But "Conservative" and "Liberal" are *not* relative descriptions! They have concrete definitions as policy programs, and have not moved perceptibly for at least 20 years, if not longer. "[The] assumption that there are fixed posts marked 'Conservative' and 'Liberal'" is entirely valid for this purpose, even though it wouldn't work if we took the actual terms "right of center" and "left [of center]" at face value! Isn't speaking in code fun?
Dismissing this rhetoric as ridiculous is dangerous. Anyone to whom it makes sense, even if they haven't yet thought critically about it, will see your dismissal as foolish or arrogant and will harden their position against you in reaction. The meme can *only* be effectively fought on its own terms, by arguing that liberal policies are more popular than conservative policies, and that this is consistently borne out in polling. You can't win a political argument by trying to prescriptivize the English language out from under your opponent.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-03-07 06:37 am (UTC)Dismissing this rhetoric as ridiculous is dangerous. Anyone to whom it makes sense, even if they haven't yet thought critically about it, will see your dismissal as foolish or arrogant and will harden their position against you in reaction. The meme can *only* be effectively fought on its own terms, by arguing that liberal policies are more popular than conservative policies, and that this is consistently borne out in polling. You can't win a political argument by trying to prescriptivize the English language out from under your opponent.