Tag Archives: definitions

How we name our enemy’s ideology really matters

All complex thinking requires language; either words and sentences or symbols and equations. In conflicts we particularly need to think clearly. Our chosen words must pass two critical tests:

A. Have we defined the enemy accurately?
B. Will our words unite “our side” or divide it?

In state warfare, the enemy’s name is normally obvious. On 3 September 1939 Britain’s Prime Minister accurately declared that “this country is at war with Germany.”

We called Germany’s ideology Nazism; Nazi being an abbreviation for National Socialist German Workers Party.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Steve Trevethan
    Thank you for a most relevant article on the vulnerabilities of our alleged "Democracy"! Might ignorance, both passive and imposed/structural, be a signific...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    There has been a lot of discussion on Lib Dem Voice about our party’s performance in different parts of the country with a number of people commenting that we...
  • Ellyott
    My memory from the time of the introduction of the triple lock was in response to the reduction of the state pension's buying power in preceding years and its l...
  • Nonconformistradical
    I agree with Paul Barker at 16th Oct '26 - 3:41pm...
  • David Raw
    @ Paul Barker "Lets leave Authoritarianism to Labour." An interesting observation, Paul, but from an historical point of view very difficult to sustain. It...