“Let me invoke the ecological analogy. If we purchase food and other products whose processing or manufacture involves unethical use of resources or human labour, our participation in those systems is not ethically neutral.
If we boycott or protest unjust practices, we may not stop the practices, but we add to what may become a critical mass of resistance and, in however modest a way, support the change we hope for. This seems like fairly obvious reasoning.
What is less obvious is the extension of this reasoning to language practices. The analogy may carry more weight if we consider specifically what we all stand to lose if lies are tolerated. Lies that make their way into policy decisions, campaigns and marketing strategies erode the social contract that enables us all to count on what we’ve called professional ethics, business ethics, and the commitments that public servant make when they take oaths of office.”
Marilyn McEntyre, Caring for Words in a World of Lies, page 57
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