Is "jargon" jargon, was Re: dead topix

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Mon Dec 13 10:27:17 PST 1999


Carrol Cox wrote:


>Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> > It amazes me that anyone thinks that people
> > will be persuaded by such jargon at this late date.
>
>I'm a little confused by this. Who were they trying to persuade? People
>in general? Or just the comrades at the meeting? If the latter, is it not
>common for people who share a certain perspective to speak in some
>sort of shorthand when they are speaking only to each other?

They were trying to persuade the other people in the meeting, and advocating their position as a way to speak with the larger world. Shorthand is fine among intimates, but it's not a way to persuade the unconverted.

Practically everything I write on political economy is influenced by Marx, but I rarely use the received language. (I do like throwing in "bourgeoisie" or "capitalist hyena press" every now and then, for shock value.) I find people listening to me, and maybe even agreeing with me, who might well have stopped listening if I'd sounded like a party paper.

Doug



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