I used to tell my Freshman econ students I could end poverty overnight. Back then, poverty was defined as an income of about $12000 for a family of four. The students asked me to tell them how I could end it.
I said: “Simple. You line up everyone who makes $12000 or less and you shoot them.” Their eyes went as big as hubcaps. I went on to ask: “How long will it take before the person making $12001 starts bitching because they are the poorest person in the country?” We went on to have a meaningful discussion of how poverty can’t be eliminated because it is artificially defined: politicians continually move the goal posts. Indeed, poverty now allows the poor to own a car, flat screen TVs, and cell phones. Compare that to the “poverty” seen in many Third World countries. The measure in this country is a bad political joke.
Good post.
Almost every term the leftists use can be deconstructed in similar ways—they do a “bait and switch” every time.
They take a commonly used and understood term and change the definition to fit their agenda of the day.
Of course “the issue is not the issue, the revolution is the issue”.
Recent examples include changing the definition of man and woman, democracy, vaccine, hate, climate....
It would take several volumes just to fully deconstruct one paragraph of text from the New York Slimes or the Washington Compost.
They use words as weapons of war against us.