Commonly MisUsed Political Terms

Just want to break down some basic definitions for you guys, in the event the constant smearing in politics causes confusion. For example, republicans tend to call ANY policies proposed by Democrats a “socialist/Marxist/communist” policies. They called Obamacare a form of socialism. This is just one example, but there are countless. So, without further ado, let’s discuss some commonly mis-used words, with a special focus given the current week’s political news regarding our Alabama peeps. According to Dictionary.com:

Murder = the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

Abortion = the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Zygote = a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes; a fertilized ovum.

Embryo = an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development, in particular a human offspring during the period from approximately the second to the eighth week after fertilization (after which it is usually termed a fetus).

Fetus = an unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception.

Baby = a very young child, especially one newly or recently born.

Socialism = a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism = a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Welfare State (AKA Social Democracy) = a system whereby the government undertakes to protect the health and well-being of its citizens, especially those in financial or social need, by means of grants, pensions, and other benefits. The foundations for the modern welfare state in the US were laid by the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Fact = a thing that is known or proved to be true.

Belief = something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction.

My point in creating this post is to show that the reasons words have definitions and exist in the context they do is to describe different things. Sometimes similar things are still quite different. Nuance is always important, and I think some of these over-used political terms (mostly incorrect) need to be shown as a reminder to the people. Just because you really want something to be true and you in your heart of hearts BELIEVE that it is, that doesn’t make it so. Just because you want abortion to be considered murder, doesn’t mean that it is. Just because you believe life begins the moment you shoot her club up, doesn’t mean there are 3 people in the room. Words still mean things. Embryos and zygotes are not babies, a welfare state does not equal socialism, and Noah didn’t get 2 of every animal on a boat to save the world.