The other day I came up with a name for the practice of trying to come up with a metaphor or narrative to explain complex subjects, and then shoehorning and cherry-picking the facts to make it fit. I call this "Friedmanism," named after Thomas Friedman, its currently most-well-known practitioner.
And when that metaphor or narrative relies heavily on psychoanalysis, such as where Friedman's colleague Maureen Dowd tries to link most of what President Bush does to his relationship with his father, I call that "Freudmanism."
Also, I came up with a new euphemism for illegal immigrants: "Wannabe-Americans."
Re:euphemism?
pudge on 2005-10-17T15:26:22
I don't think most illegal immigrants want to be Americans, they just want a job.
They want to be in America and have American jobs, American freedoms, and American prosperity. That, there, is what it means to be an American.
Re:euphemism?
itub on 2005-10-17T15:34:02
Usually they just want their families to eat. I didn't know that was an exclusively American thing.Re:euphemism?
pudge on 2005-10-17T16:52:27
It's not about exclusivity. When you contrast what they want to what they have, they want what America has to offer, and so they come here.
Re:Wannabe American
pudge on 2005-10-17T16:53:41
Hmmm. Just wondering what clever name you would give your own family who orginally came here from somewhere in Europe to find a better life?
I was talking about illegal immigrants, not legal ones. However, my family certainly did want to be Americans, and I doubt they would have minded the moniker.
