The Corruption of Language (7)

Many politicians, including President Obama, have a bad habit of using the term 'Working Americans'. It is not exactly clear what they mean but the the phrase does seem to include serious overtones of class warfare. That is not only unattractive but also unhelpful.

Your correspondent immigrated from the United Kingdom in 1968. At that time, the UK was riven with class warfare, envy of the rich, and confiscatory taxes. One of the more pleasurable pieces of culture shock resulting from moving to the USA was the lack of economic jealousy. Those with little wealth believed that hard work would be rewarded and, even if they did not become rich, their children and grandchildren would surely have the opportunity.

Is the American Dream dying? Not if we have leaders to provide inspiration rather than division.

If the term 'working Americans' means those that work with their hands or live from paycheck to paycheck then, for those us who make an above average living with our brains, and manage to spend less than we earn, the concept that we do not 'work' is both grotesque and offensive. What would some of the richest men in the world, whose wealth is derived from the businesses that they founded and built rather than from speculating at the Wall Street Casino, think of the idea that they are not 'working Americans'?

A small sample would include Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway), Larry Ellison (Oracle Corporation), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Sergei Brin (Google), the late Sam Walton (Wal-Mart), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg) and Jeffrey Bezos (Amazon) - to name only a few.

The demons of corrupted language and thought, the subject of George Orwell's most notable books - 1984 and Animal Farm, are alive and well.

Enough said!