Our foolish thoughts - Essay Example

?Abdulwahab Al Thahir Boyed ENWR 1101.23S 4 December, Our Foolish Thoughts No one can deny the power of public speeches and patriotic slogans, especially their impact on people. This power stands behind words used in public speeches and patriotic slogans, which lead people to the way that people in power want. Therefore, Susan Jacoby in her essay “Just Us Folks" argues about the debasement of the language which is one of the most important American values, in today's public speeches and the way media spread that plague to American people through radio talk shows and television anchors. On the other hand, Gray Sloan in his essay "Sleuthing Patriotic Slogans" argues in satirical way about the words used in patriotic slogans. Since the time Sloan has been learning and teaching language, he has been also analyzing the grammar usage in today's patriotic slogans. Even though he finds errors in grammar structure of those slogans, he does not care much about that, because he concerns more about the meaning of those slogans. However, both authors are worried about the eloquence in today's public speeches and patriotic slogans would be used by people in power to hypnotize and fool American people. Jacoby uses the word "folks" as an example of the change in political terms. Politicians these days usually use the term "folks" to address Americans instead of “people or “ladies and gentlemen” like in the old days. Jacoby wonders why this term is used these days especially after she finds out that the term "folks" has never been used before as a political term. "The word "folks" was once a colloquialism with no political meaning" (395). She believes that using colloquial terms in today's public speeches is a way of isolating American people from political decisions, which downgrades them like if they were ineligible for such decisions. As she declares: The specific political use of folks as an exclusionary and inclusionary signal, designed to make speaker sound like one of the boys or girls, is symptomatic of a debasement of public speech inseparable from a more general erosion of American culture standards. Casual colloquial language also conveys an implicit denial of the seriousness or whatever issue being debated: talking about folks going off to war is the equivalent of describing rape victims as girls (395). Unlike today's politicians, former leaders were trying to use simple words to let people understand their speech but without debasement of a public speech. However, Jacoby also concerns about the change of the term "soldiers" to "troops" by politicians and media. Jacoby states that some people in media or military media claim that the term "soldiers" would be offensive for women who have joined the army as "Dimwits", since they claim that the term "soldier" sounds masculine that is not true. Jacoby believes that the reason behind the change of that term is to magnify the news about the war and its losses. She links the change in both terms "folks" and "troops" to the debasement of speeches as she states: “Like unremitting appeals to folks, the victory of troops over soldiers offers an impressive illustration of the relationship between fuzzy thinking and the debasement of everyday speech" (396). Just as Jacoby who does not define the debase speech as one that simply uses prosaic grammar structure, Sloan almost has the same concerns about the signs and billboards, posters and stickers emblazoned with patriotic slogans such as "United We Stand," "Support the Troops," "Pray for the Troops," "Let Freedom Ring," "Home of the Brave," "God Bless America" which can be met everywhere in his hometown. His main argument is about the way the slogans are written and what they really mean. He analyzes those patriotic slogans and criticizes them satirically. In addition, he finds some of them are contradictive and unrealistic. For example, “Let Freedom Ring” and “United We Stand”, he believes that those two patriotic slogans are conflict with each other, as he wonders “If everyone exercises freedom of speech and conscience, will we all stand united? “. I strongly agree with Sloan on this point, because American people came from different ethnicities and heritages. So, it is obvious to state that American people have different perspectives. Therefore, their right in practicing freedom of speech might cause an ideological division in the nation, since some speeches might be unacceptable or even offensive for some groups or minorities in America. Furthermore, the author discusses the logic parts in these patriotic slogans to determine whether they are logically true or false. For example, the slogan "Home of the Brave" makes Sloan wonders whether American people are brave as the slogan states or not. He has doubts about that slogan's credibility, since he mentions that most American people are not comfortable to invite strangers to their houses or go for a walk late in the evening. He also refers the “moral courage” to those who are against the American mainstream and avoid jumping on the bandwagon, especially concerning things that they do not agree with. As he suggests that the real brave should work on stricken nations' independence such as the Iraqi issue, rather than just support it orally (349). Moreover, the slogan "God Bless America" is very interesting for Sloan, he really wants to know, which god is mentioned in that slogans, if there are so different believes among Americans especially concerning the definition of the word "god". Sloan also dilates satirically a list of things, which god needs to bless America with, such as "sirloin steaks, sport utility vehicles, faster computers, more cable channels, bigger boom boxes, competitive Superbowls, better face lifts and liposuction, Speedier cruise missiles, smarter smart bombs, stealthier stealth bombers and Continued monopoly of the planet's natural resources" (349). In my opinion, both of the authors are patriotic and that fact made them write those masterpieces. In these two essays, they really just want Americans to expand their perceptions to what is going around them, and also to distinguish American people’s role as a role of people who can get involved in politics instead of being clueless about it especially concerning their democracy. By using “Just Us Folks " as a response to "Sleuthing Patriotic Slogans", I think that Sloan really wants American people who carry patriotic slogans not to be in a position of bigotry, because bigotry is a way that might push American to fight with each other and with other people around the world. Jacoby states that "they are used not only because many Americans are infected by various degrees of bigotry but because all American are afflicted by a poverty of language that cheapens humor and serious discourse" (397). Read More