Wednesday, July 22, 2009

More 'bad' words

These are words that bad people very often use to attack good people or that bad people use to justify their own harmful actions.

Additional bad words:

'Inappropriate'

This word seems to really just mean being against tradition, against social norms. It doesn't have to be a bad word but usually when you ask someone why the given action is 'inappropriate' they can't actually give a reason. It's usually just that they're mindlessly following some social norm and disapprove of someone else who isn't. And, often the thing is, the 'inappropriate' person was just more questioning of social norms and found a particular norm to have no useful value thus discarded it.

This word is then used to justify disapproving of them without actually giving any coherent reason why.

'Privacy'/'Private'

Only slightly a 'bad word'. But what's the difference between privacy and secrecy? To have one's privacy is OK but to be secretive isn't. When someone uses the word privacy it's understood that you can't question them further and it's not that they're being secretive, it's just that they have the right to their privacy.
...not necessarily a bad word but certain people will often use it as an excuse to be secretive, etc.

Of course generally speaking honesty/openness is a good thing instead of secrecy/withholding.

'flip flopper'/'waffler'

This is a retarded rightwing propaganda word which attempts to make being openminded and thus able to change your mind some kind of negative. Hardly worth mentioning as it's so far gone beyond the pale.

Past words:
emotional blackmail, manipulative, stalker, troll... ?

These words can be put into the mouths of fictional villains. Also useful to remember these words as you go about your life in the real world. See the weapons of the ... bad people.

The 'bad people'. Heh, it's so obvious it's hardly worth posting an article. (But the way one forgets...) We are to an extent shaped by our language. Such common 'bad' words have been used to shape our culture, our norms. But I'm stuck with 'bad people' to describe ...? The people who cause a relatively large amount of harm. The relatively closeminded. The short termers. The indifferent. The people who more generally use force. The stupid. What term is there? "Bad people."

What of 'evil'? The word should not exist. A crude simplification which reduces our thoughts to dysfunctional anger/force.

I suppose one doesn't really want to have a specific term for such people so much because one wants to dislike the actions not the person. Of course such considerations don't hold them back in return.

I suppose I'd call them Short Termers. The Short Termers. These are a few words they're far more likely to use.

...'nutters'. This is one as anyone who dares question the basic social norms of this society (any truly good person) is in danger of being called a nutter. It is also a word that is insensitive to people who are genuinely mentally ill. But, it's perhaps mostly just a politically incorrect word as opposed to being a word that stands as part of the material of the wall which closes off meaningful examination of harmful social norms.

Or simply calling a person mentally ill.

The social norms of 'the good german,' of post-industrial living have won. Of monogamy, capitalism (including in how the proclaimed socialists act), etc. To actually really step outside does of course mean potentially being smeared as mentally ill.

The Short Termer will stoop to such an attack more often than the Long Termer. And also may genuinely believe in their opinion/not realize they're just smearing. The Short Termer is the conservative blindly following tradition. Anything different is a bizarre scary thing outside their comprehension. Thus the jump to claiming anyone who says they're causing harm is mentally ill is often not much of a jump.