7 ms·

War in drugs. Love the typo. From the other side of the pond, the US fixation on wars is ... remarkable. Marking these policies as wars wouldn't fly in the EU.

War in drugs. Love the typo. From the other side of the pond, the US fixation on wars is ... remarkable. Marking these policies as wars wouldn't fly in the EU. Circling back, the use of 'war' for civil matters normalizes the word, making real war easier to swallow.

decebalus1 6y ago
America is a (remote) 'warrior' nation. We don't suffer from a disease, we 'fight' the disease, we 'lose the fight' with cancer, we fight 'wars on poverty' and 'wars on crime'. There's no need to normalize the word in America. Aside from some short periods, we've been fighting an armed conflict somewhere in the world (except the homeland) since forever. This is important. Because Europeans still have some well deserved collective memories about what war means, considering it happened in their backyard. It's harder to swindle the word 'war' around Europe as people know what it means way better than the American collective mind.
- throwaway91914 6y ago
  Despite the idiotic downvotes you are spot on. In most languages and societies in Europe and Asia people don't use words like "fight", "war", "kill" so easily or as euphemisms.
  - squarefoot 6y ago
    > In most languages and societies in Europe and Asia people don't use words like "fight", "war", "kill" so easily or as euphemisms. Not sure about Asia, but over here in Europe some politicians leaning far right often use the above military words. But that comes to no surprise given the mindset.
vianneychevalie 6y ago
Macron declared that France was in a state of war during a presidential speech at the start of the Covid-19 crisis EU also has its share of word over utilization
- the-dude 6y ago
  Thanks for setting that straight. We had an 'intelligent lockdown', but hey, we're Dutch.
  - mc32 6y ago
    That makes it sound better than having stupid lock downs... But I guess it’s about policy marketing to the audience.
- est31 6y ago
  Germany's president said in his speech on April 11: > No, this pandemic is not a war. It does not pit nations against nations, or soldiers against soldiers. Rather, it is a test of our humanity. It brings out the worst and the best in people. Let us show each other our best side! https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Reden/2020/04/200411-TV-Ansprache-Corona-Englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Rede...
  - ciarannolan 6y ago
    I wish my country had a leader that could speak in full sentences like this.
    - Aloha 6y ago
      I just wish mine had one who could speak in full sentences
  - refurb 6y ago
    At least from an English language perspective, that's incredibly pedantic. Everyone knows what "war on.." means. "War on poverty", "War on cancer", etc, etc. People never thought it meant an actual war with countries attacking each other.
    - Jedd 6y ago
syshum 6y ago
Bad public policy is always a "War on X" and largely causes more of the problem that the "war" claimed to be stopping
everybodyknows 6y ago
>the use of 'war' for civil matters This has always been the wrong word, yet a favorite going back at least as far as Lyndon Johnson's "War On Poverty". It suggests an "enemy" to be "defeated" -- but the enemy is a monster of our own making. Reform, Reconstruction, or New Deal are more truthful as descriptions, but tend to sound like hard work rather than the quick fix voters crave.
pwdisswordfish2 6y ago
War is where "heros" are made! :) We always need an "enemy" to motivate us to become "heros". It is part of the culture. Certainly it is not restricted to government. In American business the "war" themes are extremely popular. However, this sort of thing is everywhere if you are looking for it, embraced by people of all ages from all walks of life, and certainly in places other than the US. I remember when I first starting reading about cryptography and wondering why they kept using the word "attack". Or even something like software not being released/distributed/installed, but "deployed". It is interesting how this seems to escape the focus of the political correctness language revisionsists.
- the-dude 6y ago
  The DMZ!
- chishaku 6y ago
  I’m not sure but isn’t the etymology of “attack” and “deployed” in those cases based in US culture which was GP’s point? When people use certain terminology, it doesn’t mean they “embrace” the cultural phenomena that led to its development. They could use it simply because it’s the conventional terminology.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

decebalus1 6y ago

America is a (remote) 'warrior' nation. We don't suffer from a disease, we 'fight' the disease, we 'lose the fight' with cancer, we fight 'wars on poverty' and 'wars on crime'. There's no need to normalize the word in America. Aside from some short periods, we've been fighting an armed conflict somewhere in the world (except the homeland) since forever. This is important. Because Europeans still have some well deserved collective memories about what war means, considering it happened in their backyard. It's harder to swindle the word 'war' around Europe as people know what it means way better than the American collective mind.

throwaway91914 6y ago
Despite the idiotic downvotes you are spot on. In most languages and societies in Europe and Asia people don't use words like "fight", "war", "kill" so easily or as euphemisms.
- squarefoot 6y ago
  > In most languages and societies in Europe and Asia people don't use words like "fight", "war", "kill" so easily or as euphemisms. Not sure about Asia, but over here in Europe some politicians leaning far right often use the above military words. But that comes to no surprise given the mindset.

vianneychevalie 6y ago

Macron declared that France was in a state of war during a presidential speech at the start of the Covid-19 crisis EU also has its share of word over utilization

the-dude 6y ago
Thanks for setting that straight. We had an 'intelligent lockdown', but hey, we're Dutch.
- mc32 6y ago
  That makes it sound better than having stupid lock downs... But I guess it’s about policy marketing to the audience.
est31 6y ago
Germany's president said in his speech on April 11: > No, this pandemic is not a war. It does not pit nations against nations, or soldiers against soldiers. Rather, it is a test of our humanity. It brings out the worst and the best in people. Let us show each other our best side! https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Reden/2020/04/200411-TV-Ansprache-Corona-Englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Rede...
- ciarannolan 6y ago
  I wish my country had a leader that could speak in full sentences like this.
  - Aloha 6y ago
    I just wish mine had one who could speak in full sentences
- refurb 6y ago
  At least from an English language perspective, that's incredibly pedantic. Everyone knows what "war on.." means. "War on poverty", "War on cancer", etc, etc. People never thought it meant an actual war with countries attacking each other.
  - Jedd 6y ago

syshum 6y ago

Bad public policy is always a "War on X" and largely causes more of the problem that the "war" claimed to be stopping

everybodyknows 6y ago

>the use of 'war' for civil matters This has always been the wrong word, yet a favorite going back at least as far as Lyndon Johnson's "War On Poverty". It suggests an "enemy" to be "defeated" -- but the enemy is a monster of our own making. Reform, Reconstruction, or New Deal are more truthful as descriptions, but tend to sound like hard work rather than the quick fix voters crave.

pwdisswordfish2 6y ago

War is where "heros" are made! :) We always need an "enemy" to motivate us to become "heros". It is part of the culture. Certainly it is not restricted to government. In American business the "war" themes are extremely popular. However, this sort of thing is everywhere if you are looking for it, embraced by people of all ages from all walks of life, and certainly in places other than the US. I remember when I first starting reading about cryptography and wondering why they kept using the word "attack". Or even something like software not being released/distributed/installed, but "deployed". It is interesting how this seems to escape the focus of the political correctness language revisionsists.

the-dude 6y ago
The DMZ!
chishaku 6y ago
I’m not sure but isn’t the etymology of “attack” and “deployed” in those cases based in US culture which was GP’s point? When people use certain terminology, it doesn’t mean they “embrace” the cultural phenomena that led to its development. They could use it simply because it’s the conventional terminology.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]