3 ms·

Why is everything a "war" in the American media? war on obesity, war on diabetes, war on this, war on that...? It is just businesses competing to sell products

by vijayr 9y ago

Why is everything a "war" in the American media? war on obesity, war on diabetes, war on this, war on that...? It is just businesses competing to sell products - maybe a little too interested in suing, but business nevertheless.

sjbase 9y ago
It's really unfortunate. There's a great book called Metaphors We Live By [1] that digs into this same observation, using "arguments" as an example: you "attack" another person's argument, you "defend your point." You either win or lose. We could have just as easily chosen arguments to be a dance instead of a war. A lot of narrative here in America eventually turns into good vs. evil, and War on X is an example of that. I've heard people attribute this to anything from religion, to the revolutionary origin of the country, to military-industrial conspiracy. [1]: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992.html http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992...
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  >We could have just as easily chosen arguments to be a dance instead of a war.// I don't see how that works - partners dancing together are cooperating to improve the outcome. Those competing in business are (unfortunately, in capitalist systems) almost always trying to profit and destroy their competitors. It's perhaps a bit like moshing? War fits as a better metaphor for companies under capitalism. If the companies were helping each other and targeting better products with less profit, that would be more like dance partners.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Companies help each other all the time; it's called "collusion," and it's usually frowned upon.
- GuB-42 9y ago
  You mean, like a dance battle, oh wait... I think the idea is backwards. We don't use military metaphors for anything competitive, we use words related to competition for describing war, because war is competitive by nature. It goes back and forth from there.
fenwick67 9y ago
Let us start the "war on wars on things"

by vijayr 9y ago

sjbase 9y ago

It's really unfortunate. There's a great book called Metaphors We Live By [1] that digs into this same observation, using "arguments" as an example: you "attack" another person's argument, you "defend your point." You either win or lose. We could have just as easily chosen arguments to be a dance instead of a war. A lot of narrative here in America eventually turns into good vs. evil, and War on X is an example of that. I've heard people attribute this to anything from religion, to the revolutionary origin of the country, to military-industrial conspiracy. [1]: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992.html http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3637992...

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
>We could have just as easily chosen arguments to be a dance instead of a war.// I don't see how that works - partners dancing together are cooperating to improve the outcome. Those competing in business are (unfortunately, in capitalist systems) almost always trying to profit and destroy their competitors. It's perhaps a bit like moshing? War fits as a better metaphor for companies under capitalism. If the companies were helping each other and targeting better products with less profit, that would be more like dance partners.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Companies help each other all the time; it's called "collusion," and it's usually frowned upon.
GuB-42 9y ago
You mean, like a dance battle, oh wait... I think the idea is backwards. We don't use military metaphors for anything competitive, we use words related to competition for describing war, because war is competitive by nature. It goes back and forth from there.

fenwick67 9y ago

Let us start the "war on wars on things"