Monday, June 4, 2012

CHOICE, OPTIONS, and CHANGE … vs ... SCAREMONGER, FEAR, and PEREMPTORY


Do any of the following words sound dangerous, scary, or unhealthy to you?
CHOICE … OPTIONS … CHANGE

In looking at the definitions ascribed to them by Merriam Webster, ‘CHOICE’, ‘OPTIONS’, and ‘CHANGE’ certainly don’t sound dangerous, scary, or unhealthy, as you will note by the following:

Definition of the word CHOICE
… the act of choosing … power of choosing
… a number and variety to choose among
care in selecting

Definition of the word OPTIONS
… an act of choosing
… the right to choose (freedom of choice)

Definition of the word CHANGE
… to make different in some particular
… to give a different position, course, or direction
… to replace with another
… to make a shift from one to another
… to undergo a modification

To those who believe in a democratic society the words Choice, Options, or Change should never be considered to be scary … instead I think that most would consider them to be healthy.


Now here are a few more words; SCAREMONGER … FEAR … PEREMPTORY. 

Do these ones sound dangerous, scary or unhealthy to you?  Is there a political party in BC that you would attribute them to?  The BC Liberals perhaps?

Definition of SCAREMONGER
… one inclined to raise or excite alarms especially needlessly

Definition of FEAR
… an uneasy state of mind usually over the possibility of an anticipated misfortune or trouble

Definition of PEREMPTORY
… characterized by often imperious or arrogant self-assurance (IE: how insolent of late he is become, how proud — Shakespeare) … or … indicative of a peremptory attitude or nature (IE: a haughty disregard of an objection)

While allied with the BC New Democrats, BC Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair, hit the nail on the head when he said, “… these Liberal insiders insulted and disrespected every voter in BC by castigating voters and assuming only the backroom boys have the right to decide what choices British Columbians will have at the ballot box.”

On April 25th, Ted Murphy, of the Delta Optimist said:
For many on the right end of the political spectrum it must be difficult to support a party other than the Liberals knowing it will likely result in a New Democratic government elected next May. I suspect they're doing so because they've seen enough … and no amount of fear mongering from the premier is likely to change their minds.”

And BC Conservative Party MLA John van Dongen is also right in saying the that the conservative vote is already split:
"A lot of the free-enterprise vote has already left the BC Liberal party," he said. "The horse is out of the barn, if you want to put it in agricultural termsThere's a hunger for change. The polls show it, but more importantly, the people are saying that."

‘Choice’, ‘Options’, and ‘Change’ should not be considered dangerous, scary, or unhealthy in a democratic society. 

Words however, that we should consider to be dangerous, scary, and unhealthy would definitely include ... ‘Scaremonger’, ‘Fear’, and ‘Peremptory’. 

These are all words that I for one would definitely attribute to those at the top of the BC Liberal Party, as they look to their future.

In my opinion, vote splitting is NOT the problem.  The problem is those who would cast fear over each one of us,  that is now looking at what choices / options we have available, next time we vote!  

So, what do you think?  I look forward to hearing from you.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.

2 comments:

John Twigg said...

It is not peremptory to say that it is time to get rid of the Campbell-Clark Liberals, it is now conventional wisdom and common sense. They have soiled their nest beyond repair.

Unknown said...

Hi John ...

I agree totally that getting rid of the BC Liberals would be considered by many to be 'conventional wisdom and common sense'.

My use of the word "Peremptory" was due BC Liberal mantra on vote splitting and that 'they deserve our vote'. Hence arrogant self-assurance and haughty disregard seemed fitting.