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Doncha’ Hate Corpspeak ?
I can’t stand it and it’s all over the place. I hear it every time I watch the picture-box or listen to NPR on the radio. It makes me gag. I first started noticing it years ago, in real estate. It seemed sort of harmless then, an innocent fraud, to borrow a phrase from Galbraith the Elder.¹ They began to sell homes. I always thought they sold houses, you know, the little buildings with walls, roofs, windows and doors. A home is something different. It’s wherever people live. It could be a house, an apartment or a tent, for that matter. No, they were selling homes, especially in the higher price zip codes. Still, it just seemed silly not sinister, like calling used cars previously owned.
Corpspeak took on a more threatening aspect in the late 70s and early 80s, especially after the election of Ronald Reagan, during the corporate takeover of everything. Free Market ideology, or Neoliberalism, was on the rise and it was through the use of language, primarily in broadcast media, that that ideology achieved cultural hegemony.² I began to hear phrases like across the board and at the end of the day from administration spokespersons. These were shibboleths used to indicate that the speaker was savvy and knew all about markets and how they work. Now, of course, we live under monopoly capitalism, Neoliberal cognitive capture is almost complete and corpspeak is all around us. I doubt if many people even notice it anymore, especially if they consume a lot of corporate media. I still do though and it drives me nuts.
First of all there’s the way corporations refer to themselves. You never hear the word corporation anymore. I guess the Left finally succeeded in making that term odious. They’re all companies now, no matter how big they actually are. That sounds much less threatening, doesn’t it ? Companies might even be family businesses. There’s even a corporation that calls itself a family company.³ Then there’s providers. Corporations don’t sell anything anymore, they provide stuff. It
used to be that a good provider was someone who made sure his or her family had a roof over their heads and food to eat. He didn’t sell them these things or charge them a fee. That was what providing meant. Plans is another one that bugs me. Health insurance corporations don’t sell insurance, they provide plans. The trade group for health insurance corporations is called AHIP, America’s Health Insurance Plans.⁴ See, they’re plans and they’re ours, ‘cuz we’re Americans. The one I hate the worst, because of all it seeks to obscure, is industry. There’s was a diary the other day arguing against single-payer because it would cost jobs in the health insurance industry. Nothing in the FIRE sector, that’s finance, insurance and real estate, is an industry. It’s a business, an operation, a scam or a hustle, but it’s not an industry. An industry makes things, it has factories, and because it makes things it can pay decent wages. FIRE sector businesses don’t make anything. They speculate and they collect rents. They enrich their investors without making any contribution to the society that hosts them.
OK, rant over. You guys all missed me, right ? Who else quotes Galbraith and Gramsci in a CUA diary ? So I ask once again, anybody got any good links to share, anybody got Meet-Up plans and …
Do You Like Corpspeak ?
Community Building Updates
State Open Threads
Colorado: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Washington: Sundays, 3:30 PM Pacific
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
Events Currently Scheduled
Strategy meeting to convene for the Mass Moral March on Raleigh.
Saturday, Jan. 30th, 1:00 PM at:
The Block off Biltmore
39 S. Market Street, Asheville, NC 28801
(Corner of Eagle & Market)
Directions (Google Maps)
Kosmail randallt to reserve you a seat. More information here.
RSVPS:
1. randallt
2. Joieau
3. davehouck
4. Lamont Cranston
5. Gordon20024
6. DawnN
7. Otteray Scribe
8.
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Maybees:
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February 7 (Super Bowl Sunday!) at 2PM (well before the game) in Pittsburg, Kansas. This will be a joint meeting with the Crawford County Democratic Party, who is welcoming us all in — so please come. We’ll go over new poll numbers taken inside of Senate District 13, as well as statewide polling data conducted January 13-15. More info in Chris Reeves’s diary.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH
TRIANGLE KOSMOPOLITANS JOIN THOUSANDS IN THE 10TH ANNUAL MASS MORAL MARCH ON RALEIGH & HKONJ PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY GET-OUT-THE-VOTE GATHERING AND MOBILIZATION
TIMES and LOCATIONS:
Pre-rally — 9:00 AM Corner of Wilmington and South Streets near Shaw University
March — 10:00 AM to the State Capitol on Fayetteville Street • Raleigh
ORGANIZER: RSVP at Facebook to bolster their numbers!
Look for the Daily Kos — Forward Together, Not One Step Back signs to march with the Triangle Kosmopolitans!
Send a kosmail to the local Triangle Kosmopolitans or state group North Carolina Blue to connect with other readers of Daily Kos for future events.
February 27th at 1PM at Ferguson Brewing Company, 418 S Florissant Rd, Ferguson, Missouri. We expect to have a few guests, good food, and we will have new data available from the state house. Netroots Nation 2016 planning is also on the menu (besides great food). More info in Chris Reeves’s diary.
navajo is going to be on vacation in NYC and the NYC Kossacks are gathering for lunch on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 at Noon at Spitzer's Corner - 101 Rivington Street, cross street Ludlow. Meet in the back room. This venue is wheelchair accessible.
There will be fries.
RSVPS:
1. kathny
2. belinda ridgewood
3. navajo
4. sidnora
5.
6.
7.
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Maybees:
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Registration and hotels still available
Cheers & Jeers Welcoming Dinner Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Time: TBD, early evening, 5-ish or 6-ish Location: TBD, near Convention Center
Roll call for the C&J Dinner in Connect! Unite! Act! This will be the headcount for the C&J Dinner. Spread the word.
RSVPS:
1. navajo
2. Meteor Blades
3. Bill in Portland Maine
4. Common Sense Mainer
5. jotter
6. aha aha (Mrs. jotter)
7. side pocket
8. Mrs. side pocket
9. paradise50
10. smileycreek
11. Chris Reeves
12. Ramara
13. loggersbrat
14. Justice Putnam
15. theRoaringGirl
16. winkk
17. jakedog42
18. vicki
19. markm667
20. brillig (bday gurl that day!)
21. mik
22. K1
23. K2
24. Eddie in ME
25. moody in savannah
26. lulu
27. texasmom
28. texasdad
29. Ed Tracey
30. Shermanesq
31. Doggie
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Maybees:
norm winifred3
normAl1792
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There will also be a Daily Kos Caucus session during NN16. Stay tuned for date and time.
Event Reporting
nhox42 organized and reports details about a recent meet-up in Maine along with food pr0n! Cheers and Jeers/NE Kossacks Midwinter Meetup Success!
While visiting Boston, belinda ridgewood invited TrueBlueMajority to her annual Boxing Day holiday party and it became a meet-up of two Kossacks! Yay! In the meantime, an impromptu gathering occurred in NYC consisting of the Saturday Morning Garden Bloggers, Kishik, Missys Brother and Christin. Go NYC!
Houston Area Kos met on 11/24/15 for community fortitude and basic camaraderie. A good time was had by all. If you’d like to connect with other readers of Daily Kos in the Houston Area, please kosmail Chrislove, he’ll send you an invite.
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries about your event or if you have changes or additions.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.