Words Can Mean Whatever You Choose

by Herbert I. London
February 8, 2010 at 4:30 am

http://www.hudson-ny.org/1046/words-can-mean-whatever-you-choose

The contemporary spokesmen for government, business and the academy have taken a page out of Alice in Wonderland: Words mean whatever you choose to have them mean. At some point, words had meanings detached from the user. They were ideas that stood on their own, buttressed by Webster’s Dictionary. Now, of course, they are unmoored, set adrift by sophists who employ words for advantage or even to change meaning. The Orwellian reversal of language, e.g. “war is peace,” has been taken to a new level of manipulation.

President Obama no longer refers to enemy combatants; they are now “isolated radicals.” This is a blinkered attempt to suggest that it isn’t jihadists we are opposed to, but the most radical elements within this category. Similarly, we are not in a war against terrorists; we are rather in overseas operations.

On the homefront the word “stimulus” has been expunged from public usage as it did not stimulate: it is now “spending.” “No new taxes” - a campaign pledge - has been converted into “new taxes.”. “Transparency,” as in all government action will be transparent and visible on C-Span, has been transmogrified into secrecy as in the Healthcare bill of 2000 pages that will not be made available for public review.

The redistribution of wealth - an apparent government objective - is understood as taking from Peter to give to Paul, a condition with which Paul rarely objects. Bonuses, even if built into iron clad contracts, are little more than manifestations of “exploitation.” -- an argument made by community organizers who, if there were truth in advertising, would be called “radical adherents.”

In an effort to appear conciliatory, almost every spokesmen refers to Islam as a “religion of peace,” even though it is a “religion of submission.” Moreover, it is also known, but rarely stated that not every Muslim is a terrorist, but almost every terrorist is a Muslim. In the same vein, jihad can be a source of spiritual fulfillment or an act of killing apostates in the name of Allah.

To put the best possible cast on any current government action the words “previous administration” are now a code for “its Bush’s fault.” If the president says “we’ve run out of money,” he means “we’ve run out of money for things I do not want to fund.” On the education front, the administration is keen on “a race to the top,” but if one were to consider results, it is really “a race to the middle,” with the “best” student category shrinking and the lowest scoring students improving slightly -- leading to a compression at the mean.

It is also instructive that the word “rights” is employed at least ten times more frequently than “duties.” Rights have become what others give or confer; duties, by contrast, have entered the realm of disuse. Another word is “privilege,” which based on K Street influence, is something you “buy,” comparable to the Middle age practice of buying Indulgencies to assure salvation.

There has also been a brouhaha over the Attorney General’s desire for civilian trials for those accused of terrorist activity. Whether one agrees with this stance or not - and I am in the “not” category - this decision means, in effect, that people all around the globe and in every circumstance, are protected by provisions of our Constitution.

I suspect that Americans may also be distressed to learn that “elections” are not the expressed will of the people, but instead the will of some of the people -- after Census manipulation and the intervention of ACORN operatives. Democracy becomes, then, not the will of the majority, but the will of a minority who know how to hold on to power.

For pragmatists who maintain “realpoilitc,” democracy itself is the casualty, as the goal becomes the staying in power at any price.

For the cynics, any time a politician says I believe in “honoring my commitments,” he really means “dishonoring my commitments.”

But then again is it really only cynics who smile at staying in power and believe in dishonoring committments?

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