On a mailing list of Group Psychotherapists, a lively discussion came up about the usage of the word ‘gay’, to mean ‘lame’. One therapist talked about speaking with a sixteen year old patient, suggesting that her gay friends might not feel so good about people using the word in that way. The patient said that her gay friends used the word in that manner as well. This led to a discussion about the move towards inclusive language in New Zealand in the 1990s, and the effect that another therapist observed on how the subtle equation of men with power in the English language affected women.

All of this is, of course, just words and it led to discussions of Wittgenstein and Korzybski. Wittgenstein was presented mostly in light of his earlier words in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and not in the Philosophical Investigations, though I think a discussion about ‘the private language argument’ would be very interesting with these therapists. There is a lot that could be explored in that argument, but for the time being, I want to return to ‘just words’.

Hillary Clinton criticized Barack Obama on the campaign trail talking about his words, and Deval Patrick was similarly criticized on the Gubernatorial campaign trail in Massachusetts beforehand. They responded noting that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” are just words, just like "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," ”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” or "I have a dream” are just words.

All of this set a back drop against which I heard about Politifact’s Lie of the Year: Death Panels. This too, is just words; words that have damaged the debate about how best to improve health care in the United States.

It inspired me to take another look at Going Rouge, a book about Sarah Palin that I received a review copy of.

I haven’t had a chance to look at it too closely yet; my wife grabbed it and read through parts of it. If you do get a chance to read it, it puts Sarah Palin’s words into a broader context of what is happening in our country.

What is happening? Perhaps, an important part is that we are not valuing words enough. Too many people listen uncritically to whatever is on the TV or radio, whether it be the political commentaries of Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Sarah Palin, whether it be the constant stream of advertisements presenting a consumer oriented view of American Life, or even just the evening news.

Words do matter. They aren’t just words. They have impacts on how we live our lives, not only directly with great words like “All men are created equal”, but with the subtle use of those words; are women created equal as well? Do we have more to fear that fear itself, like those Islamic Terrorists that Sarah Palin is so afraid of?

What about the words in our daily lives? It is coming on Christmas and Hanukkah is just ending. I’ve tried to wish my friends that celebrate Hanukkah a Happy Hanukkah. I’ve tried to wish my friends that celebrate Christmas a Merry Christmas, and others I’ve simply tried to wish happy holidays.

More importantly, I try to tell my wife and my children how much I love them, and even in that, I don’t tell them that often enough. All of this, too is just words, but all of these words, from the grand words of our forefathers, through inclusive language, to our personal communications are all just the words that make up our lives.

So, whether you are a fellow blogger, journalist, political speech writer, or just a random visitor, I hope that you weigh carefully your words that we might all have a better 2010.