Emitting from the gaseous hole that resides on the underside of the military-media complex, there is a new low in doublespeak.
Category: Words Poorly Used
Words Poorly Used #90 — Words Used by Lawyers
In view of the recent surge of new persons of legal letters descending on Sodom-on-the-Potomac, perhaps we can stand on the shoulders of giants by reviewing a selection of notable quotations regarding the quarreling class.
Words Poorly Used #89 — Loyalty
Every definition of the word, loyalty, that I find suggests that the loyalty arises for cause. Why do people who ask for loyalty seem to be holding a mental post-it note that adds “forever and in all events?”
Words Poorly Used #88 — Should
Today I heard an otherwise voluntaryist podcast, but it had far too many instances of the use of the word “should.” There were too many because “should,” in an independent clause is only another baseless assertion.
Words Poorly Used #87 — Open Borders
“Open borders” is a bit of an oxymoron. A border impairs or negatively influences passage, an opening enables or positively influences passage. Let there be natural borders and natural openings, without state interventions, without cultural definitions.
Words Poorly Used #86 — Anecdotal
Often people will say that an illustration is anecdotal, meaning that the example shown does not in itself constitute definitive evidence of the apparent result.
Words Poorly Used #85 — Agreement
For purposes of this discussion there are two disjunct forms of agreement. When a seller and a buyer reach a meeting point on a transaction, it is a meeting point of agreement.
Words Poorly Used #84 — Scientist
Once again we’ve see this too-broad-by-multiples word, scientist, asked to carry far more straw than would break a camel’s back. If we look at its etymology, we can see the truth that it was not meant to tote all the baggage attached to it today.
Words Poorly Used #82 — Process
Process overwhelms purpose. We wanted to live in a world free of crime, so we asked the state to make that guarantee, now we are guaranteed the abuses of crime and the abuses of the state. Substitute any antonym for a “public good” for which we have whored ourselves, and the statement holds.
Words Poorly Used #81 — Voluntarist/Voluntaryist
Dr. Higgs is right, our precious label is just another unmoored word. The word “voluntarist” was used in many contexts prior to Auberon Herbert’s selection of a variant, “voluntaryist,” as a label for his thoughts, and his thoughts differ critically from mainstream voluntaryism of today. Now what?