AI – the word that the greedy and the hopeful use to sound smart or to impress investors.
Actual meaning: the ability of computers to make binary choices and perform logical tasks much faster than people.
A Good Guy – the phrase that people use to describe allies, friends and supporters.
Actual meaning: a decent human being
Blockchain – the phrase that startup founders use to increase the perceived value of the product they are designing, and tech journalists use to sound hip.
Actual meaning: a neat distributed ledger that is sometimes fun to play with
Capitalism – the word that commercially inclined or economically privileged individuals in developed countries use to justify their blind fixation on profit and their lack of desire to pay their employees dignifying wages. Also used to justify abusive treatment of the environment. See also: Progress.
Actual meaning: it’s complicated
Communism – the word that the children of economically privileged individuals in developed countries use to describe the feel-good, just world of their dreams in which they get to write the rules. See also: Progress.
Actual meaning: it’s complicated
Conspiracy theory – the phrase that people use to attach a ridiculous clown nose to anything that they don’t personally believe or support. Also used to discredit whistleblowers, political opponents, and business competitors. See also: Fake News.
Actual meaning: it’s complicated
Democracy – the word that politicians in the West use to justify their own nations’ aggressive behavior and to accuse competing politicians of attempting or succeeding at what they themselves do eagerly. Also thrown around by pundits and public figures to discredit competitors at large.
Actual meaning: power of the people
Fake News – same as Conspiracy Theory.
Freedom – the word that everybody everywhere uses to justify absolutely everything.
Actual meaning: being able to self-express without experiencing man-made negative consequences
Free Speech – the phrase that people in developed countries use to justify lack of tact. Often granted to allies only. Compare: Social Justice.
Actual meaning: free speech
Migrant Caravan – same as “The Mexicans.”
Oppression – the phrase that people left of center use to position themselves as spiritually superior individuals in charge of setting moral standards for everybody else in society.
Actual meaning: oppression
Progress – the word that economically ambitious individuals and their pet intellectuals use to promote or justify their preferred outcomes; also used by historians to describe human sacrifices in the language of the winning party.
Actual meaning: moving forward
Public Good – the phrase that large tech platforms use to justify data slavery and to force people to work for free.
Actual meaning: public good
Singularity – the phrase that the worst charlatans of this planet use to to raise money
Actual meaning: none
Social Justice – the phrase that economically privileged people in developed countries use to gain virtue points without giving up their actual privilege. Also used to silence unpleasant or challenging conversations. Compare: Free Speech.
Actual meaning: social justice
“The Mexicans” – the phrase that people on the right use to fear monger and avoid responsibility. See also: Migrant Caravan. See also: “The Muslims.”
Actual meaning: literally Mexicans
“The Muslims” – same as “The Mexicans.”
“The Russians” – the phrase that people on the left use to fear monger and avoid responsibility. Compare: “The Mexicans.” Compare: Migrant Caravan. Compare: “The Muslims.”
Actual meaning: literally Russians
White Privilege – the phrase that extra privileged white people in the U.S. have activated to weaponize the actual awful treatment of non-white people in the U.S. against the common white people in the U.S. so that all common people keep fighting with each other for crumbs while the extra privileged folks keep privileging.
Actual meaning: heartbreaking injustices and discrimination experienced by non-white people in the Americas
Working Hard – the phrase that people right of center use to position themselves as spiritually superior individuals in charge of setting moral standards for everyone else in society. Compare: Oppression
Actual meaning: putting in the time