One of the other things I wanted to do, something I learned from Prynne, was point out the way capitalism colonises the language of nature. Bank, stream, branch, and here Burroughs is talking about a similar colonisation of colour.
The way language gets manipulated and how effective it can be is pretty fascinating/terrifying, torture becomes "enhanced interrogation techniques"; I read a review of Bleeding Edge which suggested that Pynchon's use of the term '11 September' was a conscious decision to duck what's now a brand, a slogan and a narrative in "9/11".