Thursday, June 07, 2012

Quote of the Day: Dangerous Word Called “We”

‘We’ is one of the most dangerous words in the English language, particularly when bandied about in Western representative democracy.

It’s a term often used when a politician wants to thrust a burden or obligation onto everyone else’s shoulders, but without being too direct about it.

‘We’ masks responsibility by pushing the burden to some nebulous collective like ‘society’ or ‘the country’ rather than directly to individuals. This makes things much more palatable.

For example, it’s easier to say “We have a responsibility” rather than ”You three guys– Don, John, and Bill, have a responsibility.”

‘We’ is disarming. It makes the stakes seems smaller, so it’s easier to achieve buy-in. And this is what makes it so dangerous… because in actuality, ‘we’ is code for ‘you’.

That’s from Simon Black at the Sovereign Man discussing the Soda Ban in New York.

In the world of politics, language is deliberately contorted so as it would be made to appeal to the unthinking masses who then becomes subject to manipulations via brainwashing by political agents.

Well what else is new?

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