Insufferable are the Woke…
Timothy P. Carney
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The Associated Press regrets to inform you that the Little Sisters of the Poor are canceled. Martin Luther King is also done. And Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is obviously offensive.
Specifically, the Associated Press believes that nominalized adjectives are harmful and should be avoided. Their style guide — which used to function as something of an industry standard-setter for word choice and style but which recently has taken clear sides in the culture wars — tweeted a risible new rule last week.
THE LEFT ONLY (SOMETIMES) PRETENDS TO BE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION. STOP FALLING FOR IT.
The Associated Press followed this with an embarrassing apology and also reasserted their opposition to nominalized adjectives.
Oddly for a style guide, the tweets are very unclear, which led many readers to worry that definite articles were being canceled. What the Associated Press really objected to was turning an adjective into a collective noun by adding “the” beforehand.
For instance, the Little Sisters of the Poor use “the poor” in their name to mean “the poor people.” This is not an odd usage.
Martin Luther King, the greatest American orator of the 20th century, deployed this usage all the time. “The more sophisticated surely realize that we are on the side of the wealthy, and the secure, while we create a hell for the poor,” King said in a 1967 speech that included the formulation “the poor” six times.
Here’s a speech by Cesar Chavez that uses “the poor” seven times, including twice in one key sentence: “Since the Church is to be servant to the poor, it is our fault if that wealth is not channeled to help the poor in our world.”
Here’s JFK citing a Bible translation: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.”
And, of course, Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount includes the famous Beatitudes, half of which include the dreaded nominalized adjectives:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The Associated Press, for identity-politics sensitivity reasons, believes Jesus was wrong to speak of “the poor in spirit,” “the meek,” “the merciful,” and “the pure in heart.”
Why? Because supposedly they are “often dehumanizing” and imply a “monolith.”
This is bad logic combined with bad philosophy, yielding clumsy verbiage. Much of wokeism seems to be an effort to make it harder to talk about things. Words get canceled left and right. Specifically, clear and powerful formulations are replaced by the sort of things lawyers would say.
We’ve already seen prestige publications start subbing out “husband” or “wife” for the duller “spouse.” Teachers and principals become “educators.” Some true believers in the New Faith even go so far as to replace “women” with “people who menstruate.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Anything that identifies or adds life to prose is becoming outre. So when we are talking about the poor qua the poor, we are told we are reducing them to their poverty. This represents low mental powers by the editors and a disdain for evocative or beautiful prose.
Cursed are the woke and the pedantic, for theirs is a turgid lifeless language.