“Communication is a two way process,” says the cliché. Communication will not occur unless the message sent is also received and it must be received accurately, as the sender intends. Unfortunately, many times receivers do not hear what senders intend, especially when the messages involve politics. Because it is full of loaded words like freedom, liberty, liberal, conservative, right winger, left winger, socialist, capitalist, statist, collectivist, racist, sexist, homophobe and so forth, political discourse often fails to meet the basic requirements of communication.
Some loaded words that are often barriers to communication:
Freedom – “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (Jesus the Christ, John 8:32). The freedom of Christ is freedom from slavery to sin. It has nothing to do with personal, political or economic freedom. “Freedom is not the permission to do what you like but the power to do what you ought” (Lord Acton). “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” (from “Me and Bobby McGee” written by Kris Kristofferson, performed most famously by Janis Joplin). In most contexts I hear the word freedom used in personal, economic, or political senses, each of which is subjective, emotional, and often irrational. Writers and speakers rarely define their terms.
Liberal – Depending upon where one is on the political spectrum a good or bad word. To themselves liberals are generous, loving, compassionate, and open-minded. To others liberals are generous with other people’s money, loving of the perverse, compassionate toward criminals but not victims, and impervious to ideas other than their own.
Conservative – To liberals conservatives are a bunch of mean-spirited, hate filled racists, sexists, and homophobes who want to kill everyone but pre born children. Conservatives disagree, of course. As one wag opined, “People are liberal or conservative until their oxen are gored.”
Right winger, Left winger – the terms left and right originated in the French National Assembly and were applied to parties in accordance with where they sat in relation to the Speaker. Jacobins or radicals sat to his left, conservatives in the center, and reactionaries to his right. Jacobins wanted rapid radical change, conservatives defended the status quo, and reactionaries hoped to return to the good old days.
And there are many others, enough to fill many pages. Some writers use the phrase right wing as a debate clincher as if nothing else need be said. Some use the words racist, sexist, and homophobic against conservatives in order to cut off debate.
Truth is, many opinion contributors write either to preach to the converted or to annoy those with whom they disagree. Some write to straighten others out with their versions of the facts, or as Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts.” Then there are those who write to show readers how smart they are.
Daniel J. Boorstin wrote, “The greatest barrier to progress is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge,” or more colorfully, as said by Mark Twain, “It’s not what you don’t know that that gets you in trouble; it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Political rhetoric either spoken or written often contains lots of heat but not much light. Nevertheless, it’s fun and serves a useful public purpose, and careful readers sometimes learn things they don’t know.
Columns
February 16, 2009
STUMPTALK: Beam me up, Scotty. No one here listens
- Columns
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GARY'S WORLD: Thank our veterans this weekend
A tremendous opportunity presents itself in our community this weekend — an opportunity to honor those who served in the Vietnam War. Personally, after attending last year's first Welcome Home celebration, I wouldn't want to miss this. It was an emotional event for both Vietnam veterans and ordinary citizens. It was a great way to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in Tennessee, March 29.
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RANDOM THOUGHTS: "Antiques Roadshow" comes to Tennessee
If you are one of the 10 million who watch each episode of the “Antiques Roadshow” mark your calendar. The three upcoming Mondays, March 30, April 6 and April 13, were all taped in Chattanooga last July.
- LION AND THE LAMB: An open letter to Sharon Baier I was happy to read your well-written article, printed in last week's Chronicle. It makes a strong case, in the story of Al and Jennifer, that "To make money, you have to spend money." That misguided couple thought that they ought to cut down on their purchase of supplies, to save money. They did so, week after week, until they lost their business.
- WE THE PEOPLE: Veterans storm the Hill When young men and women risk their lives and sacrifice both physical and mental health for their country, a grateful country should at least provide them with shelter, food, and health care. But there is a lot of hypocrisy between what some windbag says on Veterans Day and what the country actually does for veterans.
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THEREFORE I AM: Kids stress out parents? Well, duh!
This just in: According to an expert, children can add stress and strain to a marriage. In other news, further expert studies have indicated that the sky is in fact blue, Paris Hilton is a tad spoiled, peanut butter and chocolate taste great together, and the Middle East has issues. Thank goodness we have experts to tell us these things.
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INSIDE THE FIRST AMENDMENT: With shekels come shackles
When President Obama launched his faith-based initiative at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, he promised not only to sustain the Bush administration’s signature domestic program — but to expand it.
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THEREFORE I AM: Jim Croce and I will keep you safe and sound
My philosophy of life is simple: When in doubt, follow the advice of a dead folk-rock star. I always found Jim Croce to be particularly handy in this capacity. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind. Don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and regardless of how badly you may want to, do not, under any circumstances, mess around with Jim.
- STUMPTALK: Stimulating a war on prosperity and freedom Near Bush’s sunset, Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed chairman Bernanke terrified the nation with “the sky’s falling and America is doomed” unless the government steps in with new regulations, institutional takeovers and massive lending.
- WE THE PEOPLE: Thoughts on bringing a recession to heel Responding to the recent full-throated baying of conservative “economic watchdogs,” I slogged into the swamp of their icon Adam Smith’s murky tome, “The Wealth of Nations,” to see if they had finally treed anything of value.
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LION AND THE LAMB: Reality
Dim blue of early morning shines into the living room
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