# 15. Linguistic manipulation ## 15.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 15.5.5. Linguistic deprivation Is basically an extreme extension of the cage-trap method. It doesn't provide a linguistic framework for a victim's response, but goes even further by depriving them of any linguistic structure or method to respond or to adequately verbalise their response. It aims to make certain predetermined topics impossible to discuss. There are many cases of linguistic deprivation based on social taboos and prejudices. For instance, in some societies discussion of sexuality or personal emotions is taboo. In other countries it is socially forbidden to discuss personal medical problems, or money matters or even personal political attitudes. These are all forms of linguistic deprivation because they limit both subject matter and the language that can be used. History of education: This is by no means a new trick. For centuries the ruling classes of many societies have refused an adequate education to the peasantry reasoning that once the working classes are educated and capable of fluency and verbalisation, they can more easily conceptualise their feelings and communicate to others. An organised bunch of hungry, angry and articulate peasants would spell the end of a feudal system very quickly. It's long been understood that restricting the ability of the "working classes" to express themselves either verbally or in writing, is a sure method of keeping them docile and powerless. A poignant example of this principle is the treatment which some white southerners of pre-abolition America meted out to their slaves. Many plantation owners forbade their slaves to learn to read and write or even speak English "properly". When caught trying to learn or actually converse in non-pigeon English, an offending slave was summarily flogged for his efforts. Education was and is frequently seen by those in power as the precursor to conspiracy. Paradoxically, a similar barbarism was used to linguistically deprive many Irish schoolchildren in the nineteenth century of their mother tongue. Anglophile teachers forbade the use of the native Irish language because they themselves did not understand its complex dialects and they naturally suspected that it was being used to spread sedition. To combat this, (and they nearly succeeded in making the language extinct), these "educators" hung a small blackboard around their pupils' necks. When a linguistic "offence" was committed by a child, a mark was put on this blackboard and at the end of the day the marks on a child's chest were converted into harsh beatings. **Jargons and elitism**: In the context of manipulation on a day-to-day basis, modern linguistic deprivation manifests itself in a more mundane way. All elite groups practise the technique, either consciously or unconsciously, by inventing and using jargon to hide their real meaning from "the masses", to protect their privileged position and to curtail discussion. Scientists, civil servants, legislators, and capitalists all use their own peculiar form of "gobbledegook" in communicating amongst themselves to the exclusion of other groups and most of the population. An example of this would be the so-called "small print" in a contract or "terms and conditions". These tend to be phrased in a language completely alien to most of us. The objective is that we won't even bother trying to read and understand the "small print".