Words as Weapons... examples please..

[Ghost Tracker]

Sticks & stones can break my bones but words can; influence my politics, sway my buying decisions, launch lawsuits, prompt/continue war/peace, coax my lover, provoke my neighbor, correct my children, expose my hypocrisy, represent my kind-heartedness, reflect my cold-bloodedness, etc., etc...

They are simply (but not simple) tools of our ever-developing species, capable of skilled or reckless use as both weapon & shield. Yet they are, of themselves, completely powerless.

"Nothing is either bad or good, but thinking makes it so."
William Shakespeare

 

[The Tourist]

Sticks & stones

Oh, I believe words can hurt, and deeply. You know the old canard in telling your wife how her butt looks in white pants...

I've seen a dozen people try to rip each other apart over a simple drunken epithet. While no longer used, how many people were shot and killed in duels.

During my 3rd and 4th grades in school, my asthma was so bad (once requiring hospitalization) that I was about the slowest runner in the whole building. Guess how many times I was picked for softball?

(You want to know a dirty little secret. Sometimes when I lay under a slew of 45 pound plates at the gym, I wonder if those old bullies would like to tangle now!)

Like anything else, your conduct is the true villain.

 

[Rokyudai]

In western NY, an indian/native-american/indigenous tribe had a gas station, and advertised it on TV. Always struck me that they actually ended every ad with "there's no water in our gas!"

ctdonath,
That wasn't by chance near the Seneca Oil Springs? I think I remember those commercials being from WNY myself originally.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

Oh, I believe words can hurt, and deeply.

Hope you're not still packing word-generated Elementary School scars around. The ONLY way they can ANY effect on you is with the power...YOU still give them. No one else still (or even then) has that power. Without the emotional juice you even-now assign to continue jolting those long-past memories, the related words are completely intangible. Here's an example - if I ask, it's easy for you to show me a chair. It's right here, it's this size & color, we can put our hand on it. But if I asked you to show me a fear, it's impossible. You can tell me the object of a fear (with words) or describe a fearful situation (with words), you can even instill fear IN me...but you can't SHOW me a fear. We can't see it, we can't touch it.

Words, while they can influence any number of tangible events, have NO powers beyond those contributed by the listener.

 

[publiuss]

The show Futureweapons with Mack whoever, the ex Navy Seal. He's always whispering when he is describing the weapon he is holding. No matter what rifle he is holding, in his obnoxiously whispered description are the words "this is the most dangerous" whatever he happens to be holding at the time. It't not a bad show and he seems to know what he is talking about most of the time but he needs some acting lessons and to choose his words more carefully.

 

[sm]

JWarren , loop and others.

What do you think about words in regard to "denial" , "manipulation" and "control"?
Words used as "weapons" to motivate or influence society if you will?

Time line: I was born in the mid 50's.
Examples of magazine, radio, and television ads.

"A good wife will use such-n-such coffee pot to show her husband she cares".

"A real father will buy his kids a such-n-such toy".

" A true American will do such-n-such to fight Communism."


If folks really want to fuss and rant about Sexist, Demeaning, Mental Abuse and all, go read some of the old magazine articles written for ladies, in ladies magazines, and gents articles in gents magazines.

The old Firearm related ads, from Magazines, Radio, and TV , not to mention Tin posters, are a whole more civil and polite than many of the current Ads , Radio, and TV ads are in respect to human rights, common courtesy, and other Values "represented" today.

http://www.mouseguns.com/blast/californ.jpg

http://www.mouseguns.com/blast/beretta.jpg

Those two links sure look a lot less "evil", than some of the Anti Gun advertising I have seen.
And for sure a lot less sexist, demeaning, and offensive than some ads one would find in a current ladies or gents magazine, even on Internet (e-zines).

 

[shdwfx]

And then there's this myth:

"Socialism is left-wing and Communism to the left of that."
"Conservatism is right-wing and Nazism to the right of that."

Since when? In no way is conservative or libertarian ideology just a 'diluted' version of Nazism. They have nothing in common.

Yet, these words are repeated ad nauseum till they are accepted as fact.
In this way, 2nd Amendment rights and the underlying principles of individual responsibility are vilified.

 

[mattk]

how about Skank??
Subsistute your wife/gf/friends name with skank.
Words can HURT especially you!!!

I consider this the modern, highschool version of: Dont yell Fire! in a crowded theater.

 

[The Tourist]

Without the emotional juice you even-now assign to continue jolting those long-past memories, the related words are completely intangible.

That's what makes this issue so insidious. How can I rationalize my feelings at the age of eight when I'm fifty seven? Walk up to a vet and tell him "the Cong are long since dead" and his situation will be unchanged.

I was in a stupid accident in 1987, broke my neck in five places and didn't even know I was hurt. No pain, actually.

What scared the pickles out of me was the last nano second of the crash. There was the impact and the shattering of glass, slamming my head into the windshield and then being jerked back into the seat. Over and over again.

I woke up shaking one night after a series of shatter-slam-jerk, shatter-slam-jerk, shatter-slam-jerk, shatter-slam-jerk. I couldn't stop my own thoughts.

The issue of bullying is more serious than one imagines. And I don't think being an adult changes anything. If you wronged my cousin Alan--I mean really made an enemy--you'd wet yourself every time you saw a black Cadillac.

 

[Ghost Tracker]

Please don't imagine that nothing ever comes back to me from my past. I've got a LOT of Karma to make-up. My own evil actions under extremely difficult & dire circumstances.

I don't want to get overly Zen, whatever here (uh, too late?), but the relief I found when some of these ideas became REAL to me is impossible to express. Let me give the Cliff's Notes version. Your thoughts & feelings are NOT who you are. They (and their processes) were given to you as tools. You DO control them. They are YOUR servants, not the other way around. We (most folks) ALLOW THEMSELVES to be hopelessly pushed-around by these thoughts & feelings without ever knowing that by the realization that our feelings are NOT us, we can begin the process of recognising them for what they ARE. They are bullies & they are NOT "on your side". And if they're not serving you, then they are STEALING from you. I can prove it.

How many times have your thoughts repeated told you to do "something", and then the minute you do it, the SAME thoughts immediately scream at you saying "HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID AS TO DO THAT!?" . Well, your first response should be "where were you guys a second ago?". The same bunch of T&F (thoughts & feelings) told you BOTH things. That's not the act of a brain function that's working in your best interest. There's a split second between; when a T&F presents itself to you & when you decide to make-it-your-own. You have the option (only in that split second) to...dismiss it. Before you internalize it, before you act on it, before you rush back into the past and re-live the time-worn memory of the pain or the injury. You can (literally) instruct it to just hold where it is. Then what happens? A NEW thought pops up, the first gets pushed out. You get to do the whole process continously. How many thoughts have you had it the past 30 seconds? How about the last 5 minutes? How about since you woke-up? It should be clear to you that there is an inexhaustable supply of T&F coming from somewhere. Quit imagining that they're all YOURS. Simply start watching them for the sneaking SOBs that they ARE! The minute you start, they'll work like crazy to get around, behind or over your scrunity. They're VERY good at it. You'll have to be quite aware & ever-vigilant. But (I promise) after a while you (and they) will begin to come around to the realization that YOU'RE the boss & they're the SERVANTS.

Here's the drill...when a T&F pops up for your scrunity & says "I'm here" it HAS to wait for its assignment FROM YOU. Ask yourself this question each time..."is this GOOD for me, or is this BAD for me?". It's THAT simple. If it's good for you, wrap your arms around it & take it home like a leggy redhead. But if it's BAD for you? Don't take possession! Let it float there in limbo. Surprise! It'll fade & be replaced by another one, the next no more (or less) likely to be motivated by your best interest than the first. You get to decide again, and again, and again. But by just watching how they behave from a remote, objective (you're NOT ME) point-of view...they begin to lose their grip, their control, over the boss. You must at least imagine what you've NEVER thought of before. Those T&F don't belong to you UNTIL you INVITE them in. And the more you watch them (like they're happening across the room to someone else) the better you'll get at training them to serve you and STOP them from pushing you around. You wouldn't tolerate that from someone else. I'm telling you that you've (we've) accepted it hook-line-&-sinker from OURSELVES because no one has hinted that we had an option. We do.

 

[buck00]

A lot of this has to do with Focault (a French philosopher) who argued if you can successfully define the meaning of a word or phrase you gain power. Many people don't question definitions or purposes of how language is used.

For example, (in history) think about the term scalawag from the reconstruction era. Generally you get a negative feel to it (a traitor, an opportunist). Well what if they had called the race-integrators instead? It is a much different light.


The same is true with everything in the media. There are some words that are so corrupt or tainted we can't change or recover them- like the true meaning of "assault rifle" for example. That term is little more than a negative buzzword for liberals and sensationalist media. No amount of education or reasoning will reverse this.

 

[sm]

A lot of this has to do with Focault (a French philosopher) who argued if you can successfully define the meaning of a word or phrase you gain power. Many people don't question definitions or purposes of how language is used.

Catch-22

 

[rainbowbob]

"Sensible" and "Reasonable" gun legislation.

"Unscrupulous" gun store owners.

 

[siglite]

I saw a great example in another thread. It's really been in our faces for a while now. "Make my day law." It's as bogus as can be, but ... maybe plausible to the uninitiated.. We call it "castle doctrine." The implication is "defense of the castle," a noble charge indeed. They call it "make my day" in an attempt to conjure up Dirty Harry with a .44 dispensing the law in his own 240 grain way.

The funny thing is... I've yet to run into anyone OUTSIDE the media that uses the phrase "make my day law."

It could be that the media is becoming so contrived, slanted, and dumbed down that even my semi-anti mother takes gun related stories/phrasing with a grain of salt.