Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Just for the record...

You don't make bigotry go away by dressing up your language.

The turban head dress popular in the middle east, Persia and south west Asia is a practical garment, especially in desert climates, I have no problem with that. But the religious authorities in Iran wear it for ideological reasons--I doubt they spend much time riding their camels in the desert any more. Not only are they ragheads, the women they force to wear those silly head scarves are too. You cannot engage in meaningful debate with cultists.

A more North American example: cowboy gear such as Stetson hats, pointy-toed high heel boots, bandannas and chaps make sense on folks who earn their living in the saddle, but they are a contemptible affectation when employed as a fashion statement by cattleman wannabees.

Note how gay people have outflanked their enemies by embracing the word "queer". And I heartily endorse the terms "fascist" and "Nazi" where it is obviously appropriate, as is the case with Donald Trump and his redneck trailer trash peckerhead followers. The "C" in NAACP has a long and honorable precedent. We've been calling aboriginal Americans "Indians" for five centuries now!

Liberals are getting way too sensitive about cosmetic nomenclature issues. Lets face it, illegal aliens are both illegal AND alien. Even they know that. Insisting on calling them "undocumented" does not address any of the real legal and moral issues involved. It only serves to ignore and obscure them by substituting for them meaningless linguistic nit-picking. It only succeeds in making our righteous cause seem trivial and ridiculous.

I don't flaunt "pronouns", either. Using the masculine as a default when gender has not otherwise been specified has always been perfectly legitimate English usage.

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