George Carlin was well known for his routine about the seven words you could not say on television. His point was to push the envelope on censorship. These days with pay television the words are no longer that restricted, indeed we often see some of them on regular programming (though not in this post, you can surf over to the link if u want to read them).
I think it is time for us to introduce certain terms that simply do not belong in political debate. I realize that the issues are often very intense and personal but there is a way to have debate and there is a way to become petty and vapid, and too often that happens in debates these days.
One word that cannot be used is Nazi and/or Fascist. I realize that for many on the left that there are people out there who seem to have impossibly reactionary political viewpoints. But let us remember what the *real* Nazi’s were like when they took power. These were people who literally set up concentration camps in order to imprison those who were their political opponents. These were monsters who murdered millions of innocent human beings.
Nothing that anyone in current politics is doing can come close to these kinds of crimes. Indeed to equate the current political environment to these monsters is an insult to the memories of those who died.
By the same token, those on the right need to refrain from the use of the word Communist or Marxist. Again, the true Marxists in the Soviet Union of the past and in the PRC of today are horrific monsters who imprison anyone who disagrees with them, they murder millions of people to remain in power. To try and compare these actions with anyone in American Politics is disgusting and a sign of a poor debater.
Other terms that should be banned are any references to slavery or segregation. I certainly understand that we are far from living in a color blind society, and many people of color do experience forms of discrimination that are humiliating, degrading and sometimes cost them jobs or other tangible things.
But once again this cannot compare to the terms that are being raised. In the age of slavery people of color were, quite literally, owned by other human beings. They were nothing more than property and could be used and abused in any way their masters saw fit.
In the era of segregation the ownership aspect was gone, at least as a matter of law, but in reality people were treated as little more than property. The mildest violation of a rigid code of conduct could lead to the harshest punishments.
In some cases men and women were murdered for looking the wrong way or saying the wrong things. Nothing today can compare with that and to raise those kinds of terms is an insult to those who struggled over the years to bring a level of freedom today.
None of this means you should refrain from expressing yourself with enthusiasm or from calling people to task when they go beyond the mainstream. But there are more reasonable terms that you can use to keep the debate civil and to avoid minimizing the horror of the true Nazis, the true Marxists, the true Slavers.
I’m sure there are some other terms that don’t belong in modern debate and I welcome you to offer your own thoughts.