One of the things I've noticed in the healthcare debate recently has been the rhetoric used by people on each side of the argument. The Left uses phrases like "universal coverage" (which has a positive connotation), while the Right responds with phrases such as "government takeover" and "socialized medicine" (which have very negative connotations). The Democrats label the public plan as an "option" (options are good, right?), while the Republicans call it a "government takeover" (eeeek!). And list of common words and phrases used by each side goes on and on. Democrats say we need "cost controls" and a public plan to increase "competition". Along with this, they frequently mention insurance companies "denying coverage". The Republicans, on the other hand, label the Left as "tax and spend liberals" and use words like "waste", "fraud", and "abuse" to describe the results of current government programs. But these words pale in comparison to the Right's big guns, words like "bureaucracy" (my personal favorite quote happening to be "death panels of government bureaucrats") and "rationing" which send chills down our spines.
In the end, the healthcare debate has turned out to be a debate over words, and it seems that whoever can win this battle will emerge the victor. How do you all feel about this? (and if you have more words and phrases to share, it will be greatly appreciated)
-Bryce Cody
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Word games are definitely not an effective way to discuss issues. These Republicans and Democrats are just rearranging furniture, not getting to the inner foundations, where the real issues lie. Lots of talk about nothing. And both sides are hurting themselves in the end by confusing their audiences with their creations of new terms that point back to the same definitions. This reminds me of the racial words Hayakawa explored. We create new names for ethnic groups when the current ones accumulate too much affective connotation.
ReplyDelete-- tori
I wouldn't go so far as to say word games are ineffective. I'm sure Republicans are accomplishing exactly what they want. I don't see the health care debate as a failure to communicate well, but rather as a successful political ploy to create a congressional log jam. Whoever associated cheaper health insurance with death panels did an excellent job frightening Americans away from the health care bill. Now Democrats need to use semantics equally effectively in order to keep that fear in check. Chalk one up for clever politicians.
ReplyDelete-Colin
I have to agree with Colin on this one. It's almost impossible for wordplay like this not to come into play. Actually, it could almost be used as a way of judging the controversy and media attention of the issue. If news items have both positive and negative names, they are in the public eye and are being argued over. If everybody calls an event or idea by a neutral name, either everybody agrees about it or nobody is really paying attention.
ReplyDelete-Melissa C.