Topic: Political Correctness
Deceptions: A Short Essay on Labeling (The Gaza Slaughter PART 6/6) Some thoughts on how labels are used in conversation by human beings and in propaganda by governments, the media and other groups or individuals. If I may be so crass as to quote Shakespeare in Hamlet, "Words, words, words."by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Monday, January 5, 2009
All of the above are labels. They describe race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, or a political viewpoint. These labels bring different images or thoughts to mind to different people, and as I was writing this series something has become woefully obvious to me, besides the fact that writing about Israel or religion is like trying to walk on eggshells without breaking any. No matter what I write, the reader can never fully comprehend my exact thought pattern. Let me explain.
Take "Israeli" and "Palestinian" and combine them as the AP, CNN, and even Ron Paul, Cynthia McKinney and I have more or less done into the simple phrase: "The Israelis are attacking the Palestinians in Gaza." However, speaking for myself, this is not what I really want to convey.
I really intend to convey something like: "The Israelis, mostly the government hardliners who are not supported by the secular Jews and other peaceful individuals or religious Jews, nor by the shministim (conscientious objectors), nor by an undetermined number of other assorted individuals like Rebeka, Noah, or Habib, nor even by the 550 IDF "Courage to Refuse" soldiers who have pledged their continued service but refuse to have anything to do with military actions in the occupied territories, nor the current Ministers of Education and Commerce who disagree with the Gaza attacks but keep their mouth shut, nor the Knesset (parliament) members who have spoken out against the war, are attacking the Palestinians in Gaza, whom include many Hamas insurgents, some Hamas terrorists, many other armed individuals or factions, plenty of innocent families who both support and do not support Hamas, several Israelis and many other foreigners who believe in peace so much they are working with the many NGOs, etc." (photo)
So you see, using any label for groups has a high chance of failing to convey the speaker's true thoughts. Plus, my eyes would glaze over while typing such an elaboration, and any readers would quickly fall asleep.
However, it is a necessary habit for us humans to classify whatever we seek into groups, whether it is to classify Douglas fir trees and Ponderosa pine trees all together as evergreens, or to classify both Jews and Palestinians as Semites. [Yes, Semite is a general term for both groups, so if you on the side of the Palestinians technically you cannot possibly be anti-Semite.] We need labels to make sense of the world we live in.
Now, the socialists or collectivists, have a far stronger sense of this need to classify. Indeed, they have an insatiable innate desire to divide up people and hence master them. Their intellectuals and statist leaders - Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Bush II and many European rulers come to mind - often have very apt abilities to segregate peoples and cultivate or propagandize "Us Vs. Them" mentalities. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans comes to mind. So does the ever-present 'terrorist.' Unfortunately, their sheep-like followers do nothing more than excitedly parrot these leaders or intellectuals, or chew their cud peacefully content.
However, if one undergoes a paradigm shift and understands that everyone is a unique individual, not merely a boilerplate group of stereotypes; the world does a back-flip and is no longer recognizable. No longer are groups full of mindless robots all chanting the same stereotypes. No longer does racism exist.
Sure, group labels are still used for ease in human communication and debate, as ways for individuals to freely associate and describe the world we see, but when one looks through the lens as an individual, only other individuals stare back.
Hope you enjoyed reading a few of my thoughts in this series as I much as I did while writing them!
P.S. Nolan Chart columnist -savoy just finished a great article "The Battle for Your Mind" which I think is a better read on the same ideas that I am vainly trying to express above :)
Cynthia McKinney and the Israeli Attacks on the Dignity and USS Liberty (The Gaza Slaughter 4/6) Published: January 4, 2009 The recent episode of Cynthia McKinney's defenseless ship getting rammed by the Israeli Navy reminds me of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty some forty years ago. The story of the men on board the USS Liberty is one that every American should be fully aware of when discussing the Middle East and Israel. And who are the real heroes?
Ron Paul and I Stand Alone on Gaza and Israel (The Gaza Slaughter 5/6) Published: January 4, 2009 Although outvoted last year in the House by a vote of 404-1 on the Gaza situation, Ron Paul declared America's tacit blessing for other nations to start violence preemptive wars as intolerable. I agreed in an article on Kosovo where our embassy was attacked. But did you know some Israeli IDF soldiers agree with us?
Ron Paul Shows Some Outrage (The Gaza Slaughter - Epilogue) Published: January 11, 2009 Congress votes (again) 390-5 to wholeheartedly condemn Hamas and support Israeli military aggression. "This is not in the interest of the United States; it's not in the interests of Israel either." - Ron Paul
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings in part or full of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.
Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
"You can cage an animal but you can't take away the rage." - Shinedown, "Heroes" from their Us Vs. Them Album
Spill a Soda, Go to Jail for a Year Published: September 27, 2008 The latest strange-but-true antics of oppression from our dear Police State. Check out the story of the infamous soda-spiller at a Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Idaho.
The Drones Did It! Published: November 8, 2008 "The catch-all phrase - The War on Terror. In all honesty, has no more meaning than if you want to wage a War on criminal Gangsterism. Terrorism is a Tactic. You can't have a War against a Tactic. It's deliberately vague and nondefinable in order to justify and permit perpetual War anywhere and under any circumstances." - Dr. Ron Paul. Pakistan's Chaos Continues.
Police State Stomps on Iraq Veteran's Face as McBama Sanctions Attack on Freedom of Speech: The Story of the Hempstead 15 (Part 1/3) Published: October 25, 2008 What? Yet another event the media completely missed? After multiple attempts to engage McBama to answer their questions, the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) led a peaceful march on the last McCain-Obama Presidential Debate and were met with 30 mounted police and a horde of others in riot gear. The mounted police stamped on an Iraq war veteran's face and attacked the crowd. Ron Paul supporter and veteran Adam Kokesh was arrested as well.
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Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2009-01-06 08:44:05
Hi Jake,
I can be a nit picky bitch when it comes to words and meanings, mostly for fun, but sometimes for clarity of communication or to point out how one's words are out of synch with the consequences of their behavior.
So, I appreciated your take on the labels but have a few comments to offer.
1. Not all adjectives are "labels". For instance, I have physically taken steps to register myself as a member of the Republican party. However, when someone asserts that "you are a Republican" I often have no idea what they mean. So I clarify, by saying something like, "Yes, I am a registered member of the GOP, how is that related to the topic under discussion?" Then I can immediately get at what the other person means by applying that label to me.
2. I don't think "Israeli" is a label at all but "Zionist" certainly is. So, saying "The Israeli Army invaded Gaza." needs no qualification. However, saying "Zionists support the Israeli invasion of Gaza." would need some label clarification for zionist but Israeli is an unambiguous adjective in this context.
Personally I try to avoid labeling myself because it helps keep my thinking clear. For instance, I try to avoid saying, "I am a(n) X" where X could be "libertarian", "conservative", "screwdriver", "personal computer" etc. I never confuse my identity with a tool I choose to use even if my language sometimes slips into such miscommunicative patterns.
Keep up the good work. Communication isn't something that is done to someone. Communication is a result of efforts by both parties involved. If either fails to live up to their responsibility in the exchange then communication has not resulted from that exchange no matter what tools were used during the exchange.
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