Keeping up with the destigmatizing and appropriate vocabulary changes is like playing Scrabble, rearranging the tiles to create new terms.
Since man created societies, there has been the haves and the have nots. The haves have. The have nots do not have. Another word for the have nots is poor.
Elected officials love poor people. They and others love the poor so much, they keep them impoverished, generation after generation.
The other day, I heard a loving local politician refer to the poor as underserved. For the past several years, politicians and word weasels keep changing the vocabulary. They do not do this to erase a stigma on the poor or anyone else. They change words to feel better about themselves for doing nothing.
We had the poor, poverty, impoverished, disadvantaged, distressed, now underserved.
Underserved is just what it means, the opposite of overserved. Politicians cannot overserve people, now, can they? We cannot have large numbers of overserved people stumbling or driving on the streets.
There was welfare. Now it is called benefits, assistance, and entitlements. Food assistance is called SNAP. SNAP is snappier than food assistance.
Take homelessness, a decades-long major problem in Chicago. Ever since the pandemic, homelessness has increased. There are encampments of all sizes throughout the city. What did our political word weasels do? They came up with the term unhoused to take the stigma off them for doing nothing. What next? Unapartmented? Uncondoed?
How about the word problem? We no longer have problems. We have issues. No matter the problem, it is merely an issue. Issue sounds warmer and easier to swallow than that harsh word problem. When an issue becomes a problem, they call it a crisis. Crisis is scarier than problem and gives the impression that elected officials are doing something when they do nothing.
There used to be pollution. Along came global warming. Then it became climate change. Then, climate emergency. Now, we have a climate crisis. What next? Climate apocalypse? Climate Armageddon? Climate rapture? Climate end times?
There were peaceful protests, civil disobedience, and riots. When a peaceful protest turns into a riot, it is now called a peaceful protest with some disruptions. We cannot allow violent protest, so we ignore it.
Equality was replaced with equity because those wily elected officials realized we are only created equal on paper. We no longer treat people as equals. We must treat all people as equitable.
Superintendent of Police David Brown has great word weasels. Every week he has new plans, strategies, deployments, and precision deployments in his failure to curb violent crime in Chicago.
There used to be all kinds of hucksters, con artists, and hawkers selling products and snake oil on television and in magazines. Some were politicians. With the advent of social media, they are called influencers. Some are or become celebrities. They tout everything and anything, raking in bucks or claiming fame on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. There are online courses on how to become an influencer overnight.
For some unknown reason, we put xs on the ends of terms, like Latinx. How come there are no Italianx, Polishx, Irishx, Blackx, or other racex or nationalityx? Are we not an inclusive society?
We used to have sexes. Now, they are genders. The number of genders keeps growing. Soon, gender will replace sex as an activity. We will have gender between the sheets.
Politician is fading out of use. Politicians are called candidates or elected officials. They needed to change the word because politician became associated with corruption, lies, immorality, and other negative connotations. Politicianx sounds better and more inclusive.
We used to have ex-convicts. Then they were called ex-felons and former felons. They are now called formerly incarcerated since many continue being felons after their incarceration.
There were alcoholics and addicts. They are now substance abusers.
Prostitutes, strippers, and pornography performers are now sex workers. Sex worker is more appropriate because they work for a living.
We were a nation of principles. Now, we are a nation of values or morals, though we practice neither. By the way, we never practiced principles.
Religion is falling out of use. People of faith or the faithful are the new terms. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious buildings are called places of worship. One word became a mouthful.
The vocabulary changes come so fast it is hard to keep up. It intensifies my anti-social tendencies. I no longer know what proper terms to use, so I no longer talk to people in fear of making a major faux pas.
The Age of Ignorance and Pumpkin Spice
Published by pvbella on September 2, 2021From the time I was a small boy until my early teen years, my sainted mother always told me to never talk to strangers. It was the only good advice I remember her giving. It is the reason I am anti-social. The Chicago Police Department paid me to talk to strangers, even stranger danger. My attitude is, if a stranger wants to talk to me, they can pay me, buy me a drink, or a meal.
Like most sane, intelligent people (Cough, cough), I spent a lot of time alone during the COVID pandemic. Most of the time, I did not feel lonely. I stayed in my own bubble, fishbowl, or whatever you want to call it when I ventured out. I was happy in my cantankerous solitude.
During the lockdown, I took daily long walks, weather permitting. During the coldest winter days, I spent way too much time on the Internet or streaming videos. If it wasn’t for my phone, I would have been an ideal hermit. I could have emerged as a wandering shouting preacher of the coming rapture. Just look what is going around in this nation of dips**ts.
When things loosened up, everyone wanted to be a social butterfly. People wanted to chat about everything. What’s your name, what do you do, where do you live, are you married. single, divorced, gay, why are you here every day, on and on with questions. It is like the pandemic bred and trained a host of FBI interrogators. I started asking people for their credentials and if they were wearing a wire.
I had a lot of time to think, which in my case, is a dangerous proposition. Most of the news was terrible. I followed the Greatest Show on Earth, the circus in Washington. I kept a close eye on the comedy show in Chicago and Springfield. I concluded that politics is a s**t show, and the politicians are full of it. From the White House to the outhouse, it is all cazzate*.
Spending time on the Internet, I realized, social media is inhabited by angry, angsty teenagers from all age groups. Some middle-aged and older people make teenagers look happy. I found out a good portion of my city and the nation is inhabited and run by some of the dumbest best-educated people in the world.
From the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, anti-child vaxxers to those promoting a livestock dewormer to cure and prevent COVID. They will not get vaccinated to prevent the disease, but they will take Ivermectin to prevent COVID. It is Logic -100.
Since Fall is upon us, if I were a social media influencer, I would be a full-blown anti-vaxxer. I would promote pumpkin spice as a preventative and cure for COVID. People would be lining up to gulp, snort, or inject that crap. Ivy League-educated politicians from Bubbaland would be mandating it.
Pumpkin spice is readily available and does nothing to take away freedumb. The more the FDA or CDC condemned pumpkin spice, the more people would want it. They would trade everything, including sex, to get it. The drug cartels would start making and exporting it.
People ask me why I am so angry. I am not mad. Anger implies I have the power or control to change things. If I did, we would live in a fairytale world where unicorns run free, and there would be pumpkin spice for everyone.
I am more disappointed than angry. The only people who are trying to make a difference in this country do so in relative anonymity. They do what is morally required, feed and clothe the poor, take care of children, give hope to the hopeless, and love to the unloved. Politicians are useless. They are all talk and no action. They tout values and morals they do not have or believe in.
I have voted in elections for fifty years. From the local level to the federal level, every politician promised to change things to make our lives better. They changed nothing, did nothing, and continue to do nothing. There is no such thing as a good politician.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get to the stores and on the Internet to stock up and horde pumpkin spice. It will be my road to massive wealth. Pumpkin spice will rival cryptocurrency, and I want to be in on the basement floor.
*Bulls**t in Italian