Power of Words

1. Words have the power to dehumanize people. They enabled someone to see other people as lesser or different so killing another human feels easier.
2. I agree with her. By giving the enemy a degrading name, the mind starts to see them in an unpleasant manner. The words we assign to the enemy set a boundary between the "us" and "them" and emphasize the differences, making them seem less human.
3. I see it mostly as an essay on words. After all, everything she says can go the other way. If we give a certain group a positive name or title, we again draw the boundary between us and them, but this time it is a positive boundary.
4. Though I think the language has a major impact on such events, I do not feel the necessarily make the even inevitable, but I definitely think they help cause them. In order for the such an atrocity to happen, the language must be in place.
5. While I read the essay, I kept waiting for her to mention some of the names against Americans used by our enemies. I feel that essay was weakened by not mentioning the, but I do think it was intentional. It gave the impression that Americans are the only ones to give such degrading names to others, making us seems like bad guys in this case.