Claim: Political parties across the ideological spectrum reply on similar rhetorical strategies – such as euphemisms, loaded language, and abstract phrasing – to manipulate public perception, often obscuring harsh realities and reinforcing partisan narratives.
Thesis: Political Parties, regardless of ideological alignment, employ common rhetorical strategies- including euphemisms, loaded language, and abstract phrasing- to shape public perception, frequently masking difficult truths and perpetuating partisan agendas.
Introduction
In Politics and English Language, George Orwell states how political writing – whether from conservatives, liberals, or radicals – rely on the old phrases, vague abstract words, manipulation of perception through euphemisms, metaphors etc. to hide or blanket the harsh reality. This kind of language instead of helping shaping our thoughts in the right direction and showing the harsh reality, blurs the meaning and harsh truths behind hollow, decorative words. .This is not just a bad writing issue but a systematic problem with dangerous consequences. It deflects critical thinking. Orwell discussed how this corruption of language serves power. When politicians and activists repeat the ready-made phrases, they dodge the real debate by replacing the concrete facts and manipulating the emotions of people and keeping them from questioning on the essential issues. Political parties across the ideological spectrum employ shared rhetorical strategies – including euphemisms, loaded language, and abstract phrasing – to manipulate public perception, obscuring harsh realities and reinforcing partisan narratives.
Digital Doublespeak: How AI and Bots Weaponize Language
In today’s world, manipulation has taken form in a new form: computational propaganda. Governments and Political Parties use social media, ai , fake accounts and targeted disinformation as weapons to deceive people’s perspective- just as Orwell described language being used to “ make lies sound truthful”. The Oxford findings reveal: In 61 countries, evidences of political parties or politicians running for office who have used the tools and techniques of computational propaganda as part of their political campaigns have been found. These digital materialisms utilize the very techniques Orwell warned about euphemism, vagueness and outright deception – amplifies through algorithmic disruption and artificial intelligence. Where Orwell saw bureaucrats hiding colonial autocracies behind phrases like “pacification”, we now see autocrats deploying bot armies to rebrand oppression as “stability operations.” When false information spreads faster than the truth, language does not just decay but becomes a tool for mass control.