For the people, by the people, and of the people... NOT!
I had an IM chat with a friend recently.
I got to talking about government and I realized that I always refer to the government using the pronoun "they". So does everyone else.
That is an interesting tell-tale sign that is part of our culture. We just simply expect the government representatives to not be "one of us". This is indicative of a government that is no longer representative of the people it supposedly serves. I have no idea how long this has been going on (shortly after the first few elections I suppose). It seems like it has always been like this.
I have known that the government is a self-serving bureaucratic behemoth, but it is just interesting that this terminology is so ingrained into our culture. Much like calling a fetus an "it" and not a "he", "she", or "the baby".
I propose an experiment:
Write your "representative" and point out this interesting bit of colloquialism. Tell them you hope they will take steps to repair this separation from the people they serve.
Next, watch the news and see how long it takes these representatives to politicize this point in order to garner more of your votes and to make people think that they are there for you.
I bet the "they" concept will catch on as fast as the term "gravitas" did.
I got to talking about government and I realized that I always refer to the government using the pronoun "they". So does everyone else.
That is an interesting tell-tale sign that is part of our culture. We just simply expect the government representatives to not be "one of us". This is indicative of a government that is no longer representative of the people it supposedly serves. I have no idea how long this has been going on (shortly after the first few elections I suppose). It seems like it has always been like this.
I have known that the government is a self-serving bureaucratic behemoth, but it is just interesting that this terminology is so ingrained into our culture. Much like calling a fetus an "it" and not a "he", "she", or "the baby".
I propose an experiment:
Write your "representative" and point out this interesting bit of colloquialism. Tell them you hope they will take steps to repair this separation from the people they serve.
Next, watch the news and see how long it takes these representatives to politicize this point in order to garner more of your votes and to make people think that they are there for you.
I bet the "they" concept will catch on as fast as the term "gravitas" did.