I once read an article in The New York Times about how the period is on the brink of extinction. The writer’s logic went something like this: Hardly anyone uses punctuation in casual written communication, like text messages, tweets or IMs. When they do, it’s not to signal the end of a thought, but to add gravity to it. For example, “fine.” in the digital world comes off less like “fine” and more like “Fine!”
The writer may have a point about the tone and tenor of modern communication but I’m not buying into his idea Write one paragraph without punctuation and you’ll see my point We all need the period Full stop
“This is how civilization breaks down,” I complained at the time via Twitter. And I meant it too. Giving up the period was not fine with me. It was not Fine! at all.
This, by the way, all happened in June 2016. It was a simpler time back then—one where our democracy was intact and society was, more or less, functioning. We could all crack jokes about how civilization could come crashing down simply by the growing popularity of things we didn’t like: Lack of punctuation; Raisins in cookies; Maps as home decor.
It was all good fun because the premise of the joke, the very idea that society could hinge on a piece of dried fruit or the placement of a semicolon, was laughable. Such a thing would never happen!
We were all so smug back then when the phrase “lock her up” held no special significance and “swamp” was just another name for Florida. Donald Trump was hurtling toward the presidency at the time, but the likelihood that he would take down our democracy had about the same odds as that of a raisin.
As it turns out, civilization was a bit more fragile than we imagined. We proved as much this past week when we failed to maintain three separate but equal functioning branches of government.
For once I am not being hyperbolic. I really believe that this is the beginning of the end. Or at least it could be if we don’t course correct. I could get into the details of what happened and why I’m so disappointed, but any regular reader of this blog probably knows what I have to say so there’s really no need. Besides, so many people have already said it better.
Instead I want to talk about this: What’s next? If this is how we’ve decided to treat our most sacred institutions, the very foundation of our society, then what does it mean for all the little things we’ve built on top? The rules we learned as children; the values we claimed to have; the morals we supposedly hold dear.
Are we just not doing that anymore? Do we not care?
On the bright side, that linguist from the Times should be pretty happy. Now that democracy is on its way out, getting rid of punctuation should be easy. In fact, why stop with the period? Forget grammar altogether! throw out capitalization while you’re at it. Words don’t matter anymore why worry about sty;le when we we’re not even concerned with substace
Most of us have been playing by the book all this time because we believed in the social construct we had built. We followed the rules if not out of virtue then fear—because of laws and consequences and five-digit fines. We’ve all been working on the assumption that if we commit a crime, we have to pay for it. If we receive a judgment, we have to serve it. If we are sent a certified piece of mail, we have to respond to it.
But that’s not the case for all of us. If you’re paying even the barest attention, if you’re honest with yourself at all, then you have to admit that some of us are apparently above the law. And I want to know why that is. If some of the highest members of our government can ignore subpoenas or break their oaths, then why can’t all of us? Why are we all sitting around waiting to turn left on red or observing the speed limit or using a designated crosswalk when those in power are openly flouting the rules? Why do the laws apply to us and not to them? Why can’t everyone agree that this is really how civilization breaks down?
You always manage to beautifully capture exactly how I feel about pretty much everything. Period.
Thank you period
:)
Nova. Go on any random dating site and not only is basic punctuation gone but capitalization. Not spelling out words instead of U and ur but the most basic forms of communication have broken down to a bastardization of common English language. I spent timing texting with a 30 year old dieing to go to various places in the world. Complain about politics but the basic average male has thrown grammar and spelling out the window and you have to wonder are you being intentional or just intentionally ignorant?
Hm. Not sure I follow.
Ah, fully agree!
I’m supposed to fill in my tax form for this year by 31 March. I want to skip the process. But I know that in the end I’ll duly fill it in on time with all the correct numbers. I feel stupid for sticking to the law when Other People can get away with blatantly ignoring all rules.
Exactly. I feel like such a schmuck filing my tax return in 3 different countries reporting income earned in one place to the authorities in the others even though I’d doubt they’d ever track it down if I didn’t. Quite honestly, I feel like a schmuck paying anything at all considering all these people and companies with far far far more earnings than I aren’t paying a cent. I’m so over it… but still I’ll do the right thing come March because I the rules apply to me and also because I am sincerely holding out hope that order will be restored soon enough.
I am confronted with society breaking down in front of me on the freeways of Southern California every day. I also mourn the days when presidents of companies and CEOs sent out communications that did not contain their own special version of ellipses (I once had a VP who would just put however many dots he wanted together), or when some smart rad ladyperson was in the background making far less money but by gods making sure there were no errors in spelling and punctuation. Not that I want us to be underpaid. I just want sh*t to make sense. Gone are the days. Also, quit cutting me off unceremoniously, San Diego drivers.
Yes, gone are the days……….. welcome to the future! (……Am i doing this right?) I will admit that I am a terrible driver, a point that is compounded by the fact that I don’t do it very often. So sometimes when I unceremoniously cut someone off, it’s actually not a breakdown in society, so much as a complete lack of skill. And I guess that’s another thing we have to consider in this landscape……….maybe the person who managed to topple democracy doesn’t even know that he did.
Poignant. Oh, well obviously I swing in the anti-anti-period direction. I also have a well documented comma problem. But that’s not the point. I wanted to express my thoughts about why we are all sitting around waiting to turn left on red, and I’ll tell you up front I have an unusual take on things. I follow traffic RULES, most of which are codified in law, because it is in my own best interest. What I hear you saying is that you are very disturbed that top government officials are acting in their own best interest (or at least that’s the general impression.) I have a theory, that can be vetted factually that the founding fathers of the USA all held the same basic belief that people do that. Just. That. They always act in their own best interest – survival of the fittest. And here we are: the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning.
DAMN. vet those facts, write that article and call The Atlantic because I like this theory. Super interesting take. Thank you for reading and for sharing!!
I’m in total agreement. And yet… am I a fool for still holding on to hope? For keeping the faith? For believing that we are in a particularly bad moment, but that this too shall pass and we will come out of it with a deeper understanding of how to function properly? I’m angry, yes, but I need to believe that this current era is the exception, not the rule. We’re better than this, and they win by making us believe that we aren’t and that there’s no point in fighting it anymore.
Also, when I first starting reading this and you were all “the period is on the brink of extinction,” I definitely thought you meant the monthly agony of menstruation and I was very excited. C’est la vie
I am very hopeful that you are right! BUT I am also worried that you’re not. I honestly have no idea what will happen next – and perhaps the worst part of the equation is that the ways the rules are written are not exactly fair and also some people are prone to cheating. SO it’s not really enough for me and you to be angry and engaged. It might not matter at all. Also not for nothing, I don’t think simply reverting to the simplicity of 2016 is the same as actually moving forward. And I’m not sure everyone is one board with that concept or even understands the distinction. But I am also pretty far removed from the States at this point. I watch the news and talk to people, but I don’t really know what the sentiment is like on the ground.
Also. For your consideration: IUD. Yes, I know about the hormones and the risks and I’m not here to dish out medical advice BUT… it is so worth it for me because I also experienced monthly agony. It’s not extinction, but it is dormant and it is AWESOME.
Seems your site rejects me randomly, not sure why: I have ‘signed up’ to recieve email notifications but never got any, so I tried again and the snarky box at the top said ‘youre already signed up…”
no Im not.
And when I post comments here, they rarely show up which makes me wonder, how bad could they BE…
trying again
Yes – some people have told me that. If you send me an email I can check to see if you ever made it on the list. If you’re not there I can send you directions to TRY to fix the issue – though I’m not totally convinced it will work. Or it may be that I am just landing in your spam filter. This is common!
Thanks. :) You are super sweet.