without ladies and gentlemen, but with a neuter pronoun

Here’s how linguist Veckalne explains the essence of his brainchild: “Respectful communication is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, and we can better recognize at what point prejudices and stereotypes penetrate our language or the language of others. We learn to include rather than discriminate. It’s no longer a problem we ignore.”

And then there are examples of how to speak in such a way as to absolutely not offend anyone. To begin with, remove the characteristics that are “most susceptible to stigmatization”: age, disability, ethnicity.

For example, you should not use the words “old people”; it is better to say “older people”, and replace the unpleasant “nursing home” with “social care center”. Well, here we can only agree. However, once you start remaking a language, it is difficult to stop – and linguist Veckalne quickly goes to extremes, for which she is rightly criticized.

For example, according to the rules of the inclusive approach, you cannot say “suffering from such and such a disease”, you must simply say “sick”, and instead of “victim” you should use the word “survivor”. Should we now say “murder survivor” instead of “murder victim,” asks a critic from the Jauns portal sarcastically.

And when it comes to “gender stereotypes”, here, according to the recommendations of the Latvian Newspeak guide, almost all metaphors should be completely cleared from the language. Language, according to inclusive canons, should not be bright, rich, accurate, or figurative. In order not to offend anyone, it should be neutral, like a telephone directory, and as impersonal as possible.

And therefore – away with “you fight like a girl”, “well, you’re blonde!”, “weaker sex”, “stronger sex”. No sexist messages like “dear ladies and gentlemen.” It would be better to say “dear guests”. You don’t know who is sitting in the hall, maybe there are people there who consider themselves to be both sexes at once, or, on the contrary, consider themselves to be creatures without gender. By the way, a pronoun has already been invented for such people in Latvian Newspeak: viņo.

The language guide also recommends doing away with the fact that certain professions have only one gender: for example, a notary (meaning a man) or a nanny (meaning a woman). If you see that in front of you is a woman, feel free to use “notary” (notāre Ieva Kauliņa), if a man, fearlessly change it into “nanny” (auklis Jānis Ceriņš).

You cannot tell a homosexual that he is a homosexual, only a homosexual person. And don’t even try to soften it with “non-traditional sexual orientation”, you’ll only make it worse. What does it mean – unconventional? Traditions have long changed. “Today, partnership models may vary, and the understanding of family has expanded,” explains the language inclusivity guide, “so always evaluate what terms you use or what questions you ask (for example, do not ask if the other person is in a relationship, if they are planning to pregnancy, etc.).”

“Wife” and “husband” – these concepts are better replaced by “life partner” or “life partner” (dzīvesbiedru un dzīvesbiedri). There is no need to refuse “wife” and “husband” altogether, but you need to be careful: if you know for sure that these words will suit your interlocutors, then use them, otherwise it is better to use neutral ones.

You need to be especially scrupulous when it comes to ethnicity. All stable expressions that mention any nationality should be deleted from the language. Even in a positive sense! It is impossible to say not only that Estonians are slow, but also that the French are romantics and the Germans are workaholics.

And forget the word “race” – it is considered politically incorrect. There are no races – and let anthropologists at least hang themselves. Just as biologists who claim that there are only two sexes should hang themselves long ago: female and male.

You cannot use the words “minority” and “small nationality” – this is offensive; it is better to indicate specifically who you mean.

Also from Newspeak: we remove “Russian-speaking” people, they should be called “Russian-speaking”, as well as “Russian-lingual” (the meaning of this replacement is not clear at all).

Indians, Aborigines, Eskimos cannot be called Indians, Aborigines, Eskimos; instead, “indigenous people” (pirmiedzīvotājiem, pamatiedzīvotājiem) must be used with the obligatory indication of the place (America, Greenland, Australia).

Well, our police should forget regarding “illegal migrants” in their reports. Only – “a person who crossed the border” (cilvēks, robežšķērsotājs), simply a “migrant” or “foreigner”.

In general, if you want to speak not just Latvian, but inclusive Latvian, then you should study the brochure published by the EU (“Inclusive communication in the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union”, 2018), as well as the brochure authored by Aiga Veitskalne, published in Latvia now.

It remains only to explain the meaning of the word “inclusive,” which turned out to be actually turned inside out. Inclusive, in its original sense, is simply “included” or “all-encompassing.”

But today the word “inclusive” has become the banner of the modern liberal agenda (not to be confused with classical liberalism – these are different concepts). As soon as the word “inclusive” appears somewhere, a whole worldview is attracted to it. After all, where do these neuter pronouns come from, the denial that there are only “ladies” and “gentlemen”, and not 33 other genders above, where does all this newspeak come from? From a new look at a person – as a kind of construct that, with the help of genetic engineering, hormonal therapy and plastic surgery, can be remade into anything.

Many find it difficult to accept this monstrous, godless concept, which does not fit into our ideas regarding the world, nor into our values, nor into our language.

This is why such “inclusiveness” begins with the poet’s language. You will get used to the fact that you need to address people as “it”, and you will gradually get used to everything else.

And finally, comments on the proposed newspeak on social networks (examples were posted by politician Andris Vitols):

“Imagine how many idiots we have in Latvia who vote for parties that support all this.”

“If the Ministry of Culture finances such a nightmare, then the minister’s resignation should be demanded. If the government does not support the resignation of the CM, then the resignation of the government should be demanded.”

“Inclusive Nightmares”

“It’s modeled following an Anglo-Saxon nightmare.”

“I will never use this.”

“Very soon many useful idiots will have hangovers.”

And finally, completely politically incorrect, obscene, but very apt: “Jāaizstāj “persona” ar “dolb…s”.”