Semantic infiltration

Semantic infiltration is the "systematic distortion of meaning of certain words to confuse or mislead". According to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, it "is the process whereby we come to adopt the language of our adversaries in describing political reality". Eventually, “we pay for small concessions at the level of language with large setbacks at the level of practical politics”. In the Heritage Foundation’s journal, Policy Review, he wrote that, “Democracy is under assault from totalitarians masquerading as democrats. Nonetheless, we persist in dignifying these enemies of freedom with the terminology of freedom”. Examples of redefinitions include:
*’’Marxism’’: “teaching on the main laws of development of nature and society.”
*’’Maoism’’: “opportunist ideology and policy of the ruling circles in China, named after Mao Tse-tung.”
*’’Bolshevism’’: “the revolutionary Marxist trend of political thought in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.”
*’’Imperialism’’: “the highest and last stage of capitalism”.
Semantic infiltration was used to gain an unwarranted advantage especially during negotiations. Soviet negotiators would often use their own words with unique meanings to describe a concept. The word would be inserted into discussion, then repeated until the American or other Western negotiators would begin to use it. The meaning assigned to the word to be infiltrated would be predefined, in order to increase the favorability of the Soviet position.
It was not until the Cold War began to come to a close that the Americans also began to use semantic infiltration to control the terms of debate. Anthony R. Dolan, a former speechwriter for US President Ronald Reagan, referred to the term ‘’evil empire’’ a semantic infiltration. The term was used in a speech before the British House of Commons. It stuck with the Soviets and, like the term ‘’Iron Lady’’, they began to use it themselves, but unlike the term ‘’Iron Lady’’, it was not used in defiance. To Dolan, it reminded him of the movie Star Wars, in which there is a very clear evil that must be fought against.
Ideological Subversion
:See Also: Cultural infiltration
Yuri Bezmenov, a former-KGB officer who defected to the Canada, described and warned of the Soviet plan for ideological subversion, or active measures, of the US in a 1984 interview.
In the interview, he described the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (later named for Patrice Lumumba) as part of the overall plan. This university, under the direct control of the KGB and the Central Committee of the Communist Party, was where future leaders of “so-called ‘national liberation’ movements were educated and selected carefully”. This university churned out militants who were sent back to their countries of origin to lead these ‘national liberation’ movements. “Translated into normal human language,” Bezmenov said, they were “leaders of ‘’international terrorist groups’’”.
**The Associated Press revised its stylebook to state that it is no longer acceptable to use the term “illegal” to describe a person, but only an action, i.e. entering a country illegally. It also suggested that the term “undocumented” is imprecise, as “a person may have plenty of documents, just not the one’s required for legal residence”.
*”Racial profiling” when used as a pejorative - Iklé suggests that all Offender profiling done by law enforcement has demographic elements, including race. He says that term is used accusatorily to “ unwarranted advantage to those who want to hamper policemen”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Racist” when used to denote “anti-Jihadists” - Iklé asserts that Islam is a religion, not a race.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Xenophobic” and “Islamophobia” used as pejoratives - Iklé suggests that these terms are semantic infiltrations used to label fear or opposition to certain groups, but terms “xenophile” and “Islamophilia” are never used to “describe the opposite attitude”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Hispanics” used to describe anybody whose ancestors came from Spain - Iklé says this term was an invention of the Nixon Administration, as a new category of Americans “entitled to preferential treatment for college admissions and government contracts”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle /> He notes that Brazilians are not entitled to these benefits.
*”Affirmative Action” - Iklé views affirmative action as a “nice-sounding, soothing label the controversial policy of preferential treatment”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Industrial Action” - is a term now used by the British Labor Party, to not evoke negative emotions associated with the word “strike”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Gays” - a term that used to mean “merry, happy, and cheerful,” but has gradually been changed to mean “homosexuals”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Travelers” instead of “Gypsies” - A term picked up by the English press to describe nomadic peoples from northern India.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />
*”Underdeveloped countries”, “Less developed countries”, “Developing countries” - Iklé sees these terms as labels for “poorer countries,” which have changed over time because the previous one was “too derogatory”.<ref name=AmSpecIkle />

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