Fire,

 

When you experience, recognize and understand the big difference between Disembodied Language (DL) and Embodied Language (EL), you are on fire, because you know, everyone is, unconsciously, stuck with their DL, while you are now the only one, who is able to have EL. You are alarmed, because things are really not going well with our usual way of dealing with language. Urgent change is needed and yet, everyone seems to be verbally totally asleep.

 

Perhaps, you have heard or read, that shouting fire - when there is no fire - in a crowded theater, is not protected free speech in the United States. It is ironic – but also significant, to notice – that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, considers it imminent lawless action, to create a panic, or to put it more mildly, to disturb, intimidate, startle, upset or shock people. I believe, we should extend this, to DL, our usual way of talking, which puts fear into everyone and falsely creates the impression, that we are threatened. We are constantly gas-lighted, but, of course, there is still real danger. 

 

If there really is a fire in a crowded theatre, then shouting fire isn’t punishable under the law. While it may not be a legally problematic event, to say or to write, that the world is on fire – due to the mechanical, unintelligent, coercive way, in which human beings communicate and, thus, deal with their language – nobody is going to listen, because everyone believes to be okay with their usual DL. There is no danger of causing a stampede, by saying or even by yelling, our common use of language is the fire, which is burning everything to the ground. As you can see on my blog, nobody comes, to take action. However, although I am, apparently, the only person, noticing the calamity, which is unfolding, I don’t see any use for preaching about EL anymore.

 

When I first noticed the difference between DL and EL, I felt like screaming about it, as I was absolutely sure as hell, I had discovered something of immense importance, but my fire turned people off. Who was I, to disturb people, while they were watching a stupid movie, to distract themselves from the tragic reality, which they themselves created with their way of talking? I was often cited for my so-called disorderly conduct, as I couldn’t keep my mouth shut about the dangers of our catastrophic DL.

 

I no longer shout fire, because it would imply, that I try to address DL with DL, but that is what everyone is doing. Surely, I know better than that, because I am able to address DL with my EL. When there is an actual fire, however, this is as true and as dangerous for you, as it is for me and I can tell you  – with my sixty-five years of experience – DL is as destructive for me, as it is for you. All Americans basically know, that in the realm of political speech, no words are off limits, regardless of how disgusting, nasty, mean, vile or evil they are. It is precisely this freedom of speech, which allows us to say and discriminate the difference between DL and EL and, by doing so, we  hold our civil society together. If we are not able to make this crucially important distinction, there are basically no rules and then, there is no free society.

 

There is currently a lot of empty talk going on about the so-called hate-speech, the public speech, that expresses hate or encourages violence, to a person or group based on their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. This contentious issue of hate-speech, in my opinion, is often – actually all the time – used as a red herring, as it distracts us from addressing the real issue, which is, of course, the gigantic difference between DL and EL. To call a spade a spade, or to yell fire, when there really is a fire, is to view our DL as the misleading elephant in the room.  This becomes all the more apparent in the legalistic inability of university and college presidents, to unequivocally condemn Hamas brutality, that was followed by the massive outbreak of antisemitism. I want to end this writing today, by saying that speech is conduct, as there is a direct effect of any speaker on any listener. This effect is either positive or negative. In DL it is always negative, but in EL it is always positive.