Teaching (or the Attempt to Educate People Who Use Big Words and Try to Sound Smart)

Almost daily, I find myself amazed at the stupidity on display on social media, or mainstream media for the most part. Since so many people tend to share, or copy and paste, or retweet, often with no real understanding of the words they are repeating, I thought I’d try to help them see exactly what it is they are spreading around. I guess I still think like a teacher, so let me try and stamp out some ignorance and provide some knowledge to the masses. Shall we start with a vocabulary lesson?

Let’s start with a few easy ones. (All definitions used below are from Dictionary.com)

Conservative – a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc. (adjective) disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.

Liberal – a person of liberal principles or views, especially in politics or religion. (adjective) 1) favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs. 2) Noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform, 3) Of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism, especially the freedom of the individual and governmental guarantees of individual rights and liberties, 4) Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties, 5) Favoring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief or expression, 6) Of or relating to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies, 7) Free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant, 8) Open-minded or tolerant, especially free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.

I am by definition conservative. I do want to preserve things like our constitution, the institution of marriage, the Bill of Rights, patriotism, the flag, and other widely attacked American ideals. On the other hand, I must confess to laughing out loud at some of the definitions that supposedly describe Liberals. Honestly, I supplied the most applicable definition for conservative of the three given. Liberals apparently are harder to define and I actually cut the final three definitions for the sake of space.

I’m not sure if this is accurately describes today’s liberals. I guess the first four points are reasonable, but I’m not sure how the huge federal government fits in. Number five, I found hilarious. I’ve yet to meet a liberal who thinks a conservative should be able to act on his or her own personal beliefs. And six is also questionable these days, as most liberals can’t seem to stand the American representative form of government. The last two definitions I left in just because I thought they were funny, since today’s liberals are some of the most prejudiced, bigoted, and intolerant folks around.

Anyway, read and decide how you think the definitions apply to you and the people you know.

Here are some other words I see every day. Just my opinion, but if you’re going to call people names, at least know what it is you are calling them, or accusing them of believing.

Racist – a person who believes in racism, the doctrine that one’s own racial group is superior or that a particular group is inferior to the others.

White Supremacist or White Supremacy – the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, especially black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society.

Fascist – a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism, a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

Nazi – 1) A member of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party, which controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler and advocated totalitarian government, territorial expansion, anti-Semitism, and Aryan supremacy, all these leading directly to World War II and the Holocaust. 2) A person elsewhere who holds similar views.

Socialist – an advocate or supporter of socialism, a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

The biggest problem I have with these labels is the cavalier way in which we throw them about. Again, just my opinion, but some people today are awfully quick to use these words as accusations with little or no facts to support their judgments. Unless someone proclaims his beliefs openly with words or actions, can we truly justify calling them names and smearing them with such derogatory labels? Not very tolerant these days, are we?

Unless you embrace the theory of implicit bias, that we are all racists, I would respectfully offer my opinion that there are way fewer racists and white supremacists running around than the liberal media would have you believe. There have always been fringe groups of crazy people of all kinds, but the idea that they are now the majority is just nuts. So is the belief that anyone who disagrees with you can be labeled a Fascist or a Nazi. Seriously? If I vote for someone you can’t stand, that makes me a Nazi? And Socialism is now openly espoused as an ideal by liberals? Hello? Have you looked at Venezuela recently? Not exactly paradise.

Let me conclude with this encouragement, be careful what you say and how you say it. Words have meaning. Words have impact. Choose them wisely. Use them wisely.