POLLUTION
out of wild, hysterical charges, gross obscenities, dreary cliches, demagogy and unreason.” To that, a host of Americans can readily agree. Although our nation’s campuses are today inhabited by a large percentage of earnest and able young people, there are those student and non-student ag ita to rs who specialize in undisciplined speech. This speech is, among other things, characterized by unbridled emotion and invective. As one popular speaker said at a large university, “ follow your stomach, not your head.” In other words, let your thoughts and speech be
governed by passion and desire, not reason and careful reflection. Frequently the speeches are designed 1) to inflame the sympathetic but passive student, 2) to provide an outlet for anger, and, presumably, 3) to frighten or coerce those who might disagree with the speaker. Such speaking is not new. It is as old as the act of speech itself. It has long been the stock in trade of those who rely on feeling and force rather than knowledge and understanding. The despot, self-seeking politician, and unscrupulous propagandist often indulge in such rhetoric. Today those who use such Page 5
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