Empty phrases I could do without
Written by: Beck
Ed Brayton
makes an observation I'm in complete agreement with.
Is there a more meaningless cliche than "fabric of our nation"? I can't think of one. It's a perfect little piece of empty rhetoric, repeated ad nauseum without anyone bothering to ask what on earth it means. It just seems to be a phrase that people trot out when they're against something but they can't come up with a tangible, concrete reason why they're against it. So they say that it "destroys the fabric of our nation" and everyone who agrees with them nods in agreement, not having a clue what it actually means but knowing it sounds good. The perfectly pointless rhetorical flourish.
I can probably think of a few cliches more meaningless than "fabric of our nation," (for instance, any time someone with the surname Kerry starts talking about patriotism) but Ed's more general point is an excellent one. Far too much of the political & intellectual dialogue today contains nothing but empty phrases occasionally augmented with blind hysteria.
