[lbo-talk] Dumbing Down (was Can Politics Be Liberated from thevonNeumann Style?)

Lenin's Tomb leninstombblog at googlemail.com
Sun Oct 14 12:19:07 PDT 2007


On 10/14/07, Dennis Perrin <dperrin at comcast.net> wrote:Indeed. I've found that while addressing The People (aka The Soon To Be


> Awakened Class), a much more sophisticated form of vocabulary suffices,
> putting them at ease. When describing something distasteful or outré,
> never,
> ever employ the epithet "suck." This makes one appear cheap and unserious.
> Instead, when talking about a certain negative topic, "frightful,"
> "ghastly," or "appalling" are far more effective and adult forms of
> expression. The People (aka The Soon To Be, etc.) will immediately see
> that
> you are serious, and will then be open to appeals to their radical,
> anti-imperialist conscience.
>
> Sir Perringrine
>

Naturally, and don't forget to leaven the entire discourse with a soupcon of "what-ho", "tally-ho", "toodle-pip", and "I say!"

Seriously, though, is American self-hatred so far advanced that you automatically internalise criticism of the demotic and project the mandarin onto some mythical English aristocrat?



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