Today's chuckle from Donklephant: "If you buy Nike because you feel like just doing it, you’re an idiot." That's a snark in the body of a serious discussion of the descent of political discourse into catchphrase hell. It's worth a read.
Words matter a lot. At their best, they can inspire monumental acts and change millions of minds. But they are also bluntly utilitarian, simple tools we use for most of our daily communication. Political discourse must walk the divide between language as art and language as hammer. Politicians are expected to raise us up while also detailing the 24-steps to social security solvency – and they get no more than a short speech or a catchy phrase in which to capture their full essence. The distillation process rarely creates a smooth result.
Political slogans like corporate taglines should never be considered the end-all, be-all of communication. If you buy Nike because you feel like just doing it, you’re an idiot. Likewise, any voter who chooses a candidate based on their slogans is already living in their own idiocracy. I have a little more faith than Hitchens that, beneath the gauze of banality, real discussions are happening – not everywhere and maybe not even by the majority, but by enough voters and enough politicians to keep the abuse of language from becoming an abuse of governance.
Are we descending into an idiocracy? Well, probably no. But there are a lot of people who will "just do it" and cast their vote based on a slogan. Yes they can. After all, they've been waiting for themselves. Or something. Read it all, it's a good post.
By the way, isn't 'Nike' Greek for 'overpriced'? (Yes, I know what the word actually translates as.)
"But there are a lot of people who will "just do it" and cast their vote based on a slogan. "
Isn’t that the definition of an Obama supporter? After all, the guy hasn’t actually said anything of substance in months, he just spouts slogans and platitudes.