An-ism

I was reading an interesting article on Charles Darwin in Newsweek on the subway this morning.

I don’t quite know why I bought Newsweek as I tend to believe that weekly News magazines are now obsolete with the advent of the internet. If you want an in-depth coverage of a story, the net is where you turn not the weeklies… anyway I’m digressing here.

Back to Darwin, there was a quote in this article that caught my eye, it regarded opponents of evolutionary theory who say they're fighting "Darwinism," rather than evolution or natural selection. To quote the article:

"It's a rhetorical device to make evolution seem like a kind of faith, like 'Maoism'," says Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson, editor of one of the two Darwin anthologies just published.

"Scientists," Wilson adds, "don't call it 'Darwinism'."

I find this interesting as it seems that more and more we are either personalizing things or trying to de-personalize things. A kind of evolution of language.

Think of the bogeymen that are created to put a personal face on the war in Iraq. First Sadam then Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. You could argue that there are two ideologies at war here but you can’t defeat an ideology. You can defeat a person. Hitler is dead but Nazi-ism is still alive.

What there actually is, is an occupying army and a resistance - by the way, notice that the only people who call it “The Resistance” are Arabs, Westerners use “Insurgents”. “Resistance Fighters” are defending themselves - “Insurgents” are interlopers intent on causing havoc.

“Civilian Casualties” have become “Collateral Damage”, a complete depersonalization. Being blown to bits - It doesn’t get any more depersonalized than this!