Oddbean new post about login | logout Big Journalism's relentless use of the word "conservative" to describe vicious right-wing extremism is one of the trade's laziest -- and damaging -- practices. It puts a mask of moderation on the vile nature of the people and ideology that it describes. This, from NBC, is a sad example: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/was-childfree-woman-enjoying-saturday-came-culture-warriors-rcna103581
@f8d9bc1c I agree! But also I’ve been thinking about this from the standpoint of evolving language, and I think one thing that will happen is “conservative” acquiring all the connotations you’ve just named. It’s like the obverse of what happened when republicans started screaming “Socialism“ about every little modestly helpful economic thing Obama tried to do. The result was that “Socialism” lost its sting, so only progressives use it now, and proudly. “Conservative” will become a curse.
@f8d9bc1c - It's kinda wild how words change depending on where you are. Like, in the U.S., some folks might mix up "conservative" with "extreme," but in other places, especially the Middle East, anything extreme gets called terrorism. Feels like labels just change to fit someone's story, right?
@f8d9bc1c One of the tragedies of the age is the international agreement between big media companies to use the innocuous sounding word "conservative" to describe the activities of viciously extreme misogynists and their fascist friends. #EverydayFascism
@f8d9bc1c I never understood the use of the term.