“Politics and the English Language,” By George Orwell

Orwell is awesome, but his linguistics were long-ago debunked. For a good, easy-going (popular) assessment of modern linguistics pick up one of Steven Pinker's books. He tries to ram through his own conception (mentalese), but despite this he still offers a nice survey (and strong argument against Orwell).

It's hard to take Orwell seriously when he launches into histrionics in the first two paragraphs of his essay. He makes valid points (the selected quotes are almost indecipherable), but it's difficult to to see how the particular abuses of language that he cites are responsible for the decline of our civilization.

If anything, it's the opposite. Our language seems to be getting more puerile, simplistic and filled with sound bites. I agree with him that succinctness and brevity are things we should strive for, however even that is not a panacea for vapid ideas and muddled thinking.