Life comes at us in cycles. Tides rise and fall, moons wax and wane, and pendulums swing from side to side. Lately, Democrats' fortunes have been waning, and so has their woke ideology and lexicon. One leading indicator is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's removal of her preferred pronouns from her X profile, a move so seismic that it made the news in India and spawned many gags across social and traditional media.
Joking aside, never underestimate the power of language, especially concerning politics, governance, and the ideologies behind them. Marxists pay a lot of attention to language, and we should too. According to the 1929 essay Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, “Language etiquette, speech tact, and other forms of adjusting an utterance to the hierarchical organization of society have tremendous importance in devising the basic behavioral genres.”
Language affects behavior, and we need to take back the English language. Now, as a public service, here’s a small list of words and phrases worthy of being thrown in the ash heap of history.
Workers - This one is #1 on my personal Hit Parade. Communists yell, “Workers of the world unite!” People who have jobs in China, North Korea, and elsewhere can call themselves workers if they like. But Americans are not ‘workers.’ They are employees, staff, trade professionals, journeymen, craftsmen, contractors, etc. Stop reducing people’s talents to a Leftist trope.
Toxic Masculinity - Arsenic is toxic. Lead is toxic. Masculinity is not toxic. Masculinity means being a stand-up guy, a mensch, a Regular Joe. If some miscreant assaults women or slaps them so hard they’re spun around, they’re boorish pervs and criminals. Arrest them, try them, and jail them if they’re guilty. They’re not toxic; they're just (expletive deleted.)
Biological Men - Men are not ‘biological’ men; they’re just men. If a guy has the requisite chromosomes, he’s a man. Using a five-syllable modifier is silly. Please stop it. (Hat tip to Chris Plante.)
Biological Women - ibid.
Chest Feeding - Only a science denier would say this. The chest is that part of the body between the neck and the abdomen. Chests do not lactate. Lactation is accomplished by functional mammary glands in women's breasts, which is why only women nurse babies. Injecting men with ungodly amounts of hormones doesn’t count.
Assigned at Birth—I don’t care how many degrees somebody has; nobody assigns a sex to a newborn baby. They already have one. It’s so obvious that you can spot it before they get smacked on the bottom. Aside from the minuscule percentage of people born with physical abnormalities, humans are born male or female.
Birthing Persons - Can we please stop denigrating women? I love women. I’m married to one. I helped make another one. Only women get pregnant and have babies. Nobody else does that. The people who do that are called mommies.
Equity: Life isn’t fair—it never has been and never will be. We don’t have to like it; we just have to accept it. We are not equal in talents, interests, and motivation, so we all experience different outcomes in life. Equal opportunity? Yes. Equal outcomes? No. Equity is something you get by paying down your mortgage, not some bigoted social engineering grift.
Gender - Social scientists scribble thousands of words explaining gender, but it’s actually pretty simple. Gender is what you or somebody else thinks. Sex is what you are. Stop talking about people’s gender and start talking about people’s sex.
Existential Threat - Aside from Vladimir Putin nuking Ukraine or an Earth-bound meteor the size of the AT&T Stadium complex, almost nothing is an existential threat to this planet. That includes the weather. The world has been hotter, and it’s been colder than it is today because climate changes all the time. Miraculously, we’re all still here. Go figure.
Native Americans - I was born in America and am a native of that country. And for those complaining about calling American Indians Indians, tell that to the owners of the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Their gigantic neon signs along the freeway advertise its ownership by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.
Living My Truth: Gimme a break. It’s no more your truth than it is mine. Only true things are truth. Get used to it and spare us the narcissism.
Undocumented Migrants: Anybody who’s not an American citizen is an alien. According to 8 U.S.C. § 1325, it's a crime if an alien enters or even tries to enter the US improperly. That’s why the law calls them illegal aliens.
Feel free to share your suggestions for taking back the language. And if you write things for others to read, please take this to heart. Words matter.