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Notes -
I tend toward the prescriptivist end of things simply because if words don’t have fairly solid definitions, any sort of communication between groups is difficult or impossible. If we don’t mean the same thing when using the same word, if I mean “race supremacist” when I say “racist” and you mean “not specifically dismantling white privilege”, we aren’t communicating effectively here. And either we begin inserting potted definitions in our writing, or we accept that the other person is going to take you to mean the worst possible thing.
The issue is that when there is a correct language, it creates a target for any group to seize for its own ends. And if you trust the people best positioned to seize correct language--university academics, media personalities, and government bureaucrats--to be careful stewards of useful, pleasant English, I don't know what to tell you.
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