There are many branches of magic both in the real world and in fiction but one thing they all have in common is the concept that words contain power. This idea is shared through many different ideologies ranging from Christianity to agnostic mind over matter systems.
No matter how you look at it, words have power. They can harm, they can heal, they convince, they can be used to dissuade, they can be used to deceive. They are very much tools of the trade, of multiple trades.
Because of this things like Free Speech are immensely important. Not only for the sharing of information and the influencing people but for selling things and ensuring people can express themselves. There is almost no part of life that isn’t effected by people’s ability to communicate. The most popular method for this is obviously words.
Choosing how we say things and what words we use can make a significant impact on the world around us. And that can cause people to try and limit others’ impact and reach with their words.
From a young age I was taught and saw that there is a conflict between good and bad ideas and practices. This was exhibited by the cultures of the two sides. The side of poorly formed and negative ideas sought to control every aspect of the individuals method of expression. The other side sought to find the most effective and truth based answer.
They were cultures of decay versus cultures of growth and self improvement. The did battle with words. And there was an interesting phenomenon. The less restrictive side weeded out ineffective ideas and methods, improving its growth and ability. The more restrictive area stayed the same. Anything new it crushed out of itself, resulting in it reusing the same methods over and over again with no lasting result but self-destruction.
The thing about systems of decay is that they are envious. They don’t like the idea of others having power or others being more powerful than them. They don’t want to improve themselves in order to gain more power they would rather destroy or strip the power of others.
This results in them quieting the voices of those they don’t like. Resulting in what is known as an “Echo chamber”, a situation where only the same things are repeated over and over again. This leads to ideological inbreeding, which leads to a quicker break down of the system being advocated.
The difference between growth and stagnation is the different views of power. Power can be found in everyone, whether you try to convince people they have it or convince them if they don’t is the major difference.
Think about it.
Sincerely,
The Irreverent Gentleman
gentlemansuniversityofmanliness 