{"id":13362,"date":"2021-05-12T10:41:55","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=13362"},"modified":"2021-05-12T13:56:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T20:56:10","slug":"words-that-dont-matter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/words-that-dont-matter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Words That Don\u2019t Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Private Papers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From time to time, I\u2019ll try to update our contemporary American vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diversity\/Diverse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This noun and its adjective have lost all currency. Ostensibly, diversity assumes that\u00a0variety<\/em>\u00a0in general is better than\u00a0uniformity<\/em>. In some cases, perhaps it is, although the Japanese, for example, might argue their homogenous society avoids many of the problems in contemporary America. And after all our original motto of uniting states into the union was\u00a0e pluribus unum<\/em>, not\u00a0ex uno plures.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiverse” has become a very narrowly defined adjective. It means solely different from white, male, Christian, and heterosexual\u2014such as Latinos, blacks, women in general, Muslims or Buddhists, and transgendered and homosexuals. In other words, the \u201cdiverse\u201d community comprises about 67-70 percent of America; the non-diverse, and supposedly dominant enemy of diversity, is only about 30-33 percent of the population. Under no circumstances can diversity imply hopes for political heterodoxy in hiring or admissions. Instead, political diversity is supposed to be as incendiary as racial diversity is calming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privilege\/White Privilege<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This buzzword implies that 90 percent of citizens at the Founding were of Northern European (e.g., English, Scots-Irish) descent and rigged the country to favor their interests in perpetuity against a series of much different immigrants (Irish, Catholics, Jews, Eastern Europeans, Asians, etc.) as well as Native Americans and blacks. The word is data-free and cannot withstand cross-examination that might suggest that lots of groups (e.g., Punjabis, Koreans, Japanese, etc.), who are markedly different in appearance and religion from the founding norms, enjoy a great deal of wealth, status, and influence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually elite whites and minorities with privilege use the term \u201cprivileged\u201d to castigate middle class and poor whites without it (e. g, \u201cdregs,\u201d \u201cdeplorables,\u201d \u201cNeanderthals,\u201d \u201cclingers,\u201d \u201cchumps,” etc.) As a rule of thumb, those who accuse others of having \u201cprivilege\u201d or even \u201cwhite privilege,\u201d enjoy it, or something comparable to it, themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently the adjective \u201cunearned\u201d has been attached. But its use is usually confined to scripted and public self-serving apologies, such as the sort that deans, provosts, and college presidents offer\u2014as in \u201cI have been the beneficiary of unearned privilege\u2026.\u201d Such usage is meant to deflect the incoming fire of woke mobs and hysterias to someone else, through the use of preemptive and empty confessionals that do not entail any sacrifice or concrete concessions or proof of contrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racism\/Racist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inflation and promiscuity in the use of these once critical nouns and adjectives render them now empty and without meaning. If everyone and everything are racist, then nothing is. Increasingly, calling a person a \u201cracist\u201d is good proof that he is not, but that the accuser likely is. Like \u201cShut up!\u201d or \u2018F—k you!\u201d, \u201cRacist!\u201d is simply an interjection used to end abruptly all conversation. It is as common and empty as the introductory adverb, \u201cWell\u2026,\u201d or the pause word \u201cuh.\u201d Soon we may see people use the word in a similar manner, \u201cRacist, how are things going?\u201d and \u201cRacist, now let\u2019s turn to another subject.\u201d Or, hmmm, racist, racist, racist, hmmm, as I was saying\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnderserved\u201d or \u201cMarginalized\u201d Community<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These adjectives should suggest the pathologies of a geographical area or particular group are not an individual\u2019s or a community\u2019s fault\u2014but largely to be blamed on society at large. Mostly they are euphemisms for \u201ccrime-ridden\u201d or \u201cdangerous.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The charge of \u2018underserved\u201d or \u201cmarginalized\u201d is frequently lodged but rarely substantiated or documented. Ethnic or minority groups, who perform better on college entrance tests or have higher per capita incomes than do the majority of Americans, or lower crime rates, are rarely, if ever termed \u201coverserved\u201d or \u201cde-marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Private Papers From time to time, I\u2019ll try to update our contemporary American vocabulary. Diversity\/Diverse This noun and its adjective have lost all currency. Ostensibly, diversity assumes that\u00a0variety\u00a0in general is better than\u00a0uniformity. In some cases, perhaps it is, although the Japanese, for example, might argue their homogenous society avoids many of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-3tw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10594,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/diversity-can-spell-trouble\/","url_meta":{"origin":13362,"position":0},"title":"Diversity Can Spell Trouble","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Victor Davis Hanson Defining Ideas America is experiencing a diversity and inclusion conundrum\u2014which, in historical terms, has not necessarily been a good thing. Communities are tearing themselves apart over the statues of long-dead Confederate generals. Controversy rages over which slogan\u2014\u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d or \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d\u2014is truly racist. Antifa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defining Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Defining Ideas","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/defining-ideas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9430,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/diversity-historys-pathway-to-chaos\/","url_meta":{"origin":13362,"position":1},"title":"Diversity: History\u2019s Pathway to Chaos","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"America\u2019s successful melting pot should not be replaced with discredited salad-bowl separatism. By Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online Emphasizing diversity has been the pitfall, not the strength, of nations throughout history. 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By Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online The history of nations is mostly characterized by ethnic and racial uniformity, not diversity. Most national boundaries reflected linguistic, religious, and ethnic homogeneity. Until the late 20th century, diversity was considered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Europe"","block_context":{"text":"Europe","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4359,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/profiles-in-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":13362,"position":4},"title":"Profiles in Diversity","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson The Claremont Institute Whether or not you agreed with them, university presidents used to be dignified figures on the American scene. They often were distinguished scholars, capable of bringing their own brand of independent thinking to bear on the operation and reform of their institutions. Above\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "June 2005"","block_context":{"text":"June 2005","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2005\/june-2005\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":178,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-rise-of-faux-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":13362,"position":5},"title":"The Rise of Faux Diversity","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Thornton Defining Ideas In\u00a0Fisher vs. University of Texas, the Supreme Court heard legal challenges to the University of Texas\u2019s admissions policies, which allow consideration of an applicant\u2019s race in order to promote \u201cdiversity\u201d among the school\u2019s students. 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