Character is reflected in the words we use. This is obvious. More can be said, but this too is obvious. Indeed, what is not obvious? If we didn't say obvious things, we'd hardly say anything at all. Obviously.
The word "obvious" comes from the Latin ob, 'against,' and viam, accusative of via, 'road'. Against the road … something that's right in front of you, almost an obstacle -- or a guide post ... let's not be negative.
So, if we, 'we,' are ultra maga white supremacist racist hater deplorables, what are they? Their choice of invective is a mirror not a camera -- about themselves, not the objective, outside, real world. Of course cameras, in the selfie-ism of this current culture, cameras are so often about the beholder. What then do they say about themselves when they call us all those names?
Maga, like mega, larger than life, which uses up all those resources and is bad for the planet. Same with ultra -- ultramontanist, super catholic, therefore bad, like parents, and men and fathers and popes. Deplorable? From the Latin: de, and plorare, 'to weep, bewail, lament, cry'. I do not think that they will mourn for us. So their weeping must be of the more infantile sort. Cry baby.
How very, very apt.
And I was thinking, what then are they? What single word describes them? -- their character, conduct ... understanding what that word-choice would say about me. What word describes them? Contemptible?
Contempt too emotional. It's 'disrespect' I feel deep disrespect for them -- not the absence of respect, but the active presence of the opposite of respect. So disrespect isn't quite the word after all, being somewhat tautological. And the opposite of respect is, yes, 'contempt'. From the Latin … contempt, com (intensifier), and temnere, 'to despise, or scorn.' And the word 'scorn' -- it's proto-Germanic: skarnjan, 'to mock, ridicule'. 'Despise', Latin: de, 'down,' and specere, 'to look at' -- so, to look down upon, as in judgment -- as an adult observing an ill-mannered child, or an utterly undignified adult.
Yes, I think that says it well. It reveals me as I wish to be seen, a charming selfie, in this specific instance, of me observing and categorizing a subspecies of disreputable organisms and their concomitant behaviors. No, not Millennial only, or Genzers. My cohort too -- it is impossible to believe that the loathsome Baby Boomers all of a sudden grew a brain.
Liberals have a different brain-structure. That overstates the case, but there are identifiable differences, useful as statistical predictors. We need not be slaves to our genetics or circumstances, so brain structure is not a true explanation, or excues. More likely is the obvious fact that maturity takes time. Wisdom ripens, the same way that decadence rots.
Politics -- hum, some analogy … politics is like an earthquake, or quicksand, or parachute failure, or Chernobal.
I choose to see it as an opportunity for children of all ages to grow up, to become wise to the level of their years, if not beyond. The past three out of four election cycles have not taught me optimism. But I chose to become, or remain hopeful. Hopeful.
The word 'hope', from Old English: a word of unknown origin.
J
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