Language Thugs

Fearless people
Careless needle
Harsh words spoken
Lives are broken
--Seal

A common characteristic of progressives is their desire to control language. They generally seek to promote words that bring them positive psychic income and ban words that bring them negative psychic income.

In business contexts, for example, progressives dislike the word 'secretary' as it conjures visions of subordinate roles for women in the office. Instead, 'administrative assistant' appears to relieve psychic pain and elevate status in the progressive mind. (Of course, in positions of government authority, the word secretary (e.g., secretary of state) is perfectly fine with progressives.)

Another bout of this rhetorical psychosis appears to be forming around the word 'thug.' Commonly defined, a thug is someone who engages in violence, usually on the street and often as part of a group. Words with similar connotations include vandal, hoodlum, and gangster.

For me, the origins of the word thug date back to watching shows like Superman, Batman, and old black and white action movies, where henchmen of crime bosses and strong armed characters who made street trouble and pushed people around were often called thugs.

Progressives are now claiming that thug is a racial slur. On the back of recent incidents centered around street violence involving blacks, progressives insist that labeling blacks engaged in street violence as thugs amounts to racism.

How holes in logic on this one will be puttied is anyone's guess...

Meanwhile, progressives continue to try to push people around with respect to words. They are language thugs.