If you don’t want me to, please let me know. Rotting corpses.The military has a colorful saying: “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.” Maybe we need a new saying: “Don’t murder my child and tell me it’s collateral damage.”Specifics such as these are generally not reported by the U.S. military or in the U.S. media. It is wrong—unjustified and, I think, morally unjustifiable.Even just war theory does not allow for these actions, or places stringent limits guided by principles of discrimination and proportionality. So they don’t.Thanks, Mike. As George Orwell explained in his famous essay “The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.I recommend making a copy of this essay — along with three others by Orwell: namely, “Politics and the English Language,” “The Prevention of Literature,” and “Why I write” — as essential reading if one wishes to understand politics and “journalism” (i.e., “click-bait” media) as practiced by the Corporate/Militarist Oligarchy currently working the levers behind the Rube Goldberg contraption calling itself the United States of America.
The term “collateral damage” is a terrifying euphemism.
As ever, thanks for your comments at the site.OK by me, but just make sure that George Orwell gets the lion’s share of the credit for so clearly distinguishing nationalism from patriotism.
Examples of the “sanitizing and convoluted language” (Gambino) of euphemisms that have helped people make their peace with wrongdoing include the following: Dead civilians = “collateral damage” Mass firings = “right-sizing” Skin burnt and melted by Willy Peter (White Phosphorous). Post was not sent - check your email addresses! It’s murder. That sounded like a good therapy, but I knew of no veterans groups here in Taiwan where I have lived since 2004. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life, tit for tat. The U.S. Air Force Intelligence Targeting Guide So what’s been going on in southern Lebanon and northern Israel this summer? I’d like to use them in my next article. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. It is wrong to murder, we all agree. Killing innocents is murder. Now “collateral damage” has become an accepted part of military lingo. And Catholic ethics and bioethics generally say that our morality allows for such practices when we intend only to relieve the dying patient’s suffering.
The principle of double effect acknowledges that sometimes our clinical attempts to alleviate pain and suffering at the end of life have the unintended result of hastening death. Cloaking detrimental activities in euphemisms can be a powerful weapon. With the emergence of Trump, and his mirage of reality (Two plus to Two equals Five) Orwell has become somewhat more popular in some circles to point out only the Trump regimes alternative facts.Mike Murry and Monotonous Languor: Your comments on nationalism are very important. His writing is powerful, accessible, clear of jargon, and penetrating.
Heck, maybe even help and inspire one another.Thank you both for your responses and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. It never ends. The term “collateral damage” is a terrifying euphemism. Again, thank you both for your writing, your work and your fellowship.Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. We started using it back during the Vietnam War. Side Bar – This happened after WW 1, from Finland down into the Balkans new countries were created out of the ruins of the Austrian, German and Russian Empires. Therefore, moral creatures like us are encouraged to be careful how we use language lest we misuse it and violate other norms as well.We take care lest we violate norms such as that universal rule against murder–which is normally understood as the deliberate and unlawful killing of innocents. Ask questions on Justlearn to speak a language. The fact the strategy may have failed before is of no consequence a new spin will be attached.