Language‑Spell as Status Gatekeeping

Elite public discourse often operates as a ritualized 'language spell' whose primary function is social boundary‑making rather than truth‑seeking: particular phrasings and taboos signal membership and exclude dissenters. When language becomes the primary test of insider status, factual disagreements are punished by social mechanics (status loss) rather than adjudicated on evidence. — If true, policymaking and public trust are driven less by arguments and more by who is performing the accepted ritual language, so fights over norms and terminology determine political outcomes and institutional legitimacy.