what's in a word?

[Danny Weltman]

If "traditional" actually means "original," the "traditional" meaning of
the term is the intimidation undertaken by the government during the Reign
of Terror in the French Revolution. If by "traditional" we just mean "what
it has meant up until recently," then the "traditional" meaning has changed
over time, as is the case with most politically charged words (and with a
good chunk of less politically charged words, too). A good summary can be
found in section 1 of this article:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/terrorism/

On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 10:38 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> I always thought the core 'traditional' meaning of the word was to
> kill/attack citizens when not at war.
>
> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 1:35 PM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is the traditional meaning of the word, I always thought.
> >
> > Non-terrorist gun killing may be the greater threat in one sense, but a
> > lesser one in another.  Fear can change people in bad ways, but THAT ship
> > has sailed.
> >
> > On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 12:44 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> So, by this logic, the motive of the killer determines whether the
> >> violence is an act of terrorism.  Only if the intent is to instill a
> sense
> >> of danger/terror in the surviving populace would the act be properly
> called
> >> terroeism.
> >>
> >> David Morris
> >>
> >> On Fri, Dec 4, 2015 at 11:23 AM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> "
> >>> As one friend pointed out, Paris is not actually any more dangerous
> than
> >>> before Nov. 13. What's changed, dramatically, is our perception of
> imminent
> >>> danger. And that makes all the psychological difference."
> >>>
> >>> And that's what makes it TERRORISM.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/12/03/does-motive-matter-in-mass-shootings-like-the-one-in-san-bernadino/even-in-paris-guns-look-like-a-greater-threat-than-terrorism
> >>
> >>
> >
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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