Euphemisms of the Apocalypse – Intro

Introduction

On psychological defences against reality, my therapist observed simply that ‘we all use em and we all need em’ – which is almost certainly true.

The size of the universe, the nature of reality, getting old, cancer…death – these are scary and painful things that humans don’t (on the whole) cope well with – at times we feel the need to deploy evasive language around uncomfortable thoughts lest they become overwhelming.

We could stand as children of mystery, wide-eyed with awe at the multi-dimensional, possibly fractal, infinite and certainly universe sized conundrums of existence. We could explore this mystery in the direction of Truth, God and maybe a more developed way of being, but many (most?) of us switch channels to catch up with the soaps, the football, the local news and our social media notifications.

We shouldn’t blame ourselves for looking away from the vastness of all that is and the terrifying freedom we have to explore it. Our space legs are wobbly and unpractised. Little bits of reality are maybe all we can manage at any given time. 

Though we all use and need psychological defences  – we cannot reasonably expect reality to fold around human weaknesses and preferences. Managing our perceptions so we don’t get overloaded is a human trait, but the lines we draw between necessary and affordable psychological defences and those that are damaging and unsustainable mark the boundaries of an existential crisis that is unfolding…right here – right now – ready or not.     

Our species currently faces extinction because damage/ destruction of ecological systems is widely (if often tacitly) regarded as an acceptable externality of modern life.  Our shambolic ‘stewardship’ of the ecosphere risks bequeathing posterity a horrifically degraded planet and thus depriving them of a future.  If that happens  – we, the adult generations alive today will be responsible.

Symbolically we face a cancer scare of our own making. We are an inseparable part of nature – but at present we act as cancer cells turning against the whole. Whether this is merely a brush with mortality, a debilitating illness, or the beginning of the end remains to be seen – but the scent of death is definitely in the air. 

One can tell that something truly shocking and disturbing is afoot by the number of euphemisms that are deployed to soften our perception of it. Just as many do with real cancer,  denial and avoidance language are being deployed to soften the stark truth of the diagnosis. 

Many people (most?) are aware of the mortal danger we are in and are (at some level) trying to deal with it , but BEFORE we can posses collective response-ability, much less take it, we must be able to make adequate material and moral sense of the situation.

The near impenetrable forest of euphemisms and misdirecting language that surrounds discussions about exigent emergencies makes coherent sense-making impossible. This is not be accident but by design – regardless of whether the weavers of the web are aware of what they are doing.

It is not enough to blame climate denialism (a wonderful euphemism for lying),  fossil fuel lobbyists, the corporate media and the ultra wealthy. Certainly they are guilty of spreading direct and cynical misinformation, but ironically, confronting that is much easier than challenging the much more pervasive evasions that beset the entire spectrum of discussion.      

Among the many reasons behind such widespread avoidance are powerful feelings of shame and guilt, fear of uncertainty and an uneasy realisation that the fossil fuel party may be over for ever: necessitating drastic lifestyle changes that will be a welcome change for some, while promising the mother of all hangovers and cold turkey for most.

Whatever the reasons behind the current pandemic of evasive and obfuscating language, the need for the blood of our communication to be cleaned of distortion, euphemism and avoidance couldn’t be more urgent.

We particularly need to resist language that denies the totally systemic nature of the situation. Symptoms like climate change and biodiversity loss (both euphemisms by the way)  should not be discussed in isolation from the material and moral whole. 

Similarly the widespread and startling absence of morally indicative language in this context needs to be examined and challenged.

Current emergencies are not so much a socio-political dysfunction in search of a ‘new green deal’,  they actually flow more from an unprecedented moral crisis that cannot be resolved while a majority are studiously avoiding moral language. 

Over the coming weeks and months Sodium Haze will examine the top 100 euphemisms of these end times in the hope that we can contribute to an overall de-cluttering of the language with which we discuss exigent emergencies.

We urgently need to conduct an unvarnished and straightforward audit of the chaos that exists within our everyday moral praxis – if we can’t bring ourselves to do that, then our children are unlikely to have any future worth living.

Since 2013 I have worked between 4-6 hours a day on this Ad-Free site: trying to give a voice to those without the power or agency to speak out for themselves and uncovering truths that well paid journalists in the corporate media dare not utter.

I am a home schooling parent on a low income – paying for the domain, web hosting and security entirely out of my own pocket.  

If you found this article useful and could spare us a few shillings to help keep our lights on, it would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in solidarity with all our readers. John Lynch, Editor.     

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