Freedom Fighters versus Terrorists

After two heavy posts, today's post is not heavy and not even about Brunei at all but just some general information.

One of the problems of being alone in a hotel room in a foreign country late at night is that you don't have anyone to talk to other than yourself. If you do have someone to talk to, I suggest you keep that to yourself and not tell your other half. Anyway, being a part time writer, I am always in search of information and materials. I remembered coming across one arguement about the difference between a terrorist and a freedome fighter. Of course the definition depended on which side you are on. I thought I will do a search and I came up across a whole list written on a website for Anarchy for Anybody. I infringed their copyright and copied the entire list here:-

Aid: This means "military support meant to shore up undemocratic client regimes and ensure that the pro-business, capitalist environment remains unchallenged." Also called "foreign aid" or "aid package".

Anarchist: This means "terrorist and/or political nutcase, regardless of ideology." This is a hot-button word, meant to scare you into not thinking. Many people who are not anarchists are called that in the media, so this term is used indiscriminately right now, often couched with "self-proclaimed".

Anti-government: This means "anybody who is bad or nasty." Anybody who doesn't like the government must be bad or nasty, because the American government is always on the side of truth and justice.

Big Government: All non-military government spending. Military spending is never considered "big government".

Biotechnology: This means "prostituting science to make Big Business even richer by way of genetic engineering". Biotechnology is very, very good, and anybody who opposes it is either being an extremist, unrealistic, or unreasonable (see below for definitions).

Change: This means either: 1) returning to class-based private ownership by suppressing resistance; 2) shifting the existing balance even more in the favor of the powerful and privileged; 3) more of the same; maintaining the status quo.

Consumer: This has replaced "citizen." It is the basic human unit of capitalist society, an entity whose sole means of political expression lies in what they do and do not buy. A healthy consumer is generally a person who is in debt; if you're debt-free, you're not being a good consumer.

Counterinsurgency: This is terrorism when practiced by the United States. It can encompass anything from election fraud, to propaganda blitzes, to torture, to genocide...anything used to destabilize and otherwise demolish a regime. When practiced by anyone BUT the US (or a power sanctioned by the US, most notably Israel), this is considered "terrorism".

Democracy: The biggest buzzword of them all; it has come to mean "acquiescence to the will of the United States and/or the industrialized North." The US only supports democracies, regardless of their human rights records, and regardless of the lack of democracy in the regimes. (SEE ALSO Freedom)

Deregulation: This is corporatese for "eliminating health and environmental safeguards as impediments to corporate profit" and "removing capitalist firms from accountability to the law" This is portrayed as a good thing because the mainstream media are all owned the the same capitalistic elite, and for this elite, deregulation means more money for them, and thus, more power--which is good for them. Typically, what is good for this tiny group of tycoons is very bad for the rest of society, and humanity, for that matter. The incident at Bhopal, India in the 80s shows what full-blown deregulation can do for a community.

Development: This means "exploitation of existing resources by wealthy opportunists, particularly in the area of export of raw materials from Third World nations."

Dictator(ship): This means "any Communist regime". No American-funded dictator is ever called this in American media. When the US funds a dictator, he's called either a "strongman" or a "statesman" or a "moderate".

Disinformation: This is one of those sanitized governmentspeak words; it means "spreading lies with intent to bring shame, embarrassment, or ridicule to political rivals." When the US engages in propaganda campaigns, these are called "disinformation," the information itself, "facts;" when political rivals to the US engage in disinformation, it is called "propaganda," the information itself, "lies." NOTE: When disinformation is dispensed to everyday people, it's referred to as either "news" or "the media".

Downplay: This means "ignore" or "disregard". Politicians don't like to seem like they ignore or disregard their constituents, so they downplay a lot of things instead.

Downsizing: This is corporatese for "mass firing of workers." Companies no longer fire lots of people; rather, they engage in "downsizing" This verbal massaging rubs out the negative aspect of capitalist decision-making, making deliberate mass firing for profit enhancement seem instead to be a natural and objective market phenomenon--not unlike a hurricane or a tornado. Nobody "fires" anybody; rather, companies simply are "downsizing." Responsibility for the firings is neatly tucked away. (SEE ALSO "rightsizing")

Economically disadvantaged: This means "poor,"but the extra syllables soften it and thereby cloud the meaning. Can apply to nations or people. It doesn't place blame; rather, people just become "economically disadvantaged."

Education: This is used by PR specialists synonymously with "indoctrination". So, if you're opposed to their client's agenda, they'll try to "educate" you on the issue.

Extremist: This has come to mean "anyone who deviates from the edicts of Washington." Can be applied to foreign or domestic opponents. They are always "extremists." Also known as MILITANTS.

Family values: This means "reinforcing patriarchal family relations, where the male member of the household works, and the female member of the household stays home and raises the children." Feminists are notorious opponents of "family values", in the buzzword world of the media, because they see a broader role for women than merely as vassals for their husbands.

Flexibility: This term means "powerlessness in the capitalist workplace producing extraordinarily compliant (e.g., desperate) workers" and is becoming strongly evident as trade unionism continues to founder against corporate and managerial power--a "flexible" worker is one who is "permitted" to work up to 80 hour weeks and beyond in order to keep their employment. The huge temporary (e.g., contingent) workforce is hailed for being extremely "flexible". Workers who are not sufficiently "flexible" are typically fired (aka, "let go"), which does wonders for increasing the remaining workforce's flexibility. The imagery of bending over backwards to keep your job (e.g., pleasing your bosses) is an apt demonstration of the "flexibility" desired on the part of the capitalist owners and their managerial toadies. The "Right to Work" laws in effect in the US are examples of legislating this "flexibility."

Food insecurity: Starvation, inability to acquire food regularly.

Freedom: This now means "capitalism." Anyone who opposes this "freedom" becomes an extremist. The USA always fights for this kind of "freedom."

Free Elections: This means "elections that represent the interests of the United States government." Any election that does this is considered a "free" election, regardless of the observations of human rights advocates. Egypt's ruling party, after ransacking its opposition with police raids and other niceties, recently held "free elections."

Genocide: This means "any mass murder not committed by either: 1) The United States; 2) One of America's client regimes." The US never commits genocide, even when it does.

Human rights: This means "anything that fits in with America's foreign policy agenda of the time." The US shows a lot of concern for human rights in China and Cuba, but in places like El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, Liberia, etc., etc. the human rights issues are examples of "extremism". The US considers itself a champion of human rights, despite the reality of American foreign policy.

Managed care: This means "continuing to increase the profits of insurance and pharmaceutical companies by keeping health care costs exhorbitant, while placating people's genuine anger over this issue." Maintaining the misperception that in a modern society, health care is a privilege, and not a right, is an essential part of "managed care."

Mandate: This means "representative of the interests of a minority of the population, so long as this interest supports capitalism."

Militant: Meaning "anyone who takes active resistance against the interference of the hegemonic powers." Only extremists become militants. Moderates are not militants, even when they are violent and murderous. No military personnel are considered militants. Only civilians can be militants.

Moderate: This is "anyone who supports the United States (or the industrialized North), regardless of human rights record." They must be supportive of capitalism, however, and violently hostile to leftists. The USA only supports "moderates".

National Security: This means "anything the State decides to do to preserve the interests of the ruling elite."

Nutraceutical: This means "genetically-engineered organism people don't want to eat but which biotech companies think will make them a lot of money so they put it under a different name".

Outsourcing: This is corporatese for "using an external workforce on a consultation basis as a cost-cutting measure." Companies no longer hire scabs to replace strikers; rather, they rely on "outsourcing" labor to get the job done at lower cost, at the expense of their normal workforce. This reflects the post-industrial phenomenon of financially mobile capital versus immobile labor pools. Capitalists can then pick and choose their workforce, with the "best" option being the workers who will work for the least amount of money. This is "outsourcing" in action.

Paramilitary: This means "death squad" -- government- or capitalist-supported irregular units whose purpose is to rape, torture, and murder civilians who are considered unacceptable to the ruling regime. Less well-funded paramilitaries are also known as "goons" or "thugs". Nearly all American-sponsored "democracies" use paramilitaries.

Peacekeepers: These are military forces meant to enforce the status quo. They are forces for stability and freedom, in the newspeak sense of these words. The militants of the hegemonic powers are always peacekeepers, never extremists, regardless of their behavior.

Peace Process: This means "working to keep a client nation in a overwhelmingly dominant position relative to our rivals, by cementing existing relations in their favor with lavish military aid." Example: in order to ensure the "peace process" continues, the US is providing Israel $100 million in military aid and training to combat terrorism. Peace through superior firepower, perhaps?

Pluralism: This means "representing the dominant power's viewpoint". This one is often used by corporations and their lobbying groups when they want their view to dominate. If, say, an environmental group pushes their agenda, and the polluting lobbies want them to compromise their stance, they cynically accuse the group of not embracing "pluralism", knowing that if an environmental group embraced their view, it would destroy the group's very purpose.

Politically motivated: This means "representing opinions not accepted by the US government, which must therefore be wrong". This one came up during the flap over the World Court's efforts to punish war criminals. The US opposed this court on the grounds that US soldiers could be brought to trial on "politically motivated" charges. Any such charges, regardless of factual merit, are dismissed out of hand by US authorities without consideration.

Progress: This means "anything that puts more money and/or power into fewer hands". It is also taken as something of an inevitability. Sort of like the tides, or something. Anybody who stands in the way of progress must be a fool.

Reform: This means "to bring closer to the expectations of the hegemonic powers." Only extremists oppose this kind of reform. The recent capitalist transition (and corresponding organized crime wave and emergence of a wealthy elite) of the former Soviet Union is an example of "reform." Used domestically, it means "any kind of change, good or bad, although never referred to as being bad".

Restructuring: This means "keeping or enhancing existing power relations within a corporation, the purpose being to further increase owner profits at the expense of the workers." Typically, such restructuring involves massive employee layoffs and is generally couched in terms like making the company "lean and mean", or "trimming the fat" from the corporation (meaning, of course, that the vastly-overpaid CEOs on top are "vital" to the company, and the employees who actually DO the work are considered "the fat").

Retribution: This means "Using overwhelming military force to attack anyone who dares retaliate against the initial aggression of a subhegemonic power." That is, if a country from the Industrialized North (or one of their vassal states) launches an offensive against a group, and this group attacks back, the aggressor is entitled to seek "retribution," broadening and intensifying the following attacks.

Socialism: This means "anything bad or nasty, also tinged with unrealistic ideas". Anything the US opposes must be bad or nasty, because the US is always on the side of truth and justice. So, while in spirit, the American family is socialist -- that is, children don't pay their parents for their room and board or work for wages, no American family would ever be called that, unless they were really bad or nasty.

Stability: This means "suppressing democracy (true meaning of term) and keeping the 'right' people in power, regardless of the wishes of the people they rule/terrorize."

Standoff: This really means "siege." Typically, it is meant to convey the impression that a handful of civilians surrounded by government agents is on equal footing against the helpless government, a threat to law and order. It is meant to make the besieged appear aggressive and dangerous, and the government agents as protective and benevolent.

Terrorism: This stands for anything the State does not approve of, regardless of whether terror or killing is inflicted. So, when a hacker closes down an e-commerce web site, (s)he's engaging in "cyberterrorism". Note: Nothing the State does is ever considered terrorism by the media, even when terror, killing, rape, or torture occur.

Terrorist: Anybody practicing terrorism (see above), so long as not on the payroll of the US government or one of their allies. The State cannot commit terrorism, because it writes the laws and gives itself the latitude to do whatever the hell the leaders want. Only everyday people can commit terrorism.

Transitional assistance: Formerly known as welfare, now related to workfare.

Ultranationalist: This means "fascist", because that word isn't allowed to be used anymore in the American media, it would seem, because of the bad associations with that word (you know, World War II, Nazis, etc.)

Ultra-right: This also means "fascist", and is used for the same reason as "ultranationalist".

Unhealthful: This means "bad for you". I saw this on a local news broadcast where they were doing the "air index" rating (pollution index). The two rankings on the display that caught my eye were "unhealthful" and "near unhealthful". I suspect that this new word was invented to lessen the connotations regarding breathing toxic air...thus, the air pollution isn't "unhealthy" "noxious" or "bad", it's merely "unhealthful".

Unrealistic: This means "anything that is not currently acceptable to the ruling elite." It is taken as a matter of unspoken trust that ruling elites are always realistic, while any who oppose them are not. Related to unreasonable.

Unreasonable: This means "anything not currently acceptable to the ruling elite." Nothing made by the ruling elite is every considered unreasonable, even when it is.

Unrest: This means "unsanctioned citizen activity within a given region." It is used to deflect attention from any potential reasons behind citizen actions. It implies that the normal state of police control is characteristic of a nation 'at rest.'