Ed.
note:
Please
welcome
Vivia
Chen
back
to
the
pages
of
Above
the
Law.
Subscribe
to
her
Substack,
“The
Ex-Careerist,” here.
WHEN
I
GET
TOGETHER
FOR
DRINKS
with
my
depressed
liberal
friends,
we
play
a
little
game.
It
goes
like
this:
If
someone
unwittingly
displays
an
elite
tendency
–
like
wincing
at
the
idea
of
eating
at
Olive
Garden
or
questioning
how
anyone
can
sit
through Cats –
we
shout,
“And
that’s
why
we
lost
the
election!”
In
that
spirit,
I
present
to
you
words
and
phrases
that
Democrats
should
retire
forthwith
if
they
ever
hope
to
win
back
the
hearts
and
minds
of
Americans.
Compiled
by
liberal
think
tank
Third
Way,
it’s
a memo addressed
to
“All
Who
Wish
to
Stop
Donald
Trump
and
MAGA,”
listing
45
terms
that
“no
ordinary
person
would
ever
dream
of
saying.”
Here’s
a
sampling
of
some
of
the
forbidden
terms
and
their
subtext
from
the
memo:
Therapy-Speak.
“I’m
more
empathetic
than
you,
and
you
are
callous
to
hurting
other’s
feelings”:
- Privilege
-
Violence
(as
in
“environmental
violence”) - Triggering
-
Progressive
stack -
Body
shaming
Seminar
Room
Language.
“I
am
smarter
and
more
concerned
about
important
issues
than
you”:
Organizer
Jargon.
“We
are
beholden
to
groups,
not
individuals”:
-
Small
“d”
democracy -
The
unhoused -
Food
insecurity -
Housing
insecurity
Gender/Orientation
Correctness.
“Your
views
on
traditional
genders
and
gender
roles
are
at
best
quaint”:
- Cisgender
-
Pregnant
people -
Chest
feeding - Heteronormative
The
Shifting
Language
of
Racial
Constructs:
“You
will
be
called
out
as
racist
if
you
do
not
use
the
latest
and
correct
terminology”:
- Latinx
- Intersectionality
- Allyship
-
Minoritized
communities
Explaining
Away
Crime: “The
criminal
is
the
victim.
The
victim
is
an
afterthought”:
- Justice-involved
- Carceration
I
THOUGHT
I
KNEW
MY
WAY
AROUND
THE
WOKE
BLOCK,
but
some
of
these
terms
threw
me
for
a
loop:
“progressive
stack,”
“Overton
window,”
“heuristic,”
and
“carceration.”
And
what’s
“postmodernism”
doing
on
the
list?
I
thought
that
was
an
architectural
term.
Amazing,
isn’t
it,
that
I’ve
been
writing
about
gender
and
race
for
over
two
decades
without
grasping
these
concepts?
Happily,
my
main
pet
peeves
are
on
the
list.
Winning
the
competition
for
sheer
ridiculousness
are
“pregnant
people”
and
“chest
feeding.”
Yes,
yes,
I
know
you
can
carry
a
baby
and
identify
as
non-binary,
but
come
on.
Not
to
be
technical,
but
you
kind
of
need
those
lady
parts
to
gestate
and
lactate.
And
what’s
with
“the
unhoused”
or
“food
insecurity”
stuff?
Do
those
terms
really
impart
greater
dignity
to
those
who
are
homeless
and
hungry?
If
anything,
those
antiseptic
euphemisms
detract
from
the
urgency
of
the
problem.
Actually,
I’m
surprised
that
Third
Way
only
came
up
with
45
words
and
phrases.
Personally,
I’d
throw
in
“preferred
pronouns”
and
“land
acknowledgements.”
I
know
identifying
your
pronouns
on
email
signatures
shows
allyship
(another
term
earmarked
for
retirement)
with
the
LGBTQ+
community,
but
it
always
struck
me
as
coerced
virtue
signaling.
And
the
ritualized
Native
American
land
acknowledgments
—
now
de
rigueur
at
graduation
ceremonies
in
many
colleges
—
seems
wholly
performative.
I
know
it’s
intended
to
recognize
historic
injustices,
but
who’s
being
comforted?
Better
to
fund
scholarships
for
Native
students,
though
that’s
likely
a
no-go
in
the
current
anti-DEI
climate.
What
brilliant
mind
came
up
with
this
baloney? The
well-meaning
and
the
over-thinking,
of
course.
Though
the
“intent
of
this
language
is
to
include,
broaden,
empathize,
accept,
and
embrace,”
speakers
come
off
as
“enforcers
of
wokeness,”
Third
Way
notes.
“To
please
the
few,
we
have
alienated
the
many
—
especially
on
culture
issues,
where
our
language
sounds
superior,
haughty
and
arrogant.”
To
that
string
of
adjectives,
I’d
also
add
idiotic.
While
most
liberals
I
know
speak
like
regular
folks,
I’ve
had
my
share
of
run-ins
with
the
language
police.
And
you
never
know
when
they’ll
strike.
“These
activists
and
advocates
may
take
on
noble
causes,”
says
Third
Way,
“but
in
doing
so
they
often
demand
compliance
with
their
preferred
messages.”
I’ve
been
chastised by
editors
and
colleagues
for
not
being
sufficiently
“sensitive”
to
one
group
or
another
in
my
writing.
I
can’t
tell
you
how
much
time
has
been
spent
fighting
over
one
silly
adjective.
And
I
get
it
on
the
homefront
too:
My
two
superbly-educated
daughters
are
constantly
on
my
case
for
what
I
say
and
how
I
say
it.
It’s
gotten
to
the
point
where
I
actually
slow
myself
down
in
order
to
choose
the
right
words
before
uttering
an
opinion
at
the
dinner
table
—
and
they
still
treat
me
as
a
cultural
Neanderthal.
This
whole
exercise
is
exhausting.
And
a
royal
waste
of
time.
There’s
so
much
focus
on
terminology
that
we
barely
have
the
bandwidth
to
get
to
the
crux
of
the
real
problems
we
face.
Maybe
JD
Vance
had
a
point
when
he
recently
advised
Democrats
on
Laura
Ingraham’s
show
on
Fox
News:
“Stop
sounding
like
crazy
people!”
Not
that
the
Republicans
don’t
do
crazy
talk. Indeed,
Donald
Trump
has
not
only
mangled
the
English
language
but
vulgarized
it
to
the
max.
Worse,
he’s
made
it
acceptable.
While
the
Democrats
contort
themselves
to
avoid
any
possible
offense
to
anyone
under
the
sun,
Trump
goes
out
of
his
way
to
do
the
opposite.
His
language
is
studded
with
racism
(Haiti
and
African
nations
are
“shithole
countries“);
sexism
(Kamala
Harris
is
“dumb
as
a
Rock,”
“crazy,”
“nuts“);
crassness
(“grab
’em
by
the
pussy”);
and
inhumanity
(immigrants
–
“they’re
not
humans,
they’re
animals‘).
And
that’s
just
a
very
tiny
sampling.
But
guess
who’s
winning
the
language
wars?
Though
there’s
nothing
elevating
about
Trump’s
language,
give
him
credit
for
being
direct
and
pungent;
you
can
literally
envision
what
he
is
saying.
And
clarity
—
especially
when
people
feel
unseen
—
lands
as
authenticity.
That’s
Trump’s
secret
sauce:
speech
that
feels
like
it
comes
straight
from
the
gut,
not
a
seminar.
Democrats
can
dissect
the
“lived
experiences
of
minoritized
communities”
but
many
will
be
left
wondering
what
was
the
point.
So
the
question
isn’t
just
whether
liberals
can
retire
their
tortured
vocabulary.
It’s
whether
they
can
learn
to
speak
in
a
language
that
ordinary
people
actually
hear.
Because
right
now,
it’s
the
crude
and
cruel
version
that’s
striking
a
chord
with
Americans.
And
that
should
trouble
us
all.
Subscribe
to
read
more
at
The
Ex-Careerist….
Vivia
Chen writes “The
Ex-Careerist” column
on
Substack
where
she
unleashes
her
unvarnished
views
about
the
intersection
of
work,
life,
and
politics.
A
former
lawyer,
she
was
an
opinion
columnist
at
Bloomberg
Law
and
The
American
Lawyer.
Subscribe
to
her
Substack
by
clicking
here:
