We're reading this for February 2026 book club. Join us to get weekly discussion on the book.
In an age of polarization, Carol Off, takes a look at how some key words in our language have been weaponized to create divisions in society. It's impossible to have good conversations when you can't agree on the meaning of words.
Off walks through 6 words:
freedom
democracy
truth
woke
choice
taxes
These are the words she feels have the most politically polarized views. There are solid undertones of things like freedom meaning freedom for white people, while excluding black and indigenous voices. Democracy being dismantled by the Koch brothers as they support Far Right activist groups so that only those with gilded privilege get to decide how governments are run. Truth is at odds with science in a vibes based feeling world.
Reading the book is good, and also depressing. I think one of the key ideas I've seen lately is that we don't allow people to hold two ideas that seem contradictory at once. You can't detest what Hamas did in Israel and agree that Israel is now committing genocide. You must pick a side and deviation from your side is met with vitrol from both the radical left and the radical right.
- [[The Lost Words - Robert Macfarlane]] Pg 1
- the author looks at how we loose words, and then loose connection to the physical things those words represented
- we need to talk to each other across political and ideological lines yet the language we once shared has been co-opted by extremists so we just snap at each other without shared understandings. Pg 3
- again [[neoliberalism]] wants us isolated just like [[Take Back The Fight - Nora Loreto#^471a3c]] sayse
- we don't just disagree on the path to take we no longer agree on the meanings of the words that define our destination. Pg 3
- the book focuses on a list of key words the author believes have been hijacked, devoting a chapter to exploring how the word became misunderstood and weaponized. Pg 4
- freedom
- democracy
- truth
- woke
- choice
- taxes
- [[Language of the Third Reich - Victor Klemperer]] Pg 9
- a look at how the Nazi party subtly changed the generic language people used which led to dehumanizing others and then genocide
- [[Hitler]]'s [[Nazi|Nazism]] favoured emotion over reason and mobilized that emotion to move people to commit great acts of murder. Pg 10, 11
- this leads people to believe they want someone to think for them, the want a strongman to solve their problems. Often the problems that the same strongman manufactured in their emotions in the first place
- [[populism]] offers people simple solutions to complex problems. Pg 11
- like [[Donald Trump]] saying it's the immigrants that cause you to not be prosperous. That really masks how the entire economy is currently built to keep money in the hands of the rich while the rest of us work
### 1 - Freedom
- the [[christianity|Christian]] [[Far Right|right]] in the [[United States]] views [[Donald Trump]] as a modern day [[Cyrus the Great]], so he has a biblical mandate which is why they overlook his clear excesses and acts that are obviously not biblical. Pg 14
- like all the marriages, the lying, the cheating.
- [[Far Right]] influencers use the language of freedom to tell those that feel unmoored by progressive change that they should have the "freedom" from being told to respect the rights of others. Pg 16
- that their freedom of intolerance overrides the rights of others
- James Bauder of Calgary started the [[Freedom Convoy]] because he was called by God, so he says. Pg 22
- to me this is typical [[christianity|Christian]] justification for doing stupid shit. Just claim God told you to do it and you can do whatever you want.
- many [[Freedom Convoy]] protestors expressed a deep feeling of alienation that they had no power over their lives and that no one was listening to their problems. Pg 28
- is this lack of power actually a result of neoliberalism?
- the big question is, how do we get them to stop protesting in ways that help the [[Far Right]] and instead protest the root of the problem, the [[oligarchs|oligarchy]] that has captured so much of our lives
- Greek orator Pericles described [[democracy]] as a system that benefits the majority not just the wealthy [[oligarchs]]. Pg 29
- which is why the oligarchs are spending so much money and time trying to dismantle democracy, so they're free to do what they want
- why would people fight for liberty from tyrants when most of the benefits didn't flow to them. Pg 32
- yet we see [[social media]] prompt this today. Many people come to the defense of [[Elon Musk]] when the benefits received don't flow to them at all. They flow to Elon and his companies many times at the expense of the every day person
- humanism is tied to our democracy. Humanists believed we should use our freedom not for our individual good alone, but for the collective good. Pg 33
- [[White Freedom - Tyler Stovall]] Pg 37
- traces the complex relationship between freedom and race, showing that the freedom much of the west talks about is the freedom to be white
- [[Freedom - Annelien De Dijn]] Pg 38
- looks at how the the word freedom has changed meaning, and divorced itself from the use of the word that founded western democracy towards a meaning that is dismantling it
- in response to [[George Floyd]] protests [[Donald Trump]] deployed thousands of troops. He even wondered why they just couldn't shoot protesters on sight, how about just shot in the legs. Pg 43, 44
- contrast this with his [[January 6 insurrection]] attempt where some of the officers on the ground helped the mainly white crowd to bypass barriers. There was little police presence in what was a violent protest and lots of police for a mostly peaceful protest
- of course one was mostly white people fighting for another white person, and one was mostly black people fighting against the injustice that the halls of white power inflict on them
- similarly the government let [[Freedom Convoy]] protesters disrupt far more than the [[Wet'suwet'en]] protesters ever did. The governments own internal reports said [[Wet'suwet'en]] was not a big impact and the [[Freedom Convoy]] was a huge impact. Pg 45, 46
- again one was mostly white people and one was [[first nations|first nation]] protesters. We regularly don't think that [[first nations]] know how to use their land properly, like a white person, so we crush their protests
- goes back to who is able to use the freedom of protest and who is not
- the chapter ends asking us to continue to expand our definition of freedom, in particular the people we apply it to. Pg 50, 51
- this is [[circles of moral concern]] again which easily expand when we feel like we have enough, and violently contract when we feel like we're struggling
### 2 - Democracy
- [[Twilight of Democracy - Anne Applebaum]] Pg 57
- [[How Fascism Works - Jason Stanley]] Pg 57
- [[Tyranny of the Minority - Steven Levitsky Daniel Ziblatt]] Pg 57
- [[Democracy Awakening - Heather Cox Richardson]] Pg 57
> Universal suffrage is regarded as a worthy ambition so lo as the universe is limited to a specific class, cultural and racial elites. Democracy is embraced until there is a risk that more people will want the same rights and freedoms. Pg 62
- freedom and democracy for white people and talk a big game, but keep it for white people
- similar to what Nora Loreto said about feminism working for white women and really only them here: [[Take Back The Fight - Nora Loreto#^1c7723]]
- Tocqueville witnessed the eviction of Choctaw from their land of centuries so white settlers could have it based on the 1830 Removal Act Pg 67
- [[United States|US]] was about freedom and rights for it's own people (white people) unless you were [[first nations]] or black. Then a different lesser set of ideals was all you could hope for
- goes back to the idea of white people in the US and [[Canada]] that we know how to use the land better than [[first nations|first nation]] peoples so we should take it from them and put it to good use
- Tocqueville concludes that the biggest reason slavery wasn't abandoned was economic reasons. People made money and couldn't figure out a way to continue to make the same money if they had to pay their workers. Pg 69
- it took [[Canada]] generations to allow [[China|chinese]] and black citizens to vote. Our system was built to limit the ability of most people that were not white landholders to participate in [[democracy]]. Pg 73, 74
- also [[first nations]] were treated as lesser citizens on their own land
- [[Canada]] is viewed, and views itself, as a beacon of democracy but it came to these idealized principles kicking and screaming. Pg 75
- [[strongmen]] and [[facism|facists]] offer simple solutions to complex problems and feed nostalgia for a past that never existed when things were "better" Pg 78
- [[Foreverism - Grafton Tanner]] talked about this nostalgia angle
- [[None Is Too Many - Irving Abella Harold Troper]] Pg 84
- documents antisemitism in Canada in the twentieth century when leaders said that no Jews were still too many to come to Canada
- [[pogrom]] Pg 84
- specifically the one called [[Kristallnacht]] against German [[Jews]]
- [[How Democracies Die - Steven Levitsky Daniel Ziblatt]] Pg 86
- [[Tyranny of the Minority - Steven Levitsky Daniel Ziblatt]] Pg 87
- [[populism|populist]]s, [[strongmen]] exploit the nostalgia for a time when life was "better" and when we were in control of our lives. Pg 95
- Anne Applebaum calls this the seductive lure of the authoritarian
- see [[Autocracy Inc - Anne Applebaum]] for more
- but the people were rarely in control of their lives in truth
- [[White Freedom - Tyler Stovall]] Pg 99
- if you reject the premise of equality for all regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, and allowing all those citizens the right to decide on leadership - you can't lay claim to true democracy. Pg 100
- see [[Democracy at Work - Richard Wolff]] for more on what radical democracy would look like
- the word democracy can only be restored if everyone can see themselves embodied in the results of democracy. Pg 100
- if they can't benefit from a democracy then it's not a word they care about
### 3 - Truth
> Facts, once proven, create an accurate picture of events. Until other facts suggest our understanding is not complete, and then we start again, testing new facts, determining what's true. Pg 107
- revising based on new information should be praised not vilified as a flip-flop artist
- [[Surviving Autocracy - Masha Gessen]] Pg 114
- Both [[Donald Trump]] presidencies are governed by the thought that because you have power you can dictate the truth just by saying it and no facts can counter your truth and no one has the right to challenge you on the truth. Pg 114
- autocrats around the world see [[Donald Trump]] and are emboldened by his new relationship with truth since it's out of the autocratic playbook and now a democratic nation is using it. Pg 120
- they don't feel that anyone can call them to be truthful in the face of the lies
- long catalogue of how [[Donald Trump]]'s attacks on free press has lead to many countries cracking down on the press with a huge number of journalists in jail and [[Donald Trump]] saying he'd like to do the same with journalists. Pg 122, 123
- because of the business model of [[big tech]] traditional journalists had little chance of combating [[Donald Trump]]'s lack of truth. He no longer needs the news to communicate with his followers so he doesn't need to go and be held to account when he says crazy shit. Pg 130, 129
- and the correction to crazy never gets as much traction as the crazy
- [[How to Stand Up to a Dictator - Masha Gessen]] Pg 130
- a [[Facebook]] whistleblower says there is a whitelist for sites like [[Breitbart]] who can spread lies without having the standard rules of the platform apply to the lies. Pg 1137
- unsurprising given [[Careless People - Sarah Wynn-Williams]]
- can't cut the hand of outrage and eyeballs that feeds the [[Facebook]] machine it's money
- [[Elon Musk]] is doing the work the [[Russia]]n government has wanted to do in the [[United States]] for years, undermine the trust in the instutions of democracy and electoral process by making unfounded claims of undocumented migrants voting. Pg 138
- US Military News (I can't find a definitive link to this site) is run out of Ho Chi Minh City and has no connections to the [[United States]] outside of republishing fantastic stories that are lies but attract US eyeballs and collect ad revenue. Pg 144
- maybe the worst thread from new media ([[big tech]]) is that you can't trust elites or the deep state. They're trying to hide the truth from you so wake up and see the truth. Pg 145
- they continue to allow the push of messages that tell us to not trust real journalists or government
- most Canadians get their news from [[big tech]] algorithms which fool you into thinking you're getting truth. Pg 149
- heck in Canada traditional news sites aren't even allowed so the only links you're getting are to sites that aren't generating trustworthy news
### 4 - Woke
- [[Stolen Youth - Karol Markowicz Bethany Mandel]] Pg 154
- a conservative look at why they think books are brainwashing kids into woke liberalism
- "be woke" started in the 19th century as a reminder to Black people to be aware of your surroundings and look out for danger. Pg 159
- [[White Fragility - Dr Robin DiAngelo]] Pg 168
- [[Stamped from the Beginning - Ibram X Kendi]] Pg 168
- [[critical race theory]] Pg 168
- the idea that some biases are inherent in society and how we behave due to being raised in society so even good well meaning people can contribute to poor outcomes for people of colour without meaning to.
- Christopher Rufer found this term, [[critical race theory]] in the footnote sources in a Seattle training course for city employees on being racially sensitive. Then he turned it into his platform in the [[Far Right]]. Pg 167-174
- telling us that Liberals and the left want us to feel bad for being born white
- Arthur Finkelstein is the godfather of hostility politics. Pg 174, 175
- find and enemy group then whip people into a frenzy about that group while claiming you can save everyone from the supposed enemy
- [[Pierre Poilievre]] uses the tactics of the [[populism|populist]]. Minimize journalists, aim to control universities, in this case the freedom of speech monitors he wanted to install in universities. Pg 200-203
- in the wake of the recent [[Hamas]] attack [[Israel]] that killed 1200 Jews, Conservatives have said the woke mob has gone to far in enabling free speech on campus as it hasn't stopped very real slogans that represent elimination of Jews "from the river to the sea" Pg 206, 207
- the used it to hammer at Universities as political influence over the left-leaning institutions
- they have safe spaces from [[microaggressions]] and disinvite controversial speakers but anti-Israel protestors were given a seemingly free reign even as they chanted slogans used for generations to mean the elimination of the country of Israel and Jews. Pg 208
- the [[Canadaland]] limited series [What's Happening Here](https://www.canadaland.com/shows/what-is-happening-here/) looked at how we're tolerating hate against Jews
- the [[Far Right]] and [[Far Left]] work together to shut down conversation. The left cites microaggressions and the right wokism. They both increase polarization. Pg 210, 211
- part of this stems from the inability to hold two ideas at once. Yes [[Hamas]] attacked [[Israel]] and killed Jews, and Israel and all Jews deserve to be safe in their country. Yes Israel is now committing [[genocide]] in [[Gaza]].
- Yes there are areas men are struggling. Yes women need continued support for increased equality
- see [[Of Boys and Men - Richard V Reeves]]
### 5 - Choice
- [[October Crisis]] Pg 218
- in October 1970 the FLQ kidnapped a Provincial politician and British Diplomat in Quebec. Pierre Trudeau invoked the war measures act to deal with the FLQ.
- John Turner said the abortion caravan didn't play by the rules, or protest in the way white affluent men thought was acceptable. Pg 229
- it disrupted their days so it wasn't deemed as "correct"
- an unwanted teen pregnancy is seen as the failure of the woman to prevent it. She made the wrong choice. It rarely reflects on the man. Pg 230
- [[Without Apology - Shannon Stettner]] Pg 231
- writings about abortion in Canada
- interesting that the [[Far Right|right]] wants government out of their business unless it's a woman's choice of abortion or some other thing they claim to have moral authority over. Pg 233, 235
- [[Morgentaler - Catherine Dunphy]] Pg 242
- Morgentaler was a pioneering abortion doctor in Canada this is a book about him
- [[The Big Evasion - Anne Collins]] Pg 246
- the abortion issue won't go away
- Canadian hospitals have limited abortions based on the choices of their medical boards. Again freedom of choice for rich people that can travel to a hospital that will serve them, but not for poor people. Pg 248
- and our after care for women that do choose abortion is terrible
- [Abortion Everyday](https://jessica.substack.com/) Pg 251
- a newsletter on abortion today
- the [[United States]] has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of any developed nation. 33 out of 1000, and worse for black or indigenous women. Pg 252
- [[Texas]] has among the worst health outcomes for women of all stats with their own heath board saying 90% of maternal deaths were preventable.
- so they choose to kill women by inaction and providing poor services
- [[From Eve to Dawn A History of Women in the World Volume IV - Marilyn French]] Pg 254
- women gain rights and then vigilance slackens as we think the rights are enshrined and can't be taken away again. Rights get rolled back, and [[From Eve to Dawn A History of Women in the World Volume IV - Marilyn French]] shows this cycle throughout history. Pg 254
- we are willing to stop abortion but not care for the resulting children or mothers. It won't make the mythical [[Leave it to Beaver]] family a reality. Women will die of sepsis and children will live in poverty. Pg 256
### 6 - Taxes
- people who are able to pay their taxes without any impact on their lifestyle will go to great lengths to ensure no one else can benefit from the taxes they pay as the work to roll back public services. Pg 264
- those in the [[middle class]] who rail against taxes could never afford the health care or education Canada provides without the taxes that are paid. Pg 270, 271
- I think the thing is the top pays so little in tax while for the [[middle class]], like me, it feels like a huge portion of our income goes to services that we can't really use. I can't get a doctor, though if I was a millionaire I could just pay one privately and not worry about a failing public health care system
- [Robert Reich on substack](https://robertreich.substack.com/) Pg 271
- writes about how oligarchy is shrinking America's middle class and exposes the lies that power tells
- [[Democracy in Chains - Nancy MacLean]] Pg 274
- documents the [[Far Right]]'s campaign to dismantle democracy
- [[The Limits of Liberty - James M Buchanan]] Pg 273
- explores a society that wants freedom, but requires some limits so that society functions
- [[Dark Money - Jane Mayer]] Pg 279
- looks at the cause of the widening economic gap in the [[United States]]
- [[Sons of Wichita - Daniel Schulman]] Pg 280
- a look at the Koch brothers and how they influence politics
- the [[US Supreme Court]] decision on [[Citizens United]] made it possible for the rich to provide billions to Super PACs and have their spending hidden. It's much harder to see the influence of the rich in this scheme and money just flows into politics. Pg 283
- the Koch brothers alone have funnelled hundreds of millions to organizations decrying public schools, unions, [[Medicaid]], and any other social service that is supported by taxes and reduces scarcity for those that their companies would employ
- interesting that the [[Far Right|right]] talks about George Soros influencing everything, yet loves Koch because he funds the things they want. Pg 285
- Barre Seid also funds the [[Far Right]] and is so reclusive we're not even sure how we should pronounce his name. Pg 290
- [[Stephen Harper]] forced the environmental opposition to tar sands projects to spend money on extra audits, that he provided money to the [[CRA]] to perform specifically on environmental groups opposing the tar sands. Pg 292, 293
- if they were fighting the CRA they couldn't spend that same money on activism that would make [[Stephen Harper]]'s ideas harder to push
- this is weaponized government
- [[The Next Age of Uncertainty - Stephen Poloz]] Pg 294
- the former Governor of the Bank of Canada gives economic advice for the turbulent times we find ourselves in
- [Survival of the Richest](https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/survival-richest) an Oxfam paper Pg 296
- [[Survival of the Richest - Oxfam]]
- showed that the rich gobble up half of all the new money created
- a real tax on the rich of just 5% could lift 2 billion out of poverty. Pg 297
- [[Average is Over - Tyler Cowan]] Pg 298
- Cowan ultimately says that stories like lead poisoned children in Flint Michigan is what we have to put up with when people are too poor to pay for better services. It's not the fault of the rich avoiding taxes, so try not being poor.
- don't say inequality say insecurity because when we have insecurity we will work worse jobs for less money just to live. Pg 302
- [[Scarcity 180920201044]] says the same thing about how we'll work and really just changes insecurity for scarcity in it's wording
- more insecurity means you have less time to be politically active which the [[Far Right]] wants so we don't push for equality
> On the other hand, so much of the right-wing populist's appeal is unchallenged as a result of the failure of the left to demonstrate that their ideas for a progressive social contract make people's lives better. Pg 304
- the lift still doesn't go after the oligarchs because they're in that class too. Their kids go to the same schools, and they vacation in the same spots.
### Epilogue
- we are in another [[Gilded Age]] but today's robber barons have far larger gaps to the wealth of the rest of us than their peers of the past did. Pg 310, 311
- the 99% can't afford a house or the dentist but can afford [[Netflix]] and the 1% will keep cheap distraction available so we don't bother to do anything about the problems. Pg 311
- there are far more of us and that can affect change
- [[Facebook]] and other social media is even free and they farm engagement with our eyeballs which distracts us from what's going on
