I am by no means a linguistic, I have poor spelling and grammar, and make up more words than the average Nana in a Scrabble contest. I do however know that we have been listening to the same broken record of buzz words for a while now, and I’m waiting for someone to break the needle.
“New Economy”, “Economic Reinvestment”, “Stimulation”, and “American Recovery” are just a few words that have become more popular than fanny packs at an amusement park. It's almost as if using these words validates whatever action they have been linked to. In fact, just outside of our driveway there is a 5x5 blaze orange sign stating “Putting Americans to Work. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”. Ah, yes – the road project that was scheduled to start over 10 months ago will finally begin. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the government paid for a giant sign to point out that they’ve been slacking, and will finally get started on their “honey-do” list. I makes me wonder how the neighbors would feel if we started leaving behind signs like “Making our Community Greener – One Poo Pile at a Time”. Or, maybe my boss would like “My Presence Here Stimulates the Economy”. Disagreeing could easily label you as an anti-environmentalist, or worse, anti-American.
While it is no secret that our nation is in what I would classify as a hot mess, these canned statements are nothing but focus group-selected verbs attempting to fog and simplify our thinking. Million dollar words thrown out in hopes to diffuse the situation, banking on the fact that we are all too lazy to look into them a little closer. You say “reinvestment” - at what point were we not invested? You say “stimulation” – aren’t some of our struggles due to “over stimulation”? You say “American Recovery” – aren’t we recovering from the irresponsible behavior of ourselves… fellow Americans?
At the end of the day, this is nothing but polishing turds. Yes, the massive pot holes down our street are finally going to be fixed - and they've dug up enough money to consider putting in a much needed traffic light. The real story however is that the project fell behind and now there's a little cash to get it started. A handful of guys will have a job - just long enough to show improvement for the next unemployment poll - where shortly after they will be laid off and left waiting for the next wave of stimulation.
But really... doesn't their way of phrasing it make you feel better??
