posted
Occasionally I find that an entire political debate is being waged by those who have taken the initiative to capture the language first. Once they have that ground, it is easier to manipulate the debate.
Today's example: Public Employee.
The phrase used to be Public Worker, but those seeking to privatize this cost, and those seeking to diminish the power of their Democrat leaning unions, didn't like the idea that we would associate these people with actual work. So the word worker was replaced.
The most common term was "Public Servant". Apparently this was considered to nice, to much associated with "service" that they actually provided.
A servant is that butler from Bat-Man, or Mr. Belvidere, Alice from the Brady Bunch, Hazel if you are old enough to remember her. You don't mistreat servants unless your a stuck up snotty English aristocrat who's murderous ways are stopped by a little old lady in an Agatha Christie book. Servants have power that mere Employees don't. So Public Servants were dropped.
Employees are people you can lay off, fire, or remove. Their is a superiority one gets if one is the employer, and they merely the subordinate employee. An employee is that pimply faced kid at the fast food place that gave you the wrong sandwich. An employee is a cost. An employee is someone you don't respect.
Workers and Servants give value.
We don't want those we blame for our problems to have or give value.
So the debate centered on the rights and powers of Public Employees.
Of course some may debate this. I hope others find other words being used as political weapons and post them here.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Primer refresh: language framing / newspeak, prejudicial language as an appeal to motive
Straightforward examples: "Fair Tax," "Democrat Party," fox news' belated attempt at "Homicide Bombing," "Liberal Elite" or "Liberal Elitist," "Tax and Spend Liberal" etc.
(the last one is particularly lulzy, since, yes, taxing and then spending is what should be done and is wholly appropriate, rather than the apparent counter-response of not taxing, then spending anyway)
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
It happens here on this board. Political debates often end up having more time spent arguing over a word choice or point of logic instead of the issue itself.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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quote: A servant is that butler from Bat-Man, or Mr. Belvidere, Alice from the Brady Bunch, Hazel if you are old enough to remember her. You don't mistreat servants unless your a stuck up snotty English aristocrat who's murderous ways are stopped by a little old lady in an Agatha Christie book. Servants have power that mere Employees don't. So Public Servants were dropped.
Employees are people you can lay off, fire, or remove. Their is a superiority one gets if one is the employer, and they merely the subordinate employee. An employee is that pimply faced kid at the fast food place that gave you the wrong sandwich. An employee is a cost. An employee is someone you don't respect.
I've got to say, the words "servant" and "employee" do not have those connotations for everybody. For many, "servant" has connotations of being a subservient lackey to a master that "employee" does not.
Personally, the idea that an employee is primarily a liability is completely new to me. As an employee, I feel that I am appreciated and respected because of the knowledge, skills, and work that I bring to the group.
posted
Servant I would rank far lower than employee. Servant is someone who serves you generally. An employee is some one you employ for fair renumeration to undertake a well-defined job.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Political debates often end up having more time spent arguing over a word choice or point of logic instead of the issue itself.
What do you mean "time spent", I don't think that the issue at hand is a temporal deficient!
Someone posts something political. Someone else comments on it. From there on, the discussion is no longer about the issue but about the word choice and/or logic of either the OP or the first responder. Perhaps "more posts" would be more appropriate than "more time."
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
I thought "public employee" was the Politically Correct form of "public worker." And I didn't think Republicans had the corner on Politically Correct. Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Servant may have negative connotations, but I don't believe public servant ever did. In that case, the word servant is actually being used in kinda the same way as the song Dobie linked: a servant to a greater good that is respected by people for the work they do.
Posts: 3564 | Registered: Sep 2001
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