On Friday's episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight former Dana Perino said that the Biden administration's efforts to redefine the word "recession" was insulting to Americans because "you can't deny something that everyone else knows is true."
Perino told Tucker, "Trying to change the language, manipulate the language, I think, is insulting to the very people who you are leading" but she said the administration was changing the word's meaning to "get out of" the consequences of a failing economic policy that's wrought record high inflation, a supply chain crisis, and now a recession.
The Biden administration posted their new interpretation of the definition of recession last week, changing it from the standard definition, which is that a recession is evidenced by decline in GDP over two consecutive quarters, to one that has more to do with unemployment numbers. This would be a boon to the administration, which presides over an economy with unemployment numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
Wikipedia, after the change, made their own adjustment, changing the definitions recession on their website to fit the Biden administration's new language. The information-on-demand site then locked that page from editing, preventing individuals from updating the information on what a recession is.
The AP offered an "explainer" so that Americans could be disabused of their understanding of what a recession is, and have it replaced with the one the Biden administration had so recently crafted.
As Fox News reports, establishment media all followed suit and contributed to "gaslighting" Americans with the new definition. The New York Times, The Boston Globe, MSNBC, and Politico, among others all came out with commentaries confirming that a recession, actually, is not two consecutive quarters of falling GDP.
"What keeps happening is we know what words mean, the powerful tell us the words mean something else, they get all their friends in power to agree to the new definition, then they tell us we're wrong for knowing what the words mean in the first place, & deny a change was even made," Libby Emmons of The Post Millennial offered by way of her own explainer.
What keeps happening is we know what words mean, the powerful tell us the words mean something else, they get all their friends in power to agree to the new definition, then they tell us we're wrong for knowing what the words mean in the first place, & deny a change was even made
— libby emmons (@libbyemmons) July 29, 2022
The concept of changing definitions to suit those in power is not new. In his 1948 book "Ideas Have Consequences," Marxist turned Conservative Richard Weaver wrote about the "dissolution of the West" and addressed how leftism deliberately changes definitions as a tool of jockeying for power.
Weaver wrote, "Here begins the assault upon definitions: if words no longer correspond to objective realities, it seems no great wrong to take liberties with words. From this point on, faith in language as a means of arriving at truth weakens, until our own age, filled with an acute sense of doubt, looks for a remedy in the new science of semantics."
"Recession" is one of many words that have been intentionally redefined over the past few years, and in many cases, those redefinitions come with help from large organizations and institutions.
Wikipedia has been a tool towards the effort of redefinition as liberal leaning institutions weaponize it for their new terminology. One such example is the Museum of Modern Art hosting "Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon" events where activists will gather and deliberately change "subjects related to gender, art, and feminism" to reflect their ideology.
Similarly the AP Stylebook this year changed their language guidance over gender ideology with a new 'Transgender Coverage Topical Guide.'
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
