We need to stop letting the right-wing appropriate and corrupt our lingo. We make it so easy for them. Every time they latch onto a word, as soon as they do, that word becomes taboo or at least faux pas among leftists/progressives. Even when it was previously used by them…
Like the whole “OK” symbol thing. It was completely innocuous until some twerps on 4chan started making shit up about it actually meaning “WP,” and we gave it to them that easily. There was virtually no pushback. No one saying “No, it means okay.” Anyone who tried got accused of dogwhistling. Suddenly you can’t make the “OK” sign without being called a white supremacist anymore.
That’s just an example, but it happens so often. That’s why I tend to roll my eyes whenever I find out a new word is apparently a dogwhistle. There are so many of them that seem so innocuous on the surface, you can’t convince me everyone using them is doing so maliciously. A lot of people probably just haven’t heard that it has a distorted meaning now.
And I’m always afraid that anything I say might actually be some secret fascist codeword, or at least that people think it is. Because the truth is, I don’t know their secret code, if they even have one. Why would I?
That and they tend to take our words and innoculate their base against them. I cant even count the times I’ve started speaking to someone I disagree with on some level but as soon as I use the proper language to explain it they shut down or get pissy.
Its like they’re sleeper agents.
I have to speak to them like a child just to get to the point of “hey, I’m not your enemy because we disagree. The media is made to make us fight.”
Right wing media doesn’t just tell them what to be upset about, it tells them exactly what you would say when you try to tell them the truth.
We need to stop letting the right-wing appropriate and corrupt our lingo. We make it so easy for them. Every time they latch onto a word, as soon as they do, that word becomes taboo or at least faux pas among leftists/progressives. Even when it was previously used by them…
Like the whole “OK” symbol thing. It was completely innocuous until some twerps on 4chan started making shit up about it actually meaning “WP,” and we gave it to them that easily. There was virtually no pushback. No one saying “No, it means okay.” Anyone who tried got accused of dogwhistling. Suddenly you can’t make the “OK” sign without being called a white supremacist anymore.
That’s just an example, but it happens so often. That’s why I tend to roll my eyes whenever I find out a new word is apparently a dogwhistle. There are so many of them that seem so innocuous on the surface, you can’t convince me everyone using them is doing so maliciously. A lot of people probably just haven’t heard that it has a distorted meaning now.
And I’m always afraid that anything I say might actually be some secret fascist codeword, or at least that people think it is. Because the truth is, I don’t know their secret code, if they even have one. Why would I?
That and they tend to take our words and innoculate their base against them. I cant even count the times I’ve started speaking to someone I disagree with on some level but as soon as I use the proper language to explain it they shut down or get pissy.
Its like they’re sleeper agents.
I have to speak to them like a child just to get to the point of “hey, I’m not your enemy because we disagree. The media is made to make us fight.”
Right wing media doesn’t just tell them what to be upset about, it tells them exactly what you would say when you try to tell them the truth.
Yeah, that rings true. I’ve stopped trying.