Political Code
From Zanecorpwiki
A true "code word" (or dog whistle) is a word or phrase that has a mainstream, relatively benign interpretation, but signals a secret allegiance, promise, or threat to "those in the know". A "reverse code word" happens when one group imputes a nefarious meaning to a phrase used by another group.
Terms
Big Government
A term used by the Right to connote bloated and wasteful government. Typically associated with the idea that government is inherently bad and, at best, a necessary evil. Interestingly (some would say oddly), defense spending, though by far the largest area of expenditure funded from general revenues (TODO: verify and elaborate in note) is excluded from the Big Government world view.
Gun Control
Among some conservatives who hold unfettered access to guns as a key political and culturally defining right, "gun control" is read as Left code for abolition of gun rights. While there may be a small minority who desire a comprehensive ban, it's not clear that the "average" Leftist position is any more restrictive than the "average' Rightist position.
(see Understanding the Hand Gun Debate)
Fascist
Pejorative term used by the Left to refer to individuals and policies originating with the Right which they view as particularly pernicious. Most frequently used by the Left in situations where the Right has gained ascendancy. See socialist.
Family Values
Some claim this is code for an anti-feminist, racist, middle class agenda. A kind of "evil WASP". The phrase is embraced by a wide range of conservatives and seems to me sometimes, though frankly not all that often, to be used in a coded sense, but most often it's meant as a sincere, though some would say naive, signal for a kind of golden age mentality.
Globalist(s)
Generally a term used by a subset of radical[notes 1] libertarians to refer to the individual and collective political and (in some variations, to a lesser extent) economic leaders who are intent on subjugating national and individual freedoms to a monolithic, cross-national new world order
Immigration Reform
- On the Left, this refers to a nefarious attempt to disenfranchise recently naturalized and poor citizens who, on the margin, will be unable to cope with increased regulation and requirements. Less often, but certainly sometimes implied is the idea that the presence of such laws will provide cover to corrupt voting officials desiring to disenfranchise sectors of the population that would tend to lead towards the Democrats.
- On the Right, this is a matter of protecting American culture and values and/or presented as a matter of economic fairness; the implication being that immigrants artificially depress wages, avoid paying taxes, and, most significantly in the Right's narrative, abuse welfare and other government services.
Military-Industrial-Complex
An older code word used by the Left, and especially the radical[notes 1] Left and especially Socialist elements to connote a nefarious cabal of generals, weapons dealers, and allied industrialists who seek to perpetuate worldwide disorder and wars for their own profit. The narrative has largely been supplanted by subtler narratives based on a financial, corporatist mechanism. See New World Order, globalist and monetarist
Monetarist
Previously referring to a paradigm of economics (associated with the Chicago School of Economics, the term is now used largely by those on the Right as a pejorative for a government official or lackey who intends or participates in manipulation of the money supply for their own enrichment, to oppress the population, or some other generally nefarious reason. This is a term used most often by those who promote an asset based monetary system (usually, but not strictly a return to a classic gold standard).
Net Neutrality
Refers to a regulatory policy that would forbid Internet service providers (ISPs) from restricting or blocking traffic on their networks. Proponents fear that amalgamated providers and content producers would artificially restrict competition, increase costs, and that without these protections monopolistic tendencies would be free to blossom. The concept is markedly anti-corporate, and some would say "anti-market", though some neo-libertarian supporters argue that Net Neutrality would increase competition in a level playing field and better approximate a classically free market.
The issue is sometimes derided as a fetish of elite technocrats, and proponents have found it difficult to push the issue into the larger "progressive agenda"[notes 2].
New World Order
Used by a subset of radical[notes 1] libertarians which refers to the state of affairs that the majority of, in their view, corrupt world political and economic leaders desire; also used to refer collectively to the individuals (often identified individually as globalists) who are working to achieve said state of affairs. The New World Order (sometimes abbreviated NWO) envisions the subjugation of national sovereignty and individual freedom for the benefit of a corrupt ruling class.
In standard political usage, a "new world order" is simply any significant change to the current system and on it's own there is no particular reason to impart any larger meaning. Those who are concerned about the New World Order (proper) often point to quotes involving the phrase "new world order" as coded messages between the globalist cohorts and proof of their nefarious intent.[notes 3]
Sheep
Among what many call the more radical[notes 1] elements of the libertarian leaning conservatives, "sheep" is a technical term denoting an individual or the collective mass of individuals who are as of yet unaware of the facts as radical libertarians see them. The term connotes both ignorance and an willingness blindly follow and "do as your told".
Socialist
Pejorative term used by the Right to refer to individuals and policies originating with the Left which they view as particularly pernicious. Most frequently used by the Right in situations where the Left has gained ascendancy. See fascist.
States Rights
Historically viewed as code for institutional racism, harking back to pre-Civil War politics in which Southern States referred to "states rights" as a block against federal attempts to outlaw slavery. After the Civil War, the southern narrative of the war tended to focus on states rights and diminish the role of slavery. The belief in the code still exists, and in some instances there may be legitimate coded speech using the phrase, but I would argue that the great majority of modern usages are sincere.
Vote Fraud
- On the Left, this is part of a larger 'corpratist takeover' narrative and focuses on voting machine errors and/or willful manipulation of the counting system; the connection is often explicit.
- On the Right, this is conceived in the much older framework of "registering the dead" type fraud reconstituted as a facet of immigrant and/or liberal vote manipulation through allegations of improper registration.
Notice that the Left's conceive of the danger as internal and systemic, while the Right describes an exogenous threat.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 I use the term radical to mean those that propose sweeping changes. I don't intend any pejorative connotations and will change the wording if I can think of something better.
- ↑ I intend a neutral sense. Better phrase?
- ↑ Though not dispositive of the underlying premise, the phrase "new world order" is often presented as both theory and evidence, which constitutes classic circular reasoning and is therefore not "proof" in the logical sense.
