A Rose by Any Other Name

Shakespeare famously said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. I don’t know if he was being sarcastic when he said that. If he wasn’t, then boy, was Shakespeare wrong! George Orwell, on the other hand, was spot on when he assumed that the most noble sounding terms would be used by the very people who would be its worst violators.

Take the official names of countries for instance. Like German Democratic Republic (East Germany), People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The first one wasn’t democratic, the second did mass deportations of its own and the third is the pious hub of all terrorism. Contrast that with the names of the countries that are truly free. Like the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Republic of India and the United States of America. Notice how their names make no tall claims about their intent and are just so, well, bland?

Or take the religion whose name means “peace”. And the one whose name is just derived from the tree under which its founder meditated. Now consider which one practices and justifies mass murders in its name? And which one is never used to justify any kind of violence?

Bottom line: The first set in each case believes that words were all that mattered. They believe in what Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”. The second set, well, they believe that actions speak louder than words.

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