Saturday, November 9, 2019

Time for Some New Categories?

Many of the old-style ones don't work all that well today:

  • Conservative - does this mean small, limited government? Balanced budget? Social conservative?
  • Libertarian - a Heinlein-style Whatever Goes is Fine by Me? Someone who, on principle, would outlaw limitations on public nudity, sex, or drugs consumed? Someone who is inclined to Sarah Hoyt's Just Leave Me the Hell Alone philosophy? Reason.com's positions?
  • Progressive - this has devolved into a Big-Brother insistence on imposing themselves into just about every aspect of life, to the detriment of personal freedom to act like a jerk - which is still not against the law. Has come to mean Oppression by the Very-Well-Intentioned-Busybody.
  • Anti-Fa - Originally a way of referring to those opposed to the Right because they assumed that was a synonym for Nazi. Has come to mean that those identifying as the Good Ones, whose physical and verbal abuse of opponents is completely justified by the "obvious" horribleness of the opposition. Because They-Say-So.
I'm getting to like the Kurt Schlichter designation "The Normals".

Any other idea?

2 comments:

Francis W. Porretto said...

How about "American?" It used to mean something, anyway.

Brian Kilburn said...

The Patriot Act comes to mind.