November 1, 2025
A strange title, is it not? Well, this one is about providing the definitions of words / names that the media and others are using to label others. I’ve been bothered by some of these accusations (name calling), particularly when they have been leveled at me. It has also been frustrating since I really don’t believe they apply to me.
In any event, here is a list of over 20 political or politically-related words that have been routinely been used in recent years. They appear alphabetically below with their associated definitions (primarily drawn from Webster’s dictionary).
- Capitalism: An economic system in which capital and capitalists play the principal part; specifically, the system of some modern countries in which the ownership of land and natural wealth, the production, distribution, and exchange of goods, and the operation of the system itself, are affected by private enterprise and controlled under competitive conditions.
- Communism: A system or social organization in which goods are held in common. Any system of social organization involving common ownership of the agents of production, and same approach to equal distribution of the products of industry.
- Conservatism: Conservative principles; the disposition and tendency to preserve what is established; opposition to change.
- Democracy: Government by the people; government in which the supreme power is retained by the people and exercised either directly (absolute or pure democracy) or indirectly (representative of democracy) through a system of representation.
- Democrat: An adherent of democracy; hence, one who practices social equality.
- Democratic: favoring social equality; not snobbish or socially exclusive.
- Environment: The aggregate of all the external conditions and influences affecting the life and development of an organism, human behavior, society, etc.
- Federalist: An advocate of federal issues .
- Heterosexual: Characterized by or pertaining to sexual passion for one of the opposite sex; opposite to homosexual.
- Homosexuality: eroticism for one of the same sex.
- Liberal: Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in political or religious philosophy; independent in opinion; not conservative; often, specifically having a tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished from monarchical or aristocratic forms.
- Masculine: Belonging to, or consisting of, males.
- Misogynist: One who hates women or characterized by a hatred of women.
- Monarchy: A state ruled over by a monarch; also, the rule exercised by such a person. A monarchy is called an absolute monarchy when there are no constitutional limitations on the monarch’s powers; government in which a single person is sovereign.
- Nazism: A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator; stringent socio-economic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
- Racialism: Racial prejudice; race hatred.
- Republic: A state in which the sovereign power resides in a certain body of the people (the electorate), and is exercised by representatives elected by, and responsible to, them; also, the form of government of such a state.
- Royalism: the principles of monarchical government; adherence to a king or a royal government.
- Semite: A member of a Caucasian race now chiefly represented by the Jews and Arabs, but in ancient times including the Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, etc.
- Separatist: One who withdraws from a church; a seceder; a dissenter.
- Sexist: Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women; attitudes, conditions or behaviors that promote stereotyping on social roles based on gender.
- Socialism: A political and economic theory or social organization based on collective or governmental ownership and democratic management of the essential means for the production and distribution of goods; also, a policy or practice based on this theory.
- Transgenic: Transferred from another species or breed.
Has the reader figured out the names I’ve been called by the media and some friends? It really is disappointing. In any event, I hope the above helps clarify this name-calling dilemma.
Finally, I need to make you aware of three classic definitions that appeared in print nearly a half century ago. “A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. A recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his job.” Can you guess who uttered these words? If not, here’s a hint: his initials were RR.
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