The war in Ukraine gives a frightening opportunity to examine the power of words. Words create the world. Are we talking about a “military operation” or a war of aggression? Are we talking about ”cleansing Ukraine of Nazis” or about genocide ?
The leaders of a nation can with certain choices of words create stories in which people feel attracted to participate. The stories live inside us, they build a sense of community, and give a chance to identify oneself with its characters. At the same time, stories offer building materials for our inner realities.
Through stories, the world around us begins to seem more structured, which is necessary to help manage the frightening uncertainty and chaos around us. Stories may become parts of our identities, and identities tend to be permanent. Who am I if I am not a part of this great nation of liberators?
Of course, our understanding of the world is also affected by our direct observations of the environment, not only by the shared stories. If someone were telling us a story of himself as a healer but were torturing someone at the same time in front of our eyes, few if any would believe him. This kind of experience would be just shocking.
To keep alive the stories that help the tyrant stay in power, the people are simply denied access to facts, as has been done in Russia by closing independent media. The final seal in the process is adding the fear factor - anyone calling a war a war is threatened with a jail sentence - and acrabadabra, the reality of facts cannot undermine the fabricated story that supports the tyrant’s power any more.
It is exactly because of this struggle between realities that freedom of speech and independent media are as vital for the future of humankind as are solving environmental issues, fighting poverty, and enhancing the education of girls. We should also bear in mind that this struggle is going on everywhere around the world. The war in Ukraine just gives us an extremely clear example of how a whole nation can be held a hostage by words.
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