the ideas of one another, and even thrust verbal arrows of sorts, at their opponents.  But there was a different tone to the arguments; those with countering views may have been considered ignorant if they didn't happen to agree with a point, but they were not cast as the devil himself.

These are different days.  All over the world, emotional distance is created by an Internet that was supposed to bring people closer.  Is the communication itself a bad thing?  In my opinion, it is not.  It is simply used that way, and in ways that some people use to avoid close relationships.

Language not only allows us to communicate ideas but also our emotions, and recent studies show that the words we use eventually help to create what we become.  So if our pattern is to assail, condemn in vitriolic language, we become, in essence,  a hateful, spiteful person.  It removes us even further from what we might say we want to achieve.

Besides experts tell us that abusive language is indeed abuse and the effects of it can be traumatic for children and adults.

Sesu Hayakawa wrote a book entitled "Language in Thought and Action" that looks at the historical and cultural patterns of speech and reflects on our human development.  Language helps transform our cultures, move us ahead, or create barriers beyond which we cannot cross.

If you belong to a group, where the intent is to denigrate everyone of an opposite view in vitriolic language, will that aid your moral and emotional development, enhance your self-concept truly and move you ahead in ethical and spiritual ways?  Not if social scientists are right.  Instead it paints your personality in ways that become isolating and that deflects love rather than attracts it.

Political discussions have descended to the worst.  With the recent Supreme Court decision that allows big corporations to involve themselves as persons, we are likely to see big money buy even bigger and bigger mouths that spew hatred and lies in all directions.

Should we then assail each other in much the same way?  Or should we learn the rules mental health experts tell us that discusses issues, events, ideas without personalizing the agenda.  Experts say we must if we are to stay individually and collectively healthy.

If we don't follow those rules, discussions often turn to name-calling and name-calling and what is ordinarily called, both in the law and in mental health, verbal abuse. And that can lead to even worse problems, as language experts and psychologists declare.