The politics and markets of unspeakable jargon

Filed in archive Ethics by leon on February 7, 2007

One of my pet hates is the way language is used to hide the truth and keep people in the dark. I have talked about the corporate governance and ethics implications here and here.

In his book Unspeak, journalist Steven Poole talks about how a new form of rhetoric is implanted in our brains, creating confusion and silencing opposing viewpoints. The ''war on terror" (how can you wage war on technique?), and "climate change" (which can also happen when you go on holiday or turn on the air conditioning, and which sounds more benign than "global warming") are just two examples.

It's also just as true when it comes to the language of business. All designed to mislead and stop people asking hard questions.

I look at the issue in my article here.

Related Entries:

Steven Jobs stars in remake of the Iger Sanction - 13 October 2005
EA Announces Three-Game Deal With Steven Spielberg - 14 October 2005
SOX spending for 2006 - 30 November 2005
SEC and The Jargon Maze - 18 May 2006
Gore: Apocalypse Now? Or When? - 19 June 2006
Fixing SOX - 23 October 2006

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Vote for The politics and markets of unspeakable jargon:

Currently 8.86/10
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Rating: 8.86 out of 7 vote(s) cast.

Response from: Steven Poole (02/07/07 9:25am)

Hello, thank you for the kind notice. I have a blog continuing the book's themes at http://unspeak.net

(Also, I worship Dexter Gordon too...)

Response from: dg (03/11/08 7:13pm)

myspace Darren Gelbard. He accused the USA of 9/11 legal.

Response from: BizzBites.com

A new form of bad jargon is being implanted in our brains to create confusion and stop people asking hard questions. Terms like the “war on terror”, “private equity”, “venture capital” and “asylum seekers” are just some examples.

Response from:

Response from: news.fatpitchfinancials.com

A new form of bad jargon is being implanted in our brains to create confusion and stop people asking hard questions. Terms like the �war on terror�, �private equity�, �venture capital� and �asylum seekers� are just some examples.