The list of perfectly good words being co-opted by the left, who either make the word mean something new or narrow the definition so much that no one can safely use the word outside this new meaning without risk of ridicule or worse, continues to grow. When we grew up in the 50's, the kids frequently made up words or altered words slightly for street lingo. We all knew what "neat," "cool," and the like meant, but adults could and would still use those words in their conversations.

Now, I am not suggesting that the use of the language is nearly as important to our collective survival as stemming the spread of radical Islam, but allowing others to define for us what words we may use is a very visible symptom of why we are now in danger of being over run by problems which could kill us all.

Of all the words which we must use carefully these days, the one which irks me most is the word diversity. It's a great word, but has been used and misused so much in the past 20 years or so that most of us would rather never hear it again in any context. Whether you think of the U.S. as a melting pot or as a salad bowl, the result just would not have been as interesting or as talented without the diversity of our populace.

The experiment in governance that began with our founders and original immigrants was based on and continued through the centuries as a composite of indigenous traditions and raw materials combined with the energies, ideas, and dreams of those from the many different cultures that met in this land. Each wave of immigration brought new patterns of behavior which were assimilated into what defined "America." From chop suey to pizza to baseball, we took what everyone brought here and produced variations that resulted in our own culture.

It is that very diversity of thought and action which made us strong. The same principle has worked in other great civilizations throughout time. Without that melding of cultures we would not be eating peanut butter, have made the advances we did in engineering and the sciences, or formulated a code which was unbreakable by the Japanese in WWII. Our strength is exemplified by our successful ability to take that which is great, combine this with other ideas which are great, and adapt the parts into something new and different.

What the left has done to us is take what is a wonderful strength we had, convoluted it into something we can hardly recognize, and accused us of needing it. What a sick and stupid thing to do! All of us who have been forced to take "Diversity Training" were either insulted, offended, or bored. Maybe all three. Certainly, our time was wasted by the effort. But the do-gooders and idiots came away feeling all warm and fuzzy inside for what they had accomplished.

Sorry folks, but we are not here to make the libiots feel warm and fuzzy. We have always been diverse. That fact was a major contributing factor to the success of this country, and every other country in history which gathered and maintained strength. Being told repeatedly that we need more of it is patently absurd. Removing the word from the vocabulary of ordinary Americans is abject nonsense.

I am sick of having words taken away from us. Each word that leaves our lexicon symbolizes one more idea which has been taken from us and transmuted into something unrecognizable - something like the dumbing down of America on steroids.

We could try a counter revolution here. Perhaps we could begin by using the word gay in conversation as often as possible. Can't you just hear it? "Hi. I'm Bobbie and I'm gay." Well, most of the time I am a happy person. If enough of us do something like that, maybe we would get the word back to mean simply being in a joyful state.

OK, not such a great idea. Maybe "Hi, I'm Bobbie and I'm a Veteran-American" will have to do for now.

Contributed by Bobbie (OWB) on November 15, 2006 at 03:45 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: The Gray Dog

Your article left me feeling threatened. I thought I was the statircal wit in the dog house. I also have about five "false-start" articles saved on word usage. I guess I'll keep them on ice for now.

Great post Bobbie.

Posted by: The Gray Dog | Nov 15, 2006 7:25:20 PM