I remember a day in grade school where one of my classmates was standing in the corner of the playground crying while a group of kids surrounded him and were calling him fatty.
Most of us know better now. We do this behind people’s backs.
Anyway, the kid, whose name I won’t mention here in case he’s reading, was heavier than most kids in the class. But I’d been to his home and he was quite fit compared to his family members.
Is he a fatty?
Words
Since my Friday Mixed Bag post here, I’ve been thinking a lot about words.
I’m watching a British show and the actor asks his buddy for a fag. His buddy hands him a cigarette. That conversation might go in a different direction here in the US of A.
Most words require context, even for people within the same circle, never mind sharing a language across an ocean. That context can come from other words or gestures, or mannerisms.
But some words like fatty are highly charged and stand on their own. The word can certainly hurt – it hurt my classmate. But, in his case, was it accurate? Maybe, maybe not.
Friday’s Post
So how do I tie this in to Friday’s mixed bag?
Bear with me, there are several steps.
After the initial publishing, I started reading more from Dave Barry and came a cross a video that I added to the original post. My point was to give folks a glimpse of Dave, who I find incredibly funny.
But I started thinking because towards the end he says “when people say jokes now, there is a large segment of the population that doesn’t even begin to enjoy it as humor. They’re looking for a reason to get offended, or if they’re not offended they know someone who would be offended or should be offended. They’re already parsing it for what’s wrong with it without even considering if it’s funny.”
This had me thinking about the political climate we’re in.
As that’s circling my brain, I read about the Cracker Barrel rebranding crisis on Allsides.
I thought this was interesting.
I always find that the best way to get someone to listen to me is to call them an idiot.
Words (Again)
So now I’m thinking about the words that exist today in our political lexicon.
I know, I could have just said that, but my parents paid a lot for me to get an English degree so I need to use it on occasion.
I feel like – and this is my opinion, I’m interested in yours. Please comment.
I feel like, many of these words dilute our message and make it impossible to have a civilized conversation.
Here are a few examples.
Misogynist
There is a political figure, I won’t name names, who is often referred to as a misogynist.
A misogynist hates women. Yet this person has named women to some very senior positions.
I will agree that this political figure has made some well documented derogatory comments about women. And men. And blacks, and whites, and asians…
The problem seems to be that when someone publicly brands him as a misogynist and tries to begin a discussion, the person on the other side has already said to themselves, “no, that’s not true. I have evidence that he’s not (remember the women in senior positions)” so if you’re starting with something that’s not accurate, no need for me to listen further.
Woke
This is another common one. “That’s woke.”
Per our friends at Merriam Webster
The word starts out OK but then evolves into an insult.
Back to the Cracker Barrel guy, I do see his point, everything the right doesn’t like seems to be woke. While everything the left doesn’t like is racist or misogynist.
My Analysis
I’m going even further out on the limb here. Bear with me.
Cracker Barrel has been around for a long time. And the logo, much like Aunt Jemima and the Quaker Oats guy are part of many of our childhoods.
There seems to be a feeling (I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, I’m just acknowledging that it exists) that these things are being taken away from us even though no one really feels offended. I don’t know that to be true or not true, but I go back to Dave Barry’s comment. We seem to be hunting for things that may offend someone else.
I may be wrong. There may be protests that I missed. I’ll admit, I stay far off on the sidelines. It’s certainly quieter.
But!!!
We can’t even trust protesters. Did you know that often they are paid? Read this from the LA times. Or see below from wikipedia.
For those looking for work in retirement, this is a booming field.
Closers
My dad would refer to words and phrases like woke, racist or misogynist as closers. Often he looked at me when he said this as I was the smartass in the room.
Closers end a conversation. They shut-down dialog. They’re one-sided.
Wrap Up
I think there is quite a bit of danger to our society in the way our political discourse has evolved. At a time when we need to be working together to solve problems, we’re sometimes too busy taking sides rather than finding the best path forward.
I’ve watched this unfold with the national guard coming into Washington DC.
On one side, folks are shouting crime is down in DC, we don’t need more policing.
On the other side, folks are walking through DC. There are lots of homeless. Many areas aren’t safe. This is our nation’s capital. Is this the best we can do?
To me, I think we should be able to do better. Not just in DC, but all of our cities. But I’m also a little leary about the US government sending troops into cities.
I bet there is an answer somewhere in between, but I’ll be wiling to wager that a conversation is unlikely to occur in which both sides will agree that we have a problem and will be willing to work together to come up with a better solution.