Re: [Offlist] IESG Statement On Oppressive or Exclusionary Language

["Carlos M. Martinez" <[e-mail]>]

Hi all

On 24 Jul 2020, at 20:11, Viktor Dukhovni wrote:

> And we also know that language policing can be an oppressive and
> exclusionary tool, and a great deal of caution and discretion is
> required to avoid that outcome.
>

I fully agree.

>    http://paulgraham.com/orth.html

A sobering read.

Language control has been for ages a preferred tool for societal/thought 
control. Just go over a bit of history and make a list of different 
organizations that tried to control language.

Without even googling:

- The Catholic Church during the Middle Ages
- Every fascist government in the first half of the 20th century
- Every military dictatorship during most of the 20th century
- Quite a few regimes currently in power. No need to name them, they are 
known to all

Language control creates a very powerful control tool that if it were to 
fall on the wrong hands. Even things created with the best intentions 
can do incredible harm if suddenly the wrong set of people are in 
charge.

As someone who grew up in a military dictatorship I have first hand 
experience on this. An uncle of mine spent a week in jail in 1974 just 
for uttering the word “communist” on the street. A word that had 
been banned.

The IETF has a lot of work to do in order to ensure an inclusive, open 
minded and welcoming environment, one that will lead to more and better 
technology being developed within its framework. Language control is not 
something that will help, and could be dangerous in the future.

/Carlos