I am enjoying listening to some of the language used in the current election campaign. Just listen to our politicians, and watch how they create new meanings for words and phrases.
Take Mark Latham for instance and his "ladder of opportunity" pitched towards aspirational voters. What the hell is an aspirational voter, you ask? Well, aspirationals are people who want a better life for themselves and their families. Which should not be confused with non-aspirational voters who must want a worse life... I can't help but wonder if my parents werent aspirational, or my grandparents, and for that fact anyone who has ever lived here. They only exist now because it took until 2004 to find the right political word.... Afterall in the past aspirationals might have been called philistines or social climbers
What about John Howard? He likes to talk about battlers, as does Mark Latham. It's almost as though everyone who is not a battler is at risk of being called elite, especially if you drive a 4WD or drink cafe latte. I remember in a not too distant past when a few of these battlers could be called bludgers....
They are two of my favorites that show how language evolves, and how our politicians embrace lingual fashions to sell their messages, even if it means painting new definitions of words and phrases:
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean- neither more nor less"
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master- that's all."
- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass.
Which is to be master, indeed!
Good post. I can't help thinking that all this "boxing" of people only serves to distance politicians from genuine contact with the rich diversity of the real world. And emphasises the frame of politics-as-board-game instead of being about real issues.
Posted by: Johnnie Moore | Monday, September 27, 2004 at 10:03 PM