Today's NYT has an atricle: "Simpler Terms: If It's 'Orwellian,' It's Probably not":
But as advertisers have known for a long time,
> no audience is easier to beguile than one that > is smugly confident of its own sophistication. > The word "Orwellian" contributes to that impression. > Like "propaganda," it implies an aesthetic judgment > more than a moral one. Calling an expression Orwellian > means not that it's deceptive but that it's crudely deceptive.
Today, the real damage isn't done by the euphemisms
> and circumlocutions that we're likely to describe as > Orwellian. "Ethnic cleansing," "revenue enhancement," > "voluntary regulation," "tree-density reduction," > "faith-based initiatives," "extra affirmative action," > "single-payer plans" — these terms may be oblique, > but at least they wear their obliquity on their sleeves.
Rather, the words that do the most political
> work are simple ones — "jobs and growth," "family values" > and "color-blind" not to mention "life" and "choice." > But concrete words like these are the hardest ones to > see through. They're opaque when you hold them up to the light.
Orwell knew that, of course. "To see what is in
> front of one's nose needs a constant struggle" — > not what you'd call an Orwellian sentiment, but > very like the man.
Last weeki, I experienced the experiential paradigm of
Heidegger's discussion of how we (yes, "you" all you
PhD physicists and psycho-physicists, as well as
less highly trained persons) fail to see what is most
near {"Being": the being of beings, the event of experiencing
which we are in contrast to the stuff in the field of
experience, etc.): The man looking for his eyeglasses
when they are on his nose. [I eventually found them,
there(sic)]"Yours in the transparent fog...."
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
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