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[Nettime-bold] Newspeak


Title: Newspeak
 
 

Newspeak

by Rob Moody

Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ~ George Orwell

One of the primary reasons we have seen a steady erosion of liberty since at least 1861 is that statists have created an endless stream of words and phrases to conceal their crimes, discredit freedom, and promote their own twisted ideology. During the last decade especially, there was an explosion of politically correct words, phrases and names, and our liberties suffered accordingly. In politics, language is crucial, because whoever controls the language controls the terms of the debate.

Walter Block has examined a dozen or so of these new words in depth, and Jörg Guido Hülsmann has done some good work on how the State uses signs and language to achieve its goals. But perhaps no one has better understood how language can be used as a political weapon than George Orwell. His "The Principles of Newspeak," an appendix to 1984, is fascinating, disturbing, and astoundingly prescient (he wrote it in 1948).

Although we can usually recognize Newspeak when statists use it on us, and libertarian writers point out the use of a single word or phrase from time to time, to my knowledge, we do not have anything like an Oldspeak/Newspeak dictionary or translation guide. As Newspeak begins to replace Oldspeak, I thought it might be helpful for us to have such a resource so we’ll be able to tell what everyone else is talking about.

Thus, I am pleased to present the first edition of The Oldspeak/Newspeak Translation Guide. Many of the Oldspeak words sound almost quaint, and hearken back to a simpler time when people were more easygoing and not so easily offended. Newspeak words are generally listed in the order in which they first appeared, or are grouped together by subject. For the proper pronunciation of Newspeak words, listen to how Linda Wertheimer pronounces them on NPR’s "All Things Considered" (you will hear them a lot on NPR).

Oldspeak

Newspeak

an armed gang

government

a mob

voters

subject

citizen

serf

taxpayer

living off the taxpayers

public service

murder

war

war

defending our values

the Founding Fathers

dead white European males, slave owners

War for Southern Independence

Civil War

enslaving free men

freeing the slaves

America’s biggest murderer and enslaver

Honest Abe, the Great Emancipator

world’s biggest murderer

Uncle Joe

the day that FDR became complicit in the deaths of 2,348 Americans

a day that will live in infamy

men who marched obediently off to war

the greatest generation

Department of War

Department of Defense

slavery

Selective Service

killing civilians

pacification

dead civilians

collateral damage

The School of the Americas

The Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation

Ponzi scheme

Social Security

a communist

an agrarian reformer

Ronald Reagan

an actor

Warren Beatty

presidential material

bums

the homeless

crazy

mentally ill

factory for low-skilled workers

sweatshop

selling inexpensive goods to Americans

dumping

charging the market price

price gouging

one who opposes programs that classify people by race

racist

one who opposes tax-funded programs for homosexuals

homophobe

opposing tax-funded art

censorship

a dead constitution

a living document

become more liberal

grow

Negro, colored, black

African-American, people of color

Mexican

Hispanic

Hispanic

Latino

Indians

Native Americans, indigenous peoples

jungle

rainforest

swamp

wetland

vermin

endangered species

czar

czar

major pharmaceutical supplier

drug kingpin

lack of discipline

Attention Deficit Disorder

the fraternal twin of methamphetamine

Ritalin

heroin-addicted rock singer who blew his brains out

spokesperson for a generation

burn

desecrate

individualist

separatist

professional assassins

Hostage Rescue Team

enormous cattle futures profits

beginner’s luck

what the Dixie Mafia did to Clinton’s enemies

putting people first

better put some ice on that

I feel your pain

socialism

Third Way

39.6%

their fair share

tax

contribution

spend

invest

rent

property tax

church

compound

incinerating children

stopping child abuse

growing government

reinventing government

fascism

public-private partnership

liberal women

soccer moms

conservative men

angry white males

voters expressing their wishes

throwing a temper tantrum

the era of big government is just beginning

the era of big government is over

a reduction in the planned growth rate of spending

a spending cut

moderately conservative

extremist

fiscally conservative

mean-spirited

reducing the growth rate of school lunch programs

taking food from the mouths of children

the cry of a modern-day Paul Revere

They’re coming for the children!

one who opposes a strong government

fascist

caving to Democrats

bipartisan

staunch conservatives

the extra chromosome right wing

Third World plumbing

low-flush toilets

500,000 slaves

200 million slaves

housing project

affordable housing

food stamps

WIC

welfare

Earned Income Tax Credit

welfare recipients

clients

racial discrimination

Affirmative Action

quotas

goals

homogenous opinion

diversity

approval of everything

tolerance

avoiding unprofitable areas

redlining

slouching towards Gomorrah

building a bridge to the 21st century

collectivism

it takes a village

FBI files in the White House

a bureaucratic snafu

one of Clinton’s former sex partners

stalker, bimbo, slut

kiss and tell

bimbo eruptions

everyone but the Clintons

a vast, right-wing conspiracy

oral sex, phone sex

a relationship

aspirin factory

chemical weapons plant

is

(it depends)

perjury, obstruction of justice

defending the Constitution

the 42nd white President

the first black President

Clinton’s values

our values

affordable handgun

Saturday Night Special

rifle

assault rifle

effective bullets

cop-killer bullets

people violence

gun violence

gun owner

gun nut, barrel sucker

the NRA

the gun lobby

unconstitutional gun laws

common sense gun laws

guns

illicit small arms

100 women

1,000,000 moms

ugly woman

feminist

infanticide

a medical procedure

irresponsible fathers

deadbeat dads

workplace where a lot of jokes are told

hostile work environment

he, his

she, her

women

womyn

history

herstory

marriage

slavery

admire

ogle

touch

paw, grope

consensual sex

rape

poor

low-income

above-market wage

living wage

charity

giving back to the community

ignoring profitable investment opportunities

socially responsible investing

old person

senior citizen

figurehead

minority-owned

blind

visually impaired

deaf

hearing impaired

handicapped

differently abled

retarded

mentally challenged

midget, dwarf

vertically challenged

fat

famine resistant

politically correct

Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher

reeducation camp

sensitivity training, diversity training

Washington Bullets

Washington Wizards

St. John’s Redmen

St. John’s Red Storm

Miami (Ohio) Redskins

Miami (Ohio) RedHawks

squaw

(some other name)

genetically modified food

Frankenfood

food grown with manure

organic food

legalized theft

taxation, civil asset forfeiture, eminent domain, condemnation

fingerprint machine

inkless scanning device

hate thought, celebrating Columbus Day

hate crime

one who keeps what he earns

tax cheat

suburbia

urban sprawl

timber that’s way overdue to be harvested

old growth forest

central planning

smart growth

subway

light rail

undeveloped land

greenspace

vacant lot

passive park

badlands

national monument

desolate wasteland of frozen tundra

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

government schools

public schools

more NEA members

smaller class sizes

zero common sense

zero tolerance

kitchen knife, Tweety Bird key chain, paper gun, french fry

weapons

private hard money

counterfeit money

fiat money

hard currency

large bank transactions

money laundering

private loans to high-risk borrowers

predatory lending, loan sharking

government loans to high-risk borrowers

student loans, SBA loans, etc.

shakedown

reparations

urban renewal by government and black people

empowerment zone

urban renewal by private industry and white people

gentrification

liberal

neoconservative

empire, hegemony

national greatness

liberal Republican

maverick, principled

a free planet

the Death Star

loss of freedom

reform

restricting free speech

campaign finance reform

campaign contributors

special interests

socialism lite

compassionate conservatism

maturity, seriousness

gravitas

tax expatriate

freeloader

welfare recipients

working families

the phenomenon that some people can afford better technology than others

the digital divide

successful company

monopoly

successful businessmen

robber barons

competitive

anti-competitive, predatory pricing

what a monopoly tells its customers

thank you for choosing BellSouth

successful people

the top 1%, winners of life’s lottery

take money from other people and give it to you

fight for you

wanting to keep more of your own money

greed

rat hole

lockbox

republic

democracy

chaos

anarchy

companies

polluters

large companies

Big Oil, Big Tobacco

Reds

the Green Party

contest every absentee ballot

count every vote

tax and spend

fiscal responsibility

adding a huge new benefit to a program on the brink of insolvency

modernizing Medicare

Third World countries

developing countries

government building

nation building

leaders on the losing side of a war with the U.S.

war criminals

Henry Kissinger, Robert MacNamara, et al

statesmen

one-world government

global governance

countries with lower tax rates

unfair tax competition

energy companies

pirates, marauders, gougers, greedy profiteers, snakes

price controls

deregulation

Socialist

Independent

taxpayer-funded

universal

power grab

close the loophole, bill of rights

excuse for the nanny state

public safety

excuse for tyranny

for the children

Carnivore

DCS1000

jewfish

goliath grouper

small tax cuts planned for future years, increases in other taxes, payments to non-taxpayers

tax cut

an intern I had an affair with

a good friend

convicted felons

disenfranchised voters

Clarence Thomas

Hitler

libertarians

libertoids, kids, Lincoln-hating states’ rightsers who confuse nostalgia for a fictional past with an achievable agenda for the future

Future Name Changes

Aunt Jemimah

Sustainable Syrup

Uncle Ben’s

Recyclable Rice

Winn Dixie

Winn Union

Washington Redskins

Washington Red Ink

Cleveland Indians

Cleveland New Dealers

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Too Busy To Haters

the White House

the President’s House


July 7, 2001

Rob Moody [send him mail] is a financial planner in Atlanta and lives in Kennesaw, where every household is required to own a gun.

Copyright © 2001 LewRockwell.com

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