Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Democrats Must Learn the Language of Freedom
This week I decided I wanted to try to find an article about the use of God/ Devil Terms and the triumph on the individual in society because we have been having a lot of discussions about them in class. The article I decided to analyze was written as a special opinion piece to CNN and it is called "Democrats must learn language of freedom" by Aziz Rana. This article talks about how politicians mainly targeting President Obama for using the term Freedom to represent the greatness that politics brings. And how by using the term it may sound high and mighty and very democratic their practices are not matching up nor are the emotions of the citizens. Aziz states "part of what makes the conservative language of freedom so potentially potent is that it resonates with a problem many Americans face. In the 21st century we are faced with increasingly massive and hierarchical institutions". So from what I am seeing is that God terms that politicians have been using for years are starting to become over used and the fact of the matter is that the government is not concerned with the triumph of the individual as much as much as it should be. These god terms that used to help build unity are now turning into points for critic of the system.
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I agree Courtney. I think this article is a great example of the use of god terms in politics today. I also wonder if God terms are becoming ineffective in today’s society as a result of people’s feelings towards politics and as the article mentioned, “Bureaucratic growth and hierarchy”. People are savvier and more skeptical towards politicians. In recent times this could be because people may have become disillusioned by President Obama as the lack of change he has actually brought about. Obama’s use of the word freedom seems too arbitrary. This article seems to highlight how Obama’s discourse does not connect God terms such as liberty and freedom to any of his goals or polices thus making the use of God terms in speech ineffective.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting in coining words that lead to success in politics. I do agree in earlier times such as when Reagan was President the term God was accepted much more than current day. Often in media currently when politicians use the word God critics are instantly attacking the way the Politian used the word God and in what context it was used in. Just as large corporations are moving away from religion and celebrating certain holiday’s politicians are doing the same. I feel like when I hear a Politian say the words “God Bless” I don’t think of necessarily the God of my religion however I think of the politicians God, whether the politician is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or etc.
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