One of my favorite columns of the old New York Times Magazine was On Language, most frequently penned by William Safire. Safire was famously conservative, but like HL Menken, he often turned his attention to the language of those in the headlines. This was back when liberals and conservatives could disagree about politics, but still read each other’s columns without shaking with anger.
I bring this up because in the various discussions about candidates for the open city council seats, I’ve noticed quite a bit of positioning. Certain people are often labeled as “moderate” while others are called “far left”. Even more fascinating to me is that no one seems to use the term “conservative” as a counterbalance to “liberal.” It’s as if there is only left and center, but no right.
Maybe this is because liberals (and let’s face it, everyone currently on or running for the city council is a Democrat) embrace the term “moderate” while conservatives tend to reject it. Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s Chief Strategist, rejected the idea that Bush was a moderate, calling him instead a “compassionate conservative.” This prompted Safire to say of the term “moderate”:
“From a conservative’s point of view, a moderate is the liberal’s way of avoiding the pejorative tag of liberal. From a liberal’s point of view, moderate is not only self-applicable but also a friendly way of describing a Republican who is not a hard-core, reactionary, troglodyte kook.”
From where I stand and in the context of Newton politics, any of these terms say more about the person using them than they do about the candidates themselves. Comparing a city councilor to the “far left” or to Bernie Sanders says quite a lot, since that is, to my ear, Conservative shorthand for “be afraid.” The fact that Bernie is not nearly as “far left” as the folks on Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN want us to believe is a case in point. On the other side of the spectrum, to someone supporting a city councilor who is working to move the needle on issues like transportation equity, attempts from a different city councilor to maintain the car-centric status quo may be seen as “conservative.”
But all that is just about politics and where on the spectrum we stand. It’s not the worst of what we can do.
No, that falls to the comments that range from the puerile to the outright vicious. In some cases, these comments veer into slander, often by people who hide behind pseudonymous identifiers. This needs to stop now. This forum cannot survive if we, as its users, do not treat each other with respect.
The point of all of this is to say that as we enter another election cycle, please be aware of the language you use, as much as that you read from other commenters.
Goodness gracious Mr. Tanowitz, do you mean to imply that there are people with strongly held positions out there who try to use language in an attempt to sway the minds of others? Such behavior is shocking! How can any of us, people of good conscience, ever let that stand? We must, absolutely must, come together, agree to disagree ever so politely and end the meeting with a heartfelt rendition of Kumbaya. I am sure that will fix everything.
Oh yes, however one does decide to use language to describe the politics of people like Mr. Sanders and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the very real fact remains that their approach to public policy likely cost the democrats the Senate and some seats in the House. Rather than making some (arguably insufficient) progress on many issues, we are now faced with the very real possibility of continued deadlock. So, whether you wish to label that which walks and talks like a duck as a duck or a goose or a cow matters little. In the end, the impact of these duck-like creatures should leave us all afraid.
Well said, Chuck. I hope people remember that those who are running for City Council are our neighbors and people with a strong sense of public service. They’ve made a choice of putting themselves out there for assessment by the rest of us, but that is no reason to question their good intentions. We can disagree with them about their positions or philosophy of government without being disagreeable.
I suggest people watch “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix. It’s a documentary-drama hybrid that’s timely as we enter this election season. I found it frightening.
It may be time for V14 to insist on at least real first names. As it is, several other local forums require full names and they have more commentary and with excellent moderation, the conversation tends to be more civil while allowing for a robust discussion.
@Chuck T-
Got it. Someone being called “Far left” by a conservative for you, appears to mean “Be afraid”.
Political strategists and fancy media analysts would call The use of “Far Left”, coded language” or a “dog whistle”, certainly if used by a conservative. The use of the terms “dog whistle”, and “coded language”are an underhanded, sleazy way to infer that the speaker of “Far left” is
most likely:
A Racist
A White Supremacist
A Nazi
By the time we reached Election Day, someone who referred to your language as “coded” or a “dog whistle, was saying you were all three.
While we are speaking about language and the need to be respectful and civil in our use of it, let’s talk about how we got here. Throughout Trump’s term we can probably all agree to some degree that he coined and used some pretty god-awful, cringe worthy terms in referring to just about everyone. Dehumanizing and debasing. Wrong and unacceptable in every way.
However, throughout the last 11 months, the Democrat party, including those at the very top of the food chain, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and even Joe Biden, debased themselves and dehumanized others by normalizing, weaponizing and repeatedly using the terms Racist, Nazi and White Supremacist when they referred to the voters that make up 47 percent of the country. Not a good look.
They used this language in the middle of a global pandemic.
They used this language at a time of racial strife.
Disgusting.
Not very “healing” or “uniting”
Respectful use of language is a two way street and should be practiced by those of all political persuasions.
Joe Biden has said he wants to “heal the country”. The most awesome, most historical, most glass ceiling shattering, most diverse, most educated, group of people he has selected to serve with him have cited Biden’s unprecedented ability to “unite people.”
That is going to be an awfully heavy lift considering Biden and those who are serving with him have been referring to nearly half the country as Racists, Nazis, and White Supremacists for the last 4 years
A very heavy lift.
As an administrator of this site @chuck, simple solve….real names. Or are we only targeting certain people (or ideologies) as the “mean people”?
PS. While comments can run the gamut, post are only allowed from one side of the political spectrum. And no, having “Guest Post” in the byline may was well be a scarlet letting that implies, “this person is not one of us”.
@Paul Green,
If someone uses the epithet ‘Far Left’ on someone who is patently not, then we can infer what we will about the poo-flinger.
As someone who grew up in the UK during the 1970s, I can assure you that people like AOC and Bernie are not far left.
Universal health care is not a radical idea. Affordable college education is not a radical idea. Equitable treatment of people by law enforcement and the justice system should damn well not be a radical idea.
Perhaps the people who voted for Trump might instead take a look at themselves in the mirror and reflect on why they were taken in by a conman who:
Had no experience of government whatsoever.
Had no discernible policies, except to lower taxes for the wealthy, and to undo whatever Obama did, because, why exactly? (Because Trump, promoter of birther crap, clearly had antipathy for America’s first Black president, maybe?)
Was a morally reprehensible tool.
If you complain that those who voted for Biden and against Trump have concerns about the motives and beliefs of those who voted the other way, well, let’s see:
Voters for Trump supported a man who described the actual neo-Nazis at Charlottesville as “very fine people”.
They supported a man who decried science, mocked people who wore masks, and abdicated his responsibility to safeguard the health of US citizens. We’re on track for a third of a million dead from Covid by the end of 2020, by the way.
They supported a man who attempted, and is still attempting, to subvert the will of the people by throwing baseless accusations of election fraud that have been routinely eviscerated by the courts whenever his “elite strike force” legal team try to bring suit.
The onus is on you, not on us, to defend the language you use.
@Jane,
Please don’t go down the “use your name” rabbit hole.
If I posted under the name “Pat” would it make me more credible?
I have used TWT since practically the birth of V14.
Like many that post under screen names, I am not comfortable discussing City issues publicly.
I have a lot at stake.
I am neither rude nor nasty to any other poster.
The moderators can police the issue…if there is one.
Some of our most constructive contributors use pseudonyms. Some nasty comments come from people using their names (in part or in full).
I’m a regular reader of the Universal Hub blog, one where it’s worth reading the comments, and nasty vs. nice absolutely does not correlate with name vs. pseudonym there either.
@RW-
I’m not a Trump voter. Sorry to pop your balloon. This thread is about language, and the use of it.
Words matter on both sides. Let’s be crystal clear about that.
I read your list of grievances and they are all valid, I’m not here to make excuses for someone I didn’t vote for or relitigate the 2020 election. I haven’t spent every single day of the last 4 years convulsing with hatred and bitterness over Donald Trump like so many people I know because I had a life to live and people I am responsible for. I refuse to spend the short time I have on this earth consumed by hatred.
On a side note, Newton will be having a municipal election in early 2021.
The citizens of Newton will have an “historic” opportunity to elect the only African American to the Newton City Council. The city council has a membership of 24. There is not a single African American on the city council. Zero. There is not one person in our city of 90,000 representing people of color. Shame on us all.
You can put your anger to good use and scratch your social justice itch by
helping to get Tarik Lucas elected.
As a lifelong lover of the English language and retired English teacher, I also worry about labels hastily applied to those that disagree with you. For example, by any yardstick I could be called a progressive of long standing. I marched for civil rights and against the Viet Nam War. I believe in going green, and my house has solar panels, mini-splits, and so forth. I drive an electric automobile. I believe in the dangers of climate change and the right of women to control their own bodies. I believe that black lives matter. The list could go on.
At the same time, though an enthusiastic supporter of affordable housing, I am skeptical that relying on developers to provide it is the best route to achieve it. Yet I have sat at meetings during which those who raised objections to some large developments and wondered if zoning reform would create any affordable units were criticized as not being progressive or called Nimbys. It was thus a revelation to me when at a recent area council meeting, several city councilors in attendance conceded that converting single-unit sites to multiple-unit ones was not truly a step towards affordable housing. Yet that was the way several groups were selling the proposal, as a way to atone for the discriminatory and exclusive housing laws of the past.
In brief, reality is complex, and reacting to that complexity by labeling opponents is not a helpful strategy.