Words & Lost Meanings
Progressives have contributed no shortage of examples. “Harm” or being “unsafe” now mean little more than “disagreement” or “discomfort.” “Trauma” has become shorthand for any negative feelings whatsoever. “Violence” now encompasses both words and “silence.” Left-wing culture warriors call the online backlashes to their antics “abuse”, while labeling their own public shaming campaigns as “accountability.” Many progressive commentators also routinely characterize criticism as “harassment” or “targeted harassment”, or declare that they are being “targeted” as though they’re Salman Rushdie, in order to curry sympathy and the coveted “I’m so sorry this is happening to you” replies.
…On matters of immigration, the populist right collapsed the views of everyone from the center right to the far left into one undifferentiated mass. Anything short of drastic immigration cutbacks, mass deportations, and walling the country behind electrified ramparts defended by orbital rail guns is now “open borders.” But for all that the right bloviates about “law and order”, it’s very much a “rules for thee but not for me” affair. Indeed, any attempt to hold right-wing politicians to account for actual crimes committed is dubbed “lawfare”, which until recently meant a deliberate misuse of the legal system for partisan political aims.
