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   John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 03:03:22 JST John

   When a liberal calls someone "dumb", you could just as easily hear "crazy", or "mentally ill", etm. This is their language of erasure.

   And it's not a surprise that this language has been weaponized by the right wing, because they gleefully latch onto the liberals' most effective rhetorical tools and turn them back on them.

   We're about to enter an era when laws are written specifically to deny the "mentally ill" constitutional rights. But watch who gets defined as "mentally ill".

   • Embed this notice
     John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 03:03:18 JST John

     in reply to

     Are you a woman seeking the vote, or are you a woman suffering from hysteria? Are you a gay person with pride and a sense of self-worth, or are you a deviant and sex pervert in need of electro-shock? Are you a trans person who is beautiful and unique and precious, or are you someone who needs a lobotomy?

     Bandying about claims that people are mentally ill, or developing entire legal frameworks based on "mental illness", is profoundly irresponsible. It's one of Democrats' favorite things to do.

     Bill repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 03:03:19 JST John

     in reply to

     Is it a pandemic? According to the WHO, it absolutely still is. But if you ask Americans, they'll mostly tell you it's not.

     Are they protesters, or rioters?

     Did they die "from" COVID, or "with" COVID? Well, if you define it one way, we count it, if you define it the other, we don't.

     Is Mangione a terrorist? Or a murderer? Or a hero? Are protesters in Atlanta an organized crime syndicate, or people exercising their 1st Amendment rights?

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 03:03:20 JST John

     in reply to

     You'll notice that the one thing Israeli apologists will *not* countenance is calling Gaza a genocide. For a year, they've fought tooth and nail to prevent it being called that. Other critiques? They smile and ask you if you condemn Oct 7.

     But calling it a genocide? Total no-no.

     Because if it's not a genocide, it must be something else more acceptable: a war, perhaps, or "self-defense", or human shields or collateral damage.

     It's *defining* the conflict that has the most power in our world.

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) and Bill repeated this.
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     John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 03:03:21 JST John

     in reply to

     I think the greatest power in the modern world is the power to *define*.

     What is perfect? What is good?

     Who is mentally ill? Who is mentally sound?

     What does it mean to die "with" something rather than "from" something?

     What is a genocide? What is "self-defense"?

     What is "terrorism"? What is protest?

     By defining these terms, one sets the frame of the debate itself.

   • Embed this notice
     John (johnzajac@dice.camp)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 04:16:24 JST John

     in reply to

     When you create laws based solely on loosely-held "definitions", you invite corruption and abuse, especially by people who control our media, e.g. the ultra-wealthy.

     The rush to define anyone who uses "Deny, Defend, Depose" in any way as a "domestic terrorist" is a perfect example of this. If Mangione is a terrorist, it's Gitmo and oblivion for him. But if he's a folk hero? Well, we all know what jury nullification is, and so do our ruling class.