<![CDATA[Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them?]]>RE: https://tldr.nettime.org/@tante/116435835882195004

Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them?

I also have this issue with libertarianism, which should describe a useful political position about liberty from government abuses independently from your views on economic policies, but now just makes you sound like a gun toting nut. This makes it harder to defend against the narrative that everyone on the left is rooting for some authoritarian communist society.

The same goes for many internet memes and sayings that were once universally used, e.g. Pepe the Frog. It is no wonder members of younger generations keep falling to the alt-right, when the right is co-opting all the things they enjoy, and everyone else not only lets them, but actively works to make those popular things be seen as hateful. In this example, the popular idea that Pepe the Frog is a hate symbol stems almost entirely from some uninformed, reactionary article the Clinton campaign posted to try and smear Trump, then got the media to repeat forever.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/068121e0-f994-4b94-918f-beaa63293857/can-we-instead-stop-ceding-all-the-words-that-are-useful-descriptors-to-the-right-just-because-they-start-using-themRSS for NodeThu, 30 Apr 2026 23:58:45 GMTMon, 20 Apr 2026 14:32:32 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:31:11 GMT]]>@jonah It was fun the first time I told someone I was a bit stoic by nature and got told that apparently the far-right/manosphere has co-opted "stoicism" to mean "fuck everyone who isn't me."

Pretty soon we just won't be able to talk at all cause all the words will be co-opted. Which is probably what they want anyways.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.thenewoil.org/users/nateb/statuses/116438458158963249https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.thenewoil.org/users/nateb/statuses/116438458158963249Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:31:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:17:35 GMT]]>@jonah
The best reaction against these distractions would be to hold ground, I think. I also see them as a form of conversation hijacking (not the cybersecurity type). It's too easy to accidentally legitimize a lie when acknowledging a liar as part of a conversation, and I believe the same happens when we flee or retaliate against their misuse of language.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tuneintodetuned/statuses/116438404671816306https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tuneintodetuned/statuses/116438404671816306Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:17:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:40 GMT]]>@gcvsa probably also around there.

I hear this as a frequent criticism of the political compass, that it places too many people in the green, but I think instead that is just evidence that politicians are so out of touch with what most people actually want.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438338109861921https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438338109861921Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:06 GMT]]>@jonah Oh, believe me, as a queer woman of color and a leftist whose hobbies are very heavily dominated by cis het white men, I'm familiar with the type, especially in online firearms enthusiast forums.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438335886790946https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438335886790946Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:00:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:53:47 GMT]]>@jonah @elgringomexicano And here's me, just sipping my tea.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438311054633224https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438311054633224Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:53:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:51:08 GMT]]>@tuneintodetuned and to be fair, I did read one of the blog posts that @tante published with more details on the subject, and don't entirely disagree with him.

Where I do disagree is the notion that the saying "When you move a step towards them trying to find a compromise they will make a step back and keep dragging you with them" applies here to our language.

In reality, I think what is happening here is not our language taking a step towards the right, but the alt-right running over to nab our ideas and appropriate them, and we are continuing to roll over and let them do so.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438300673852285https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438300673852285Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:51:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:44:41 GMT]]>@jonah
Well said. Fascists have been historically very prone to confusing and dividing their enemies with utter nonsense, often attempting to rewrite/stain aspects of certain demographics. So when I notice someone is trying to push everyone to stop doing, saying or even thinking something that's harmless or even beneficial just because of some new political propaganda, I'm suspicious of that person.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tuneintodetuned/statuses/116438275276003121https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tuneintodetuned/statuses/116438275276003121Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:44:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:43:30 GMT]]>@gcvsa also to be clear, when I say "gun toting nut" I mean people who make the RTKBA their entire personality and political position. I also generally support the RTKBA actually lol

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438270637740168https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438270637740168Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:43:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:36:10 GMT]]>@gcvsa @elgringomexicano not to break out the flawed political compass, but there is a reason the answers are nearly always distributed like this. Right-wing libertarianism and left-wing authoritarianism are nonsense ideas that do not work in the real world.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438241817559715https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116438241817559715Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:36:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:53:05 GMT]]>@elgringomexicano @jonah As a geolibertarian and advocate for the RTKBA, I often point out that libertarianism is an *inherently left wing ideology*, and that the vast majority of people who believe themselves to be libertarians are actually the antithesis of libertarian, they are authoritarians. The basis of Liberty is and can only possibly be Equality. We must be Free precisely because we are all Equal in human dignity. Liberty cannot be divorced from Economics.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438072388580982https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.plus/users/gcvsa/statuses/116438072388580982Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:53:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:46:48 GMT]]>@jonah Enourmous damage has been done by conceding the concept of "free speech" in this way. In the previous century, freedom of expression was a progressive value (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, landmark cases in flag burning, etc.), now everyone just sees us as the annoying fun police/word police.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/elgringomexicano/statuses/116437811754429069https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/elgringomexicano/statuses/116437811754429069Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:46:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:00:37 GMT]]>@jonah when I deal with them I state my age and tell them the average lifespan of a male in my country and challenge them to resolve the issue before I die in 35 years.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/humanhorseshoes/statuses/116437630154283547https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/humanhorseshoes/statuses/116437630154283547Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:00:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:45:43 GMT]]>@jonah The EU are asking the wrong people the wrong questions whilst tying up the right people in endless red tape

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/humanhorseshoes/statuses/116437571575400768https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.world/users/humanhorseshoes/statuses/116437571575400768Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:45:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:44:22 GMT]]>The unfortunate reality is that the EU is currently trying their absolute hardest to create “Big Tech, but Europe.”

Europeans need to be discussing *in advance* the very real ways that data sovereignty gives them the opportunity to avoid the fundamental issues of Big Tech has.

If this does not change, you will have the American version of data sovereignty, which is just “taking Chinese apps and putting them in Oracle datacenters.”

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116437566268641098https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116437566268641098Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:44:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:39:59 GMT]]>@jonah Human language is inherently strange, we are just speaking our own versions. I think this term needs a more formal definition, and there's not much we can say to those who misuse it.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116424104830128599/statuses/116437549016041139https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116424104830128599/statuses/116437549016041139Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:39:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Can we instead stop ceding all the words that are useful descriptors to the right just because they start using them? on Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:39:54 GMT]]>This being said, I’d agree the idea of data sovereignty *alone* is an utterly pointless thing for the EU to be so worried about, seeing as they haven’t first enacted clear rules about the public sector use of consumer data, only really rules about commercial use.

However it *is* happening and it *can* be a helpful concept *if* we can discuss appropriate safeguards. If only the right are participating in these discussions WE WILL LOSE the future of cloud technology.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116437548664645409https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.neat.computer/users/jonah/statuses/116437548664645409Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:39:54 GMT