Political Irony

6 Comments

1. wildwood wrote:

   It’s really amazing when you think about it, how they’ve managed to usurp the language and change the meaning of so many things. Anything “pro” is really “anti”, “liberal” and “education” are bad, “family” has been perverted and there are “wars” on just about everything.

   Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 10:58 am | Permalink
2. Jon Schuller wrote:

   As long as journalists and others keep a close watch on what they say versus what they do their ownership of subverting progress for all Americans will be made public.

   Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 11:32 am | Permalink
3. Michael wrote:

   Wildwood, while I can’t speak for the other words, the “pro” vs. “anti” wording is deliberate. When I was in high school (early ’90s), I went to a very conservative church. We were told in our youth group that we should never describe ourselves as anti-abortion. Marketing research had proven that you should never stake your stance as “anti-” because it is a weaker position. Instead of proclaiming what you are for, you are saying that you are against what someone else is for. You are reacting and defensive, rather than acting and showing initiative.

   Hence, “pro-life.” Sure, the term just means that you oppose the legality of abortion. (After all, I never met a single person at that church that opposed the death penalty.) Being for something plays so much better in marketing terms.

   Interestingly, the marketing research shows that it doesn’t even matter if you are “anti-” something that is very clearly bad. Being “anti-murder” is considered relatively weaker than “pro-self defense.” Anti-communism is weaker than pro-democracy. Being “pro-child protection” is much more powerful than being “anti-molestation.”

   Perhaps language is why the “pro-life” movement has had so much more success than, say, the “anti-capital punishment” one, despite the fact that the latter has significantly more objective facts and data on their side.

   Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 12:28 pm | Permalink
4. Anonymous wrote:

   1984 all over again.

   Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 6:57 pm | Permalink
5. hieronymus wrote:

   this is so perfect. Haha!

   Monday, April 8, 2013 at 4:47 am | Permalink
6. George Shaw wrote:

   Great job — a gold star. lol

   Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 7:15 pm | Permalink

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