Dumb it down, for fuck's sake.

[LuckyCharms]

I am a 66 year old natural born citizen of the United States of America. I have two college degrees, both of them achieved with high honors. I am a member of a national honor society. Subsequent to my academic life, my career consisted of progressively more responsible positions in a difficult and competitive field. I am able to follow and participate in complex discussions on a variety of topics.

And guess what?

I recently had to look up two words because I did not have the foggiest idea what they meant.

Those two words are:

"Oligarchy" and "autocracy".

I feel no shame in not knowing what these words meant. No matter how smart or how "dumb" we may be...we know what we know, and that's the way life is.

So why in the world are these words being used in Democratic messaging to the general population...a population that you are trying to persuade? A population who you are trying to make understand your point of view?

As I think more about this, why is the word "hyperbole" used in the arguments in which you are trying to persuade? Most people do not know what that word means without looking it up.

When you look up the definition of a word, you can read the definition, you can understand the definition, but the real world implications of that word do not register in your mind on an emotional level.

So why are these words being used in Democratic messaging to a general audience? Inquisitive and truly intelligent people research words that they hear, but do not know the meaning of.
However, just knowing the meaning of a word is not enough.

Simple language must be used when communicating to a general audience.

People trying to persuade need to "dumb it down" if they want to get a message across.

For example:

lie
liar
bullshit
damn lie
fucking lie
king
ruler
Hitler-like
Mussolini-like
their actions could very well cause your death, and the death of those you love
your savings are being stolen
you paid into Social Security your whole life, and they are taking it from you
they think they are better than you
they are not like you
they don't care about you
open up your eyes
you're too smart to fall for this bullshit
your family will be ruined, if they are lucky enough to survive
misery for you and yours
do the right thing and fight for your family
if you are not scared, you should be
don't think it can't happen. it happened to your grandparents
believe your own eyes, not what someone tells you that you are seeing
you're being crushed under the thumb of insane billionaires
etc
etc

NOT...OLIGARCHY AND AUTOCRACY.

For persuasion, people need to feel something in their heart, not their head.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

1. Negative messaging and "You" statements are proven to be ineffectual in dialogue.

Not a one of your alternative statements would be well met by almost anyone that doesn't already agree with you, so if you want to "preach to a choir", go buckwild. For those trying to accomplish outreach, the people attending such rallies or paying attention to them on TikTok or Youtube are already inquisitive. Therefore, they're the type of people to research words they don't know.

Part of good and effective messaging is knowing your target audience.

ON EDIT: As an example, look at the "That was a damn lie" Tiktok campaign Democrats put out. It was universally panned by Reps, Dems and Indies, as well as nonvoters. It was the subject of criticism and mockery, and further hurt the already hurting Democratic brand. As in real life, no matter how truthful something is, knowing how to deliver the message is more important than the message.

[LuckyCharms]

4. Hard disagree except for your final sentence.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

6. I've edited to add a bit, so you might want to do the same for clarity's sake.

You can disagree all you want, everyone has the right to their own opinion. I'm just going with knowledge of debates, social sciences, and social media pressures and presence.

[LuckyCharms]

8. As they say...

The proof is in the pudding, or something like that.

Bottom line is this: our messaging is not working.

We are not in a controlled debate about facts.

This is something different that we are experiencing...completely different.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

14. We haven't been in a controlled debate about facts for decades.

I agree with you completely, our messaging is absolute garbage and it has been for a while.

The future of messaging isn't in the politicians or MSM, it's in individual influencers. Meidas Touch is sort of approaching this, but the right wing presence still outnumbers the Meidas podcasts by a hundred to one. These influencers take every little thing any Democrat says and dissects it down to the pixel, tearing everything said to absolute shreds. Meidas does what you're advocating, speaking "The truth", but no one who watches Meidas would disagree anyways. Right wingers pull the algorithm by virtue of controversy and clicks and have created a sort of macrocosmic entity in the "Influencer-sphere", where they all act and react and react to reactions of each other, sucking more and more casual viewers into the Right-Wing Influencer bubble. This in turn only amplifies the message, makes "Democrats Bad" both trendy and a financial boon, and casuals looking for entertainment get the message "Democrats bad" driven into their head a hundred times a day.

I know that's a bit, but it's what's happening. Mainstream Media gets 3 million views a day. The right-wing Infosphere gets, just in my top ten sources, about 270 million views a day from all over the world. And the "Right Wing Reactor" has spread to every other country on the planet, where you have "Khazakhs React to Democrat Meltdowns" and other such ilk, oftentimes needing English translators but still getting a hundred thousand views.

It comes across as a very grim truth, but a truth nonetheless. There's a worldwide industry supporting Right-Wing reactions every day that rivals the population of our entire country. Nothing we have on the left currently comes close, and I don't see a way to counter it at all.

[MadameButterfly]

45. This is the heart of the matter

Last edited Fri Mar 21, 2025, 06:09 PM - Edit history (1)

It is the quantity, the reach of the messaging.

I agree with some plain talk, Bernie is good at that. Rachel often annoyingly repeats herself but she does it on purpose, while Chris Hayes while brilliant requires education to catch everything he's saying. But I think Dems get a bad rap--there is a lot of good communication just old fashioned methods: Kamala and Tim did a great job but they busted their humps while Trump played golf and let social media do his work for him (with Russian help). RW Spanish speaking radio stations were very effective, and not countered on the left.

it will get worse with Trump going after media and lifting limits on what Russia can do, and fact-checking on Facebook, etc. We're going to have to think out of the box. I hope some smart people are working on this

[Hellbound Hellhound]

52. "I hope some smart people are working on this" You and me both, friend.

I try to increase our SM presence, but I pull 20-30 viewers at best. I know I'm effectively a nobody. I just don't have the personality or presence, plus I trend older. Still, I do what I can, and if I can convert one of those twenty or thirty, I'm gonna call it a good day.

[MadameButterfly]

111. What you do is important

Imagine you x 10 million. That may be how it happens.

But we also need this to happen on a bigger scale. The DNC with their young hip vice chair (David Hogg), ought to be able to figure something out on a large scale. They must be looking at what happened in the last election and they know traditional media is being threatened.

We are smarter than them. We have to act like it.

[RunnoDeMille]

129. We must not talk SMARTER...we must reach the gut & heart not the brain

An old joke from Benny Hill "you could talk to him all night and never know he had a penny!". substitute "penny" for "scintilla of educational achievement" and you see what we're up against!

DEMS have worked on trying to message but we get too excited about the Klobuchars, Warrens, and Maddows who speak WELL & COGENTLY while overlooking the film flam men who've mustered out like Weiner, Sharpton or our newest stars like Ossof, Buttigieg and Walsh and that young preacher from Texas who tries to inveigh against white nationalism among evangelicals.

[MadameButterfly]

137. I don't mean TALK smarter

I mean have media and tech strategies smarter than theirs. The talk needs to be plain and clear.

[R0ckyRac00n]

47. this is a spot on analysis-

-of the current climate of right vs left messaging both main stream and social media. I might like to share in the future (with credit) if that's ok?

[Hellbound Hellhound]

49. Don't even worry about credit, friendo. We're on the same side, my thoughts are yours freely. n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

150. You aren't meeting

The masses where they are at.

They have rejected dialogue and want to dominate us "the other".

[orangecrush]

26. Buh bye

[Hellbound Hellhound]

28. I don't know why you're leaving, but bye, I guess? n/t

[Trueblue Texan]

76. Negative messaging never seems to hurt TSF. Nt

[Hellbound Hellhound]

81. It doesn't hurt him, but it plays to his base. It's not picking up new voters but radicalizing those who vote for him.nt

[Lonestarblue]

100. And Trump deliberately uses 6th grade language because it works for him.

And while I agree that most Democrats do not need to be talked down to in 6th grade language, using words like fascism, oligarchy, kakistocracy, etc. may describe where we are, but I think voters are more concerned about what we’ll do to fix things. For example, Trump and Musk are breaking the very organizations that you and your family rely on, like Social Security for which you’ve paid taxes your whole working life. If you elect me, here’s what I’ll do (and describe simply what that is).

It is not enough to blame the other side. Voters need to see what you plan to do.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

101. ..."'That was a damn lie' Tiktok campaign Democrats put out.

It was universally panned by Reps, Dems and Indies, as well as nonvoters."

Wow, sounds like it reached just about everybody.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

115. Yeah, ridiculed and mocked by everyone that saw the first ten seconds.

Because the first ten seconds were laughable, everyone said the exact same thing and did the exact same physical movements. It was so phony it was hilarious, like when that one mega-news organization forced their people to say the exact same thing at the exact same time across a hundred channels. The message was never given, we looked like ignorant, out of touch fools yet again, and our Democratic messaging was lost.

If that's applause worthy, then we're in way deeper than I ever feared.

[Meowmee]

121. If negative messaging doesn't work iyo

How do you explain that millions have been “ brainwashed” by the negative and deceptive messaging of R etc. for many years now.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

133. I actually like it when I hear words that I need to look up - but not too many.

But I’m afraid a lot of people don’t want to hassle with it and it makes them feel stupid, probably, especially if they have a chip on their shoulder.

[DeeDeeNY]

146. Unfortunately many people are either too lazy or too busy to look things up when politicians speak

I remember during the campaign trying to research what Kamala meant when she first referred to how Trump would imposing another "tax" on people and realized she was referring to what the effects of tariffs would be. When the word tariff was used, it was said how it would be a price American consumers would have to pay, but without dumbed down language explaining it further, it was just a word floating around to those complaining about the cost of eggs.

[DallasNE]

155. The Playing Field Is Not Level

Since Citizens United, I see no way to make it level. The messaging may have gotten a little stale, but that looks to be taking care of itself. The one area I see a need to sharpen up the message is that we have nobody like Frank Luntz and his operation. He works hard on message nuance and I think that pays dividends.

[dem4decades]

2. Maybe you should look up "Kakistocracy" too?

[FalloutShelter]

3. Well said, LC.

[Srkdqltr]

5. Yes. Smaller words. Fewer words. "They are taking your jobs and money" to the point.

[everyonematters]

7. This is the influence from the left-wing media.

[Paladin]

19. Is that a positive or negative comment?

And yes, your answer matters, from my standpoint.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

24. Your opinion changes on whether the message is delivered in a positive or negative manner?

This isn't a "Gotcha", but more an illustration of a point I made upthread on how positive or negative statements can be the difference-makers in how a message is received.

[Paladin]

30. My opinion won't change.

But the content of my DU Ignore List very well might...

[Hellbound Hellhound]

31. That's entirely valid and well stated. My compliments. n/t

[Paladin]

33. Thanks. (nt)

[everyonematters]

43. That's a negative comment.

The left-wing media influences us away from relating to the rest of the population and away from winning elections. It is about ratings. The Republicans have the same problem.

[Emile]

9. 15,000 people came out in Tempe, Arizona for our Fighting Oligarchy tour.

The word Oligarchy seems to be working just fine.

[LuckyCharms]

11. They are not coming for the word oligarchy..

they are coming because they know what Bernie and AOC are going to say.

And what they are saying is those things provided in my long list.

And compared to what we are up against?

15,000 is a drop in the bucket.

We need dozens of millions.

Come up with a different slogan, and maybe we will get those millions of people that we need.

[Emile]

13. IMO, I disagree, it's working just fine.

[BattleRow]

112. How about .

"Doing a job FOR you .NOT a job ON you!"

[LuckyCharms]

114. Yes. good!

[JustAnotherGen]

151. Brilliant!

[BattleRow]

154. Thank you.

[TnDem]

51. re: crowd

And then ask most members of that 15,000 member crowd to give a textbook definition of "oligarchy" and watch for the blank faces.

I agree with OP in theory.

[mucholderthandirt]

10. How about we educate while we're dumbing down shit for the dumbasses?

We let the government dumb down education for decades. We let the news media consolidate and control the message for decades. We let hate speech become free speech for decades.

Now it's come back to bite us in the ass, and we have no intelligent way to speak to the very people who need to hear us. They're too focused on Dancing With the Stars, The Voice, how to cook fancy cakes at eight years of age, whether some idiot plastic housewives from wherever are going to go drama llama this week, or who's going to backstab who on Survivor.

I mean, for fuck's sake. What is there to do? We have no MSM to reach people. And don't say "MSNBC" because that's a fucking joke and most people won't watch it. We need regular, over the air TV and radio, with education shows that explain stuff that's going on and how it affects every day people. Charts and shit, reports they can find without the Internet.

We need to change the education system so people actually learn critical thinking.

We need to stop people from lying and just getting away with it.

We need to stop the rich from shitting on us and calling it opportunity.

We need our leaders to stop whining about how they have no power, we have to appease the dictator, we have to kowtow to our own destruction.

And guess what? We will get none of this. Maybe ever. It's too fucking late. Well, outside of the one thing none of us want: military coup.

[LuckyCharms]

15. In the situation wer are in now?

It's too late to educate.

Right now, we have to hit people in their hearts, not their heads.

Education is a long term goal, changing hearts is an immediate goal in a crisis when we literally have weeks to save ourselves.

[yagotme]

64. Well, if you look at voters that you are trying to win over as dumbasses,

I believe I see part of our problem.

[Nanjeanne]

12. I think it's great that you learned two new words. They are good words to know. And if you listened to

those who are speaking about oligarchy and autocracy you would have no problem understanding exactly what they not only mean but how they are destroying the country.

[pattyloutwo]

88. I think

You’re missing the poster’s point - what kind of messaging is most effective 😊

[Nanjeanne]

89. No I understood it completely. But thanks.

[multigraincracker]

16. Words are symbols, not the thing.

They are fluid and change, unless they are in a dead language. Like a flag, you can get into trouble for disrespecting it, but not for pissing on what it represents. People get confused.

[duhneece]

17. Dictator

Most people understand this word. I use it in place of less-understood words.

[angrychair]

18. I see your point

But it also makes a bigger point that our education system is woefully inept. There are smaller and poorer countries than us that have much better reading literacy and comprehension than the US.
I recently read a study that a good portion of Americans have a 5th grade reading and comprehension level. That is an issue because, as you have stated, it essentially makes it impossible to convey concepts people need to understand to make informed decisions not based purely on emotion or impulse. It's literally who we are where we are.
A significant portion of the electorate are lazy and ignorant (I don't mean that as an insult, just a simple truth. All of us are ignorant of something) and we have to address it or it will be this nation's undoing.

[LuckyCharms]

20. I agree 100% with this.

But my underlying point is this...we are where we are. Right now.

Yes, we need education, but right now, we have mere weeks to put this fire out.

Let's put the fire out, and then worry about rebuilding.

[Elessar Zappa]

157. And to think, literacy rates and comprehension rates were actually worse 40 years ago.

So we have improved, although we haven’t kept up with the rest of the developed countries.

[TheRickles]

21. Absolutely right.

It's a big generalization, but overall the Repubs are the party of emotions (the limbic system), and Dems the party of cognition (the cortex). Unfortunately, the American public seems to be stuck in their limbic systems, so we have to meet them where they're at. Bernie's doing a good job of that right now....

[raccoon]

50. Great post.

[GiqueCee]

22. You NAILED it, Lucky!

Too many in the Dem leadership are wrapped up in the cocoon of wonky jargon. If they're gonna use polysyllabic words, then they should define them in terms and context that relate to the listeners' personal lives. That is the only way to reach them.

[tonekat]

39. You know who excelled at that?

Anthony Weiner.

But, you know, the Dems get rid of their effective people and the GOP doesn't.

Al Franken's "offense" was not nearly as obnoxious as Weiner's, but he got canned to the detriment of the party.

Dems love to strive for perfection and cut their own throats doing so.

[GiqueCee]

96. And Frankel's supposed "crime"...

... was actually a rehearsed, and regularly performed, comedy sketch on a USO tour. The woman with whom he performed the bit was a Republican sympathizer who had no problem turning on Franken to please the lying thugs she so admired.

[wendyb-NC]

23. Yes, I agree totally

The idea is that they are working on total control of all people who live in this country and beyond. "They," are the players in, tsf2 administration, very, very, rich people and their corporations and other entities for moving and holding, and of course there are more possibilities, christian nationalists, maga republicons

You are right, most people who have worked payed into Social Security for many years. It is not an entitlement as in a giveaway. It's a type of government insurance, one of those common goods, planned for by the government, with the consent of the people.

[malaise]

25. Excellent OP

My favorite college professor always said ‘keep it simple’. He never used a big word when a smaller one was an option.
Rec

[Orrex]

27. There was a brief and foolish push to use "kakistocracy"

One thing we’re very good at, as a group, is leaning hard into the “elitist intellectual” stereotype.

[sop]

29. "The secret of the demagogue is to appear as dumb as his audience so people can believe themselves as smart as he is."

- Karl Kraus (Austrian writer and journalist, satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. Directed his satire at the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.)

[Harker]

32. I've noticed that people who are adept at communicating to a broad audience define the terms they use as they speak...

so that they can relate complexities with clarity to people with differing vocabularies, backgrounds, and attitudes.

It's an art, and a good one to strive for.

I'm going to Washington, D.C. in a few months to visit my wife's oldest son. I have plans to get as close as possible to The White House with a sign I will hold up for Trumpsky, and I will "dumb it down" for him to two words.

[Think. Again.]

34. No need to do that...

Those words are only unfamiliar to most Americans because we've never really had to discuss these threats before.

People learn new words everyday. If we just keep spreading the message of the dangers of autocracy, oligarchy, and fascism, we can introduce those words and the threats they represent into common usage easily.

[chouchou]

35. Looks like a new adjective will spring up to mean: An imbecile asshole with Narcissistic tendencies.

or for short : "A Trump"

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

120. That's a noun.

[dchill]

36. I'm guessing you like Tim Walz.

I know I do.

[LuckyCharms]

37. Yes, very much!

[Ursus Rex]

38. We are 30+ years behind the GOP in that regard

We let the right appropriate Alinsky and Lakoff, and they now use their thinking to crush debate while saying how evil and vile Lakoff and Alinksy are.

Hell, Gingrich passed around a cheat sheet which they still use to this day:
https://uh.edu/~englin/rephandout.html

[SidneyR]

40. I think most educated people know what oligarchy and autocracy means.

But yes, a depressingly large percentage of Americans are dumb as rocks. Many average Americans can't think their way through anything. Four syllable words are too hard for them. Scientific method? Credible sources? What are those? Something to do with intellectual snobs. Idiocracy, once a comedy, has become a documentary. We are a country of idiots.

[LuckyCharms]

42. Outside of DU, I'm not sure if I know anyone who would accurately define oligarchy or autocracy

without perhaps parsing the syllables and thinking about it, or actually looking it up.

That doesn't mean they are stupid.

Not at all.

[3catwoman3]

65. In my mid-twenties, I briefly dated a guy who turned out...

…not to be very bright. It wasn’t obvious at first, but became so as we spent more time together. I tried not to let it bother me, but it did, and I became increasingly ambivalent about continuing to see him.

My ambivalence ended when he said to me, “You gotta stop using them big words.” When I asked what big words, the one he picked out was the 4 syllable word ambivalent. Over. Done. Fini.

Ambivalent is an every day word for me.

The bad grammar of “them” words didn’t help.

[progree]

143. "ambivalent" - sounds like one of those new woke gender terms. Does It means bivalent in the morning?

Last edited Sat Mar 22, 2025, 04:55 AM - Edit history (1)

bivalent reminds me of bisexual, but apparently for valent types or somesuch. Like being attracted to both types of valent.
Do they have their own pronouns?

edited to add, actually, after thinking about it some, bivalent is a word, for example bivalent Covid vaccines that target Covid generally plus a newer strain. Valent is a real word too.

[SidneyR]

162. Love the wordplay.

So many people can't handle the original word itself, much less play with it!

[BoRaGard]

41. #tyrant

No stinking gop tyrants #TyrantTrump

[3auld6phart]

44. ByGawd

Well stated.. l like the cut of your jib. My beef is the use of a dead language they use in law courts. Even t t R C church has dropped Latin. Had a friend many years ago tell a lawyer to speak English, the judge did not intervene.Thanks

[usonian]

46. TLDR: Use pictures. Simplest.

[TnDem]

48. re: "nazi like"

I can tell you from experience, this constant nazi commentary doesn't work either.

It may work on THIS forum to the cheerleading squad, but the general public glazes over when the next person that you disagree with, automatically is a nazi or Mussolini. It's vastly overused to say the least and ineffective as well.

[AverageOldGuy]

53. Add "misogyny" to the kist

AMEN!!

Go to WalMart, stop ten people, ask them the meaning of autocracy, pillars, and misogyny .

These are the people we are trying to reach but they do not understand what we are saying and they tune us out for being snobs.

Newt Gingrich understood - he put out a memo on the power of language with a list of words for Republicans to use and not to use.

[Harker]

59. I'm a little surprised that flapping ones hands as though playing an imaginary accordian while speaking

hasn't become standard technique for republicans.

[ShazzieB]

110. Pillars?

Doesn't that mean these things?



Of course, there's also the metaphorical meaning. But "pillars" isn't a word I hear people throwing around a lot.

I know what autocracy and misogyny mean, as well as oligarchy, but I'm drawing a blank with pillars.

[Ohioboy]

54. You've got a good point

Match the vocabulary to the audience.

[leighbythesea2]

55. Been having this convo

With a friend!!!
Thank you for posting.
Also, I said the sentence “they want to tax you, the middle class, so that billionaires can have a tax break”.
This is a simple thing, flip that sentence—“they want to give billionaires a tax break, by taxing the middle class-YOU, more.”
It ends the sentence on ME.

I heard the first part of the original sentence, but the 2nd half, must admit, I trail off.
No ADD. No ADHD. Am perfectly capable of staying on track.
But Because the last “message” isn’t about me anymore.

Also, America has this deep rooted individualism that has traditionally thought anyone can be come rich, a high-earner. With that could come a different tax bracket.
Do I personally want to pay less, if reaching that status—no.
Seriously, People are MAD at Musk etc,
bc he’s not elected & is dismantling important stuff. No due process.

I’m sure some hate him for being rich.
More do for being EVIL. Entitled. Churlish. Egomaniac. Etc.
I know what oligarch is bc of researching Russia in 2016. But it doesn’t mean anything to me either.

[Orange Buffoon]

56. Here's a word for you: "incurious"

When I go to the gym every day, I always request one of the row of television monitors above the treadmills to be turned to CNN and MSNBC. Specifically, if there is one turned to Fox, which there almost always is, I request THAT one to be turned, usually to MSNBC. But the people working out on the treadmills hardly ever glance up from their phones to follow the scrawl, no matter how much the issues being discussed are affecting or will affect their lives. They're cocooned. Oligarchy? What does that mean to them, as long as they have their phones and their workout gear?

[louis-t]

57. Wise words.

[William769]

58. I have always felt that way about those two words

I always felt like the people using those words were like "look at me how smart I am", but I never really had the courage to say anything till now. Thank you for giving the courage to speak up and say my peace.

Call them what thy are, the mega rich wanting to rule us all. That the American public will understand.

[crazylikafox]

62. Not sure they'll understand the word Mega

What about “Billionaire rule”?

[William769]

63. I think they will. Mega Church's have been around a long time.

They understand those. But I'm fine with either.

[AZLD4Candidate]

60. I have said this for years on DU and I get told that makes us no better than them.

Use their tactics and language against them.

[defacto7]

61. You may very well be right.

But, how sad. Really. How sad that we have to choose to go against one of the most important things that has made humanity survive and excel, the desire to know and try to understand the unknown ... wonder. Good bye, Ezra Klein. I guess you're failing.

I had to look up a word the other day, daguerreotype. I'll leave it for all of you who like to lookup things, rrr ... stuff.

[travelingthrulife]

66. Won't matter. The GOP and rich people have taught them over many decades to

despise Democrats and liberals.

WHY don't Americans know what the words autocracy and oligarchy mean? Simple high school level words.

[indusurb]

67. No disrespect, but

I'm roughly the same age as you, and I knew the meaning of those words, all of them, in high school. They were taught to me by English, History and Civics teachers. Perhaps you received a sub standard education. Nevertheless, as they say, learning is a life long process, never stop learning. Rather than demanding people "dumb it down" avail yourself of this chance to expand your vocabulary. If you don't know the meaning of a word, use a dictionary, or simply ask. There are no stupid question in this life. Words have certain precise meanings, and if you dumb them down those replacements simply don't have the same meaning. Rather than dumb things down, lift people up.

[LuckyCharms]

69. How about I throw some words at you that I know...

that I guarantee you would have no idea you knew what they meant?

And then, how about I accuse you of having a sub standard education?

Would that be "lifting you up"?

"No disrespect".

[indusurb]

79. Go for it

I would simply look them up, not demand you dumb it down for me. And I would welcome the chance, lifelong learning and all that.

[LuckyCharms]

80. Nope.

[indusurb]

82. A shame,

I always enjoy the chance to learn something new.

[LuckyCharms]

83. Me too. I learned a long time ago to engage using one word responses with people who

insult me in a passive aggressive manner.

[indusurb]

84. And where have I insulted you?

I stated perhaps you received a sub standard education. That is not an indictment of you, but rather the school system you were brought up in. If you choose to see that as an insult, that's on you, not me.

[LuckyCharms]

85. Oh.

[Kali]

136. LOL

[NNadir]

68. As the apotheosis of use a sesquipedalian lexicon, I am preternaturally uncongenial...

...to recapitulate the labyrinthine, involute, prognostication as to the effects of using recondite locutions, but this said, there are incontrovertibly congruent ideologues of my ilk, who might be more facile than I at interfacing with the afficionado of coherent intelligibility and lucidity addressed to unexacting multitudes.

We all do what we can according to our way in the world.

[littlemissmartypants]

73. Thanks, I needed this.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

86. Your heathen, analphabetic use of the Oxford Comma reviles my personage you presumptuous Luddite. /s

Hehehe. Well said, and I only had to look up sesquipedalian.

[JanMichael]

138. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished.

[NNadir]

142. Ingenious illustrative alliteration indeed.

[JanMichael]

148. V introducing himself to Evie in V for Vendeta

I wish it was me.

[usonian]

70. And why not a song?

I still remember that rubber tree plant.

Stay tuned.

And as for words, for crying out loud, this is the post-truth era. Words mean whatever the hell people want them or think them to mean.

Better to invent one, so you own it entirely, than to fuss over dictionary meaning.

Look at the words liberty, freedom, even Christianity.

They have been totally perverted.

Now, in contrast to words, which can be, and are, warped and (big word coming) expropriated, actions are undeniable.

So, point out actions.

And maybe write a song about them.

That Trump and friends can Sing Sing.

[Prof. P.E. Name]

71. Cheats n Liars Hired by a Felon

I completely agree with Lucky. But I would add "Cheats" to his list.

I know nothing about messaging, but I can read bumper stickers and decode personalized license plates. If the tag line can't fit on a bumper sticker, it''s a lost message.

And i don't agree that negative words are to be avoided. That logic sounds like MSM babble. The MAGA moron class seems to thrive on it. The words Patriotism and Democracy are abstractions, but they are the wrappings of hate messages for the know-nothings.

But any word that gets in through to the 10 million voters who did not vote in the last election and those in red, rural America is the goal.

BTW, my Dad's education went all the way through the third grade, but he avidly read the Encyclopedia Britannica set he bought. My favorite political expression of his was "He's nothing but a rich Plutocrat." I smugly forgave him for the redundancy once I learned what a Plutocrat was.

To which I now add these bumper sticker ideas: "Ain't no Plutocrats in our house" or "Plutocrat: Go look it up" or "Ate a Plutocrat for dinner last nite."

[Joinfortmill]

72. Amen!

[littlemissmartypants]

74. I prefer...

kleptocracy as a descriptor. But the assh*les in charge works in a pinch.

[pat_k]

75. Here's my offering on the "simplicity" front

The president promises to carry out the laws passed by Congress, whether they like them or not. If a president doesn't like a law, they work with congress to change it. It's a crime for a president or the people who work for him to single-handedly end a program Congress created. That's not how our government works.

That is what I think we should be hearing over, and over, and over, and over, and over.

And tie the crimes to the collapse of the economy:

Every program created by congress they illegally end has consequences. They are putting hundreds of thousands out of work in industries that rely on those programs. They are destroying businesses that count on the programs -- programs the Americans losing their jobs and businesses were right to count on because in America, our presidents promise to carry out the laws passed by Congress, whether they like those laws or not.

Earlier post on this and how frustrated I am with our Democratic electeds apparent inability to say things simply, or to just keep repeating those simple things.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220155731

[LizBeth]

77. Oligarchy... a funny. So beyond husband in knowledge and aware political.

Read everything political and cultural for decades. I was his educator for two decades. He never had it on me. Used Oligarchy at dinner table about 15 yrs ago, and like what? Stumped. Didnt know that one. I had to drag my feet to asking what that is? lol. But ya. Maybe even use the words cause appropriate but say, oligarchy and that would be.... and define.

[Mr.Bee]

78. I remember watching Leno's 'Jaywalking'

and thinking 'these idiots are going to be running our government someday.
Or voting for it.

[Sympthsical]

87. It's a simple question to grasp that for some is ungraspable

Do you want to communicate effectively or do you want to be pleased with yourself about your leet vocab?

And some people will select "pleased with myself" every time.

I love Bernie. The man was right, is still right, will be right for the foreseeable future. How.ev.er. If he's talking to someone like, say, my blue collar manual labor father, wandering around with "Fighting Oligarchy" as your slogan ain't it.

Learning opportunities are for life. Communication is for politics.

If it feels "dumbing down" swallow that down and do it anyway. Because elections are more important than the need to feel superior or refusing to lower oneself to those unwashed masses below (which is one of our hugest exclamation point problems right now).

And let's be honest. A lot of these terms are just people repeating what they've most recently heard. Remember when "stochastic terrorism" was a thing for, I dunno, two weeks? Then people attempted kakistocracy for a week. "Yes! I have a word! I'm so smort." And that's neat. I love learning new words, too! I recently learned "limerence"

But someone who learns these things then shits on people who haven't should not be anywhere near speaking with the public to persuade them to vote Democratic. That attitude oozes and it's an electoral turn off.

[Elwood P Dowd]

90. Do what works on the retail sales floor.

Well, at least it used to work well in the old days. When I was working retail back in the 1970s and 1980s, I would talk as best I could at the customers level. If the customer was a doctor, lawyer, college prof, etc. I had no problem using words like oligarchy, aficionado, autocracy. If the customer was Bubba the plumber, I would probably never use those words. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

You have to read the customer and talk more at their level. Also, ask questions, don't lecture to them. "Do you really want to give rich billionaires trillions of dollars in tax breaks and pay for them by stealing your Social Security money.?" You paid for it.

Another pet peeve - using the word wealthy. I know a guy who thinks his boss is "wealthy". The boss makes 60-70K a year and he is wealthy? I guess this guy thinks he will one day have that job, so a tax break would be great for him. Never use that word. Keep using billionaires and millionaires getting a tax break, never use wealthy.

[NNadir]

92. The most uneducated person to whom i was close was my father.

He quit school in the 8th grade to work as a shoe shine boy to support his family after my grandfather, a violent drunk, abandoned them.

I loved my father very much, and in many ways I tried to emulate him as a father but truth be told, he was very right wing. On politics we had many screaming arguments between us.

He was, nonetheless, intelligent, skillful in argument, but again, uneducated and the holder of a very limited vocabulary.

He died early in the 1990s. I think he would have resented being spoken to with deliberate "dumbing down." I noted such resentment many times. The truth is that he was politically inflexible. There was no way, none, that any level of language would have changed his mind.

I grew up in a conservative household, and as a teenager I would say I was politically conservative. Education changed my mind, and let me tell you that my father attributed my change to "communist professors."

Actually, my transformation started with my 12th grade English teacher, who walked with a limp and had a scar across his face. I suspect that that man, who hated war, including the "good war," which I suspect accounted for the limp and scar, was informed not by language but by experience, although his command of language was transcendent.

There are minds that are closed no matter what the level at which they are addressed. This included my own father. It is only a subset of people who can be reached at any level.

[boston bean]

93. The word use t0 be robber barron. Don't know it still isn't used.

[Qutzupalotl]

94. May I recommend FrameLab and its newsletter here?

a recent issue: https://www.theframelab.org/r/525a5060?m=d04d46b2-47c1-4f39-ada8-4cb9fad7798f

This is George Lakoffs methods of framing the debate, applied to current events. Very helpful and along the lines of what you are recommending.

[JCMach1]

95. We are so far down that oligarchy road, frankly its out of date as well

Most of the Dems in DC don't know what Techno Fascism is, but they better hit some tutorials.

I am assuming they are up to speed on the alt right and the Christofascists (the other two but lesser groups who make up the Trump administration).

As for dumbing down, I don't think that gets us anywhere. I appreciate what Sen. Sanders is doing, taking the critique of the traditional socialist left (Trump=Oligarchy) and getting that message out even if it uses in-group vocabulary. It brings more people into your group and makes them feel empowered when they use it.

For example if someone says we need to make the 2% pay, my gen Z son (he's left) isn't going to know WTF i am talking about because he wasn't there for 2008 and Occupy Wall Street. Those who were there, or virtually there will know automatically.

Subcultures can kick off revolutionary change in this country and do so MUCH more often than appealing to the broadest common denominator.

[FakeNoose]

97. LuckyCharms, here's a quote from David Hogg that was posted the other day on DU

"Republicans campaign on the idea that government is broken or ineffective. Once elected they sabotage its functions, then use their own failure as proof that privatization is the only solution --- Ultimately enriching their friends.

The GOP intentionally makes government dysfunctional so they can justify selling it off to their wealthy donors. It’s not just bad policy — it’s a calculated scam."
--- David Hogg

This is a perfect example of your "dumb it down" suggestion.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=400207

[Hekate]

98. You make good points. Personally, I am in an existential crisis right now. I get it, but Bob RedHat did not

The first time I heard the Dem candidates last year say the country was in an existential crisis, I rejoiced that they got it! And said it! — But I’m like you, lotsa college and a broad vocabulary.

Unfortunately, they kept on saying it. “Existential Crisis.” Every day, every speech. It was too much. Too abstruse. Too … dare I say, elitist?

When I talk to people outside my family and small circle of friends, I dial it back, sometimes way back. I don’t think of it as necessarily dumbing it down, just trying to communicate my thoughts without making people’s eyes roll back in their heads.

Back in Dubya’s day, a guy named George Lakoff wrote a book (or that’s when we discovered it) about framing the debate. It’s really quite valuable.
Don’t Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate by George Lakoff

The GOP has been beating us — and stealing our own base — for decades, and I don’t know why Dems have not caught up. The GOP hasn’t made a secret of their methods, after all. Here’s Newt Gingrich, for starters, 35 years ago:

GOPAC REPUBLICAN HANDOUT/ Gingrich/1990
The title just about says it all: Control. Language: A Key Mechanism of Control, a pamphlet which was sent to Republican candidates running in the 1990 elections.
https://uh.edu/~englin/rephandout.html

More recently, this was posted here by Applegrove— lists of words Trump wants disappeared. Link to NY Times is in the post:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20121741

Sorry if I’m going on too long, but just wanted to say I agree with you.

[blue_jay]

141. Great post and I totally agree with the premise of the OP, thank you for bringing it up

Trump has spoken at a 5th grade level for a decade. Need I say more.

[Mblaze]

99. I feel Oligarchy and Autocracy

In my heart, in my head and in my understanding of today's America.

[Basso8vb]

102. Sorry, no.

I, and many like me, have never had a problem with these simple words.

[LuckyCharms]

107. That's great. You know what is a simple word for me?

Rehypothecation.

I'm sure it is for you too, since words are "simple".

So look it up so you know the definition (but you must know already, since words are simple), post that definition, but then tell me how it affects me as an investor.

It's not so simple, and you won't find a decent explanation of this action on the internet of what this word ACTUALLY means, and its impact on the average person.

You know what else is not so simple?

Knowledge.

Knowledge is not simple.

And what is simple to one, may not be simple to others.

Here's another one...actually, it's a phrase....

"latent arbitrage"

I think that is a simple phrase, you may not.

Calling ANYTHING simple to project intellectual superiority is a fucking fools errand.

[Ocelot II]

103. Both of those words are not only unfamiliar to a lot of people,

but even to those for whom they are familiar, they are terms that relate back to the lefty student protests of the '60s, when socialist/Marxist-adjacent college kids were throwing around a lot of high-falutin' academic terminology. I should know; I was one of them, or at least I dabbled. We talked about stuff like dialectical materialism and the bourgeoisie and oligarchy, without really understanding any of it; but it made us feel like we knew important stuff. Kudos to Bernie for his outreach, but his presentations are stuck in that aspect of the '60s. I cringe a little every time I hear the word "oligarchy," even though it's technically accurate, because it reminds me of hanging out with other enlightened 19-year-olds listening to the Stones, smoking weed and cosplaying as revolutionaries.

[betsuni]

139. I've found myself writing "Hey, man" and deleting it lately. It's all so '60s, man.

[WarGamer]

104. All true... the vast majority of the population is sub average intelligence...

And if any of you have been around AVERAGE intelligence folks... they're pretty damn stupid.

Frankly I don't know how anyone sub 120 even remembers to breathe.

[Hekate]

122. That's most of humanity, so adjust your expectations accordingly. Just people.

[JohnnyRingo]

105. I never had to use "Oligarchy" before.

Never needed the word "Martinet" before now either.

[senseandsensibility]

106. Good ideas

Some are more appropriate for certain politicians than others. For instance, I can't see Klobachar or Schumer using profanity. But there's no reason they can't say "they don't care about you" or "If you are not scared, you should be" or "your family will be ruined if they are lucky enough to survive" (as relates to ss cuts). That's actually tame when you think about what R's would be saying in the same situation.

[Evolve Dammit]

108. Great post!.

[BarbD]

109. Living paycheck to paycheck.

Bernie uses the phrase often and it is universally understood because so many people are in this situation.

That is communication.

[KT2000]

113. Correct!!!

In the case of Dems - the language screams "elites." Harris screwed up when she called tariffs taxes. No one on the RW side made the connection.
We are living in a dictatorship funded by billionaires - plain and simple.

[meow2u3]

116. We should have "Say this, not that" threads

Use simple language instead of big college-level words.

For instance:

"Trump is starting in with his dictator shit", not "Trump is an autocrat."
"He hates women", not "He is a misogynist."

[Hekate]

126. See post #98 for links to examples

[Ruby the Liberal]

117. Bravo BRAVO

Messaging. I have no idea why we suck so much at it - but pundits and electeds - please quit spewing facts at people.

[Sogo]

118. And instead of saying "authoritarian," say "dictator!"

FFS!!

[Meowmee]

119. I tend to agree

“Oligarchy (from Ancient Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía) 'rule by few'; from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few' and ἄρχω (árkhō 'to rule, command')[1][2][3] is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, religious, political, or military control”

From wikipedia.


Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
noun
noun: oligarchy; plural noun: oligarchies
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
a country governed by an oligarchy.
"the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century"
government by an oligarchy.


An autocracy is a form of government in which one ruler has absolute control and decision-making power. Autocracies have existed since ancient times, when kings and emperors ruled over great countries and tribal lands, and they exist today in the form of absolute monarchies and dictatorships.Oct 19, 2023
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/autocracy/

Autocratic describes a way of ruling, but not in a nice way. An autocratic leader is one who rules with an iron fist; in other words — someone with the behavior of a dictator. Autocratic rulers don't tend to be popular. They use fear and control to gain total power over their people.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/autocratic#:~:text=Autocratic%20describes%20a%20way%20of,total%20power%20over%20their%20people.

People are using other words though, and they did that in the campaign too. Dictator and so on. One problem is, I don’t think many would care even if they knew what those words mean or they wouldn’t believe it or think it’s good etc. They voted for this. Most can understand dictator, nazi, billionaire crooks etc. and fascist. Also for kleptocracy, a simpler word could be government by crooks or rule by thieves etc.

Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
noun kleptocracy:
a society or system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country's resources.
"there are too many entrenched dictatorships and kleptocracies in the region"
government by people who use their power to steal their country's resources.
"the ruling party is highly sensitive to allegations of corruption and kleptocracy by the public"

Corrupt governance where the ruling elite steals national resources, a kleptocracy. thiefdom. corruption. graft.

https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/another-word-for/kleptocracy.html#:~:text=%E2%96%B2-,Corrupt%20governance%20where%20the%20ruling%20elite%20steals%20national%20resources%2C%20a,graft

[valleyrogue]

123. You can't "message" to people who have been brainwashed.

They have to learn the hard way, if they ever do.

[ancianita]

124. When it comes to dumbing down, looks like the felon's anti-woke folks are a step ahead.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html

As President Trump seeks to purge the federal government of “woke” initiatives, agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents.

accessible
activism
activists
advocacy
advocate
advocates
affirming care
all-inclusive
allyship
anti-racism
antiracist
assigned at birth
assigned female at birth
assigned male at birth
at risk
barrier
barriers
belong
bias
biased
biased toward
biases
biases towards
biologically female
biologically male
BIPOC
Black
breastfeed + people
breastfeed + person
chestfeed + people
chestfeed + person
clean energy
climate crisis
climate science
commercial sex worker
community diversity
community equity
confirmation bias
cultural competence
cultural differences
cultural heritage
cultural sensitivity
culturally appropriate
culturally responsive
DEI
DEIA
DEIAB
DEIJ
disabilities
disability
discriminated
discrimination
discriminatory
disparity
diverse
diverse backgrounds
diverse communities
diverse community
diverse group
diverse groups
diversified
diversify
diversifying
diversity
enhance the diversity
enhancing diversity
environmental quality
equal opportunity
equality
equitable
equitableness
equity
ethnicity
excluded
exclusion
expression
female
females
feminism
fostering inclusivity
GBV
gender
gender based
gender based violence
gender diversity
gender identity
gender ideology
gender-affirming care
genders
Gulf of Mexico
hate speech
health disparity
health equity
hispanic minority
historically
identity
immigrants
implicit bias
implicit biases
inclusion
inclusive
inclusive leadership
inclusiveness
inclusivity
increase diversity
increase the diversity
indigenous community
inequalities
inequality
inequitable
inequities
inequity
injustice
institutional
intersectional
intersectionality
key groups
key people
key populations
Latinx
LGBT
LGBTQ
marginalize
marginalized
men who have sex with men
mental health
minorities
minority
most risk
MSM
multicultural
Mx
Native American
non-binary
nonbinary
oppression
oppressive
orientation
people + uterus
people-centered care
person-centered
person-centered care
polarization
political
pollution
pregnant people
pregnant person
pregnant persons
prejudice
privilege
privileges
promote diversity
promoting diversity
pronoun
pronouns
prostitute
race
race and ethnicity
racial
racial diversity
racial identity
racial inequality
racial justice
racially
racism
segregation
sense of belonging
sex
sexual preferences
sexuality
social justice
sociocultural
socioeconomic
status
stereotype
stereotypes
systemic
systemically
they/them
trans
transgender
transsexual
trauma
traumatic
tribal
unconscious bias
underappreciated
underprivileged
underrepresentation
underrepresented
underserved
undervalued
victim
victims
vulnerable populations
women
women and underrepresented
Notes: Some terms listed with a plus sign represent combinations of words that, when used together, acknowledge transgender people, which is not in keeping with the current federal government’s position that there are only two, immutable sexes. Any term collected above was included on at least one agency’s list, which does not necessarily imply that other agencies are also discouraged from using it.

The above terms appeared in government memos, in official and unofficial agency guidance and in other documents viewed by The New York Times. Some ordered the removal of these words from public-facing websites, or ordered the elimination of other materials (including school curricula) in which they might be included.

The list is most likely incomplete. More agency memos may exist than those seen by New York Times reporters, and some directives are vague or suggest what language might be impermissible without flatly stating it.

All presidential administrations change the language used in official communications to reflect their own policies. It is within their prerogative, as are amendments to or the removal of web pages, which The Times has found has already happened thousands of times in this administration.

.

[Clouds Passing]

125. A small group of rich people who get rich because they are stealing from the rest of us Oligarchy

Autocracy = a few rich people want to own you like a slave

[AmericaUnderSiege]

127. Never be afraid of the truth, but always back it up with basics.

If you're gonna say oligarchy, explain you just mean rich people owning government and stealing from everyone else. If you're too afraid to say oligarchy, then your language better damn be equally potent, not some campaign slogan from a 1974 Ohio PTA rally.

The people are being robbed at gunpoint this very moment by people who have inherited everything and think the working people of America are "lazy."

[DaBronx]

128. Preach!

Damn straight!
Tell it like it is!

[Nimble_Idea]

130. NO! I will tutt tutt, wag my fingers and head bob as I please! while yelling "mah climate" out a tesler posting on X

that will teach em!

[Initech]

131. If you've ever played any version of Civilization, you know what those two words are.

[Bluethroughu]

132. In 2006, I did not know what those words meant either,

but I looked them up and applied them into the context of the discussion. As my geo-political education grew, my understanding of everything shifted, because of these two words.

These two words have been the death of people, the overthrow of countries, and the economic warfare and embezzlement of their, countries, finances. There is an economic cabal that has hit Croatia, Syria, Russia, Greece, Slavic countries and now ours.

This is not about puppet loser trump, that could not put an economic plan together to make money from waterfront casinos...he's stupid and owes big money to bigger people.
He and elon along with most of the Republican party are traitors.

[tishaLA]

134. I keep saying this: talk like normal people

I know what they're saying, but tossing around abstractions like "constitutional crisis" are way too opaque for most people. Forget that you've been in the House or Senate for decades and talk like someone you knew growing up. Leave the Washingtonese behind and hit people's sense of righteousness instead.

[Figarosmom]

135. I agree

And kinda get angry when I hear Bernie using it constantly without defining it to his audience. Even then I'm not sure that's what we are dealing with. I don't believe it's a small group of people ruling. I thing it's a rather large consortium by now, of rich assholes. Bernie is talking about a group that could fit around a table, I think it's more like a worldwide group that would fill an auditorium.

[Bread and Circuses]

140. I actually tried it with republican acquaintances several times and Nope...

They would rant about something and I would gently suggest what the truth is.

Nope, they kept claiming that he’s a conservative and we need to cut waste and stop DEI .. that the deep state is a treat, that we can’t trust the NIH, etc.

I’m surprised that I stayed calm as this happens in small group gatherings or parties, and people are watching.

I do believe to try again if it occurs. Perhaps they will listen.

It’s not the words , it’s the processing of knowledge that threatens them.

We can use words such as autocrat and oligarchy and explain it. These are precise words which capture the actions and attitudes which describe #47. We can say: The rich billionaires are forming a group of greedy, lying, shitheads who want to topple our country…they are promoting Oligarchs like the Putin today and Stalin in the past. Their puppet is #47 who wants to be the king.

[DFW]

144. Dumb Down was "not-quite-Petula-Clark's" greatest hit

[DeeDeeNY]

145. Democrats can use a Frank Luntz-type advisor

Luntz taught Republicans how to speak to the masses. As an example, in place of using the correct term "estate tax" which only ever affected the wealthiest, he drummed it into them to use the term "death tax," which actually led to the entire estate tax being decreased for awhile and even removed entirely for a year in 2010.
He got his people to move away from saying global climate change to global warming, so then whenever the weather got cold they could say See? It's all a hoax. His coaching of Republicans on everyday language brought them new popularity and new voters, and Trump has taken that to new levels, dumbing down his words to the masses.

[DFW]

147. Frank is a mercenary. He works for the highest bidder

He's not exactly a poverty case, though, and the Republicans have been pouring cash down his throat for decades. It would probably take all the gold in Fort Knox to get him to switch sides by now, and he might just not care any more.

[JustAnotherGen]

149. I'm in 100% Agreement

Oligarch has been thrown around since 2015 and it doesn't have a sense of urgency behind it.

This is Tribal and "Othering" language and it has been used by the Republican and Radical Right MagaPublicans effectively for DECADES.

your savings are being stolen
you paid into Social Security your whole life, and they are taking it from you
they think they are better than you
they are not like you
they don't care about you

Only one of the above I would tweak?

The thieves are stealing your money you paid into Social Security.

Or

The Republican thieves are stealing your money.

Does this hurt the Trump voter's feelings? Probably. I'm sure the media will be all over diners asking them about it.

Do I care? Nope.

The Radical MagaPublicans aren't like me.

[LSparkle]

152. YES!

Bloviating is mistaken for intelligence and “energy.” Verbal diarrhea is just ... well, you know: SHIT. A torrent of words can’t mask if you’re just bullshitting. Get to the fucking point, people!

[doc03]

153. I am 77 years old and in my entire life I don't think I have heard anyone but a Democratic politition

use the words oligarchy, autocracy or hyperbole in a conversation. Joe Biden would drive me crazy using the word
"Hyperbole" a half dozen times every time he spoke. Trump claims he knows all the best words, actually he does use
all the best words to communicate with his followers. I don't know if using Hitler-like really works, I am 77 and Hitler
was dead 3 years before I was born.

[TheProle]

156. I disagree with the premise.

But you’re harvesting lots of recs and agreement, so obviously there is a place for journalists, activists and organizers to dumb things down. I prefer not to have my intelligence insulted in that way.

I find it rather disheartening that someone with the described academic background made it to 66 in the midst of the Cold War without knowing what an autocrat is.

[LuckyCharms]

158. I find it disheartening when people project an air of superiority onto others

who do not know the meaning of a certain word.

I made it to 66 by knowing a lot of other gud werds.

[TheProle]

159. Knowing those words doesn't make me superior,

But rather, it’s consistent with your own contention that “(I)nquisitive and truly intelligent people research words that they hear, but do not know the meaning of.”

Just as you “feel no shame” in not knowing words like autocrat and oligarch, I feel no shame in knowing them.

I think pandering and dumbing down political concepts is what has gotten us here far more than highfalutin’ talking.

[LuckyCharms]

160. Here's the thing.

You may not feel superior, but your belittling response appears to others (me) that you are projecting your own perceived knowledge onto others. You are expecting others (me) to have the type of education and experiences that would afford me the exposure to the subject words in this OP.

You expressed surprise at me not knowing the meaning of a word, despite my age and education.

So I'll project this onto your response.

You don't seem to recognize that people have different life experiences, different skills, and different FORMS of knowledge.

I do not know your age or education level, but I find it "disheartening" that you don't recognize this. Doesn't seem very "smart". In addition, it's just not a good look.

So I will do the same thing as you in this response: I find it disheartening that someone who expresses dismay over another not knowing the meaning of a word does not understand the nuances of knowledge.

Have a great evening.

[TheProle]

161. Thanks, you too.

[Bonx]

163. I knew those words as a teenager

who read a fair amount. This is a strange thread.