Weasel Words

One of the most powerful tools of marketing is word association. If a brand can somehow become associated with something seen as universally desirable, at least within a target group, then that brand has a marketing edge.

Examples can be BMW and its relentless efforts to associate itself with luxury, or De Beers and all its campaigns to link diamonds with undying love. Recently, the word organic has become marketing karma. I have no idea what organic really means, especially in the US, where I trust regulations as far as I could throw a fat cat CEO or lobbyist. For almost every category now, I can make a choice claimed as organic. The only thing I have deduced is that the label makes it more expensive. So in my mind, when I see organic I think overpriced, and choose an alternative, except where I have learned that a specific organic product really tastes better.

In these days of reduced attention spans and dubious reporting, one of the ways to dupe people is via weasel words. The same techniques perfected by marketers have been taken over by lobbyists and politicians and anyone else trying to influence our opinions or actions. We would do well to become aware of this, to find ways to spot a weasel word, and even to counter weasel campaigning.

Some parts of the state have used weasel words for years, after propaganda became more sophisticated during world war two and then the cold war. And, without becoming too much of a conspiracy theorist, we should be somewhat suspicious of most things.

I have written before that I fear The Economist, so trustworthy on most things, has some sort of relationship with MI5, and that periodically articles sneak in on Russia that are little more than state propaganda. There was an essay on Iran a couple of weeks ago that fit the pattern. The conclusion was that the Iran should be heavily sanctioned and potentially limited militarily. The justifications were a lot of vague claims about sponsoring terrorism and the like. I could have replaced the word Iran with Saudi Arabia or even Israel and come up with similar conclusions very easily.

Such propaganda is all about weasel words. When one side attacks they are terrorists, while the other are either rebels, or internationally recognized coalitions. Mosul is being liberated, somehow heroically, but Aleppo was raped. I am no apologist for ISIL/ISIS/Daesh, but complexities are routinely glossed over. Reporting on Yemen is an insult to our intelligence, yet somehow most of us fall for it.

More recently, that same weasel word tactic developed military wing of the state has been copied by those peddling domestic political agendas. They have often done it brilliantly.

An early assault was on tax. Tax is an easy target because none of us like to pay taxes. So around the time of Reagan and the great wrong turning, a weasel assault started on all tax. Progressives became tax and spend liberals. Central government committed federal overreach, compromising liberty. Spending programs became wasteful subsidies, driving up debt. Welfare always went to scroungers, looking for entitlements, and usually cheating. Tax was an unjust penalty against hard work. An estate tax became a death tax.

It has been relentless, and brilliant. The reality is that tax finances education, health care, the military and police, infrastructure, pensions and an employment safety net. A hundred years ago education could only be bought privately, so only the wealthy got any. The same was true of the other items on the list, but then we became civilised, and had to find a way to finance it. Since 1945, it was accepted that those with higher incomes and wealth should pay more in than they took out, to support those who could not afford their share.

This all fell apart around 1980, and all taxes have reduced since, with progressive taxes reducing the most. The result is a starving of investment and development and surge in inequality. Yet the weasel word has been so effective that the US last year elected a president on a campaign to double down on the mistake.

Like with all weasel words, there is a kernel of logic. A chronically overtaxed society will grow more slowly, uncontrolled spending leads to debt, and governments can spend inefficiently. But policy since 1980 has swung way beyond any required correction for these things.

Now there is a new assault, with the next weasel word being regulation. Like tax, regulation has a benevolent purpose, to protect the citizen and consumer from abuse. Without regulation, many markets break down and the strong exploit the weak. Again, over-regulation causes harm, inhibits competition and protects incumbents, so there is a kernel of logic. But the lobbyists have taken this and created a new weasel word. We see the early results in the US – firms can pollute streams and emit methane again, while bribing foreign governments, while consumers can no longer be sure their financial advisor is acting in their interest. Weasel words do damage.

A good weasel word in education is choice. Who could be against choice? As parents, we want to be able to choose the best options for our kids. But what does choice mean in practice? Unless very carefully regulated (whoops, another weasel word), the result is wealthy parents siphoning kids into privileged schools while funding for the rest is reduced. It could take us back a hundred years. And a bi- product is abuse of teachers, though – here is the kernel of logic – some correction of teacher union power would be beneficial.

So watch out for weasel words. Another is non-profit. We think of non-profits as altruistic and service-orientated. In health care it is usually just a device to avoid tax while building a brand image. Jobs could be the ultimate weasel word. Who could be against jobs? Well, the reality is that jobs is a weasel word used by lobbyists for big companies when they want power via labour flexibility (another weasel word). Another wonderful weasel word is freedom – how can such a free society have so many prisoners?

What is the antidote? Well, at a personal level, there are some defences against weasel words. One is scepticism. Another trick is to mentally play outrageous opposites or word substitution; that is to try to imagine the effect of the opposite of a statement – replacing Iran with Israel is an example.

But most of the antidotes require hard work. Build a store of weasel words and challenge any statement including them. Read more widely and with greater diversity, and seek out those with opposite opinions. Challenge your own assumptions.

As advocates, we can’t beat them, so sometimes we have to join them. It is astonishing how some groups lose their arguments in long-winded detail. The Remain and Clinton campaigns are example. Simplicity is powerful – even if sometimes slightly disingenuous.

At societal level it is more difficult, since most trends favour weasel words. Low attention spans, the power of money and polarised reporting all make them more prevalent. And these trends can be self-reinforcing, for example with deregulation. In the very long term, stronger education will enable more people to see through the tricks, but that will take several generations. And in the meantime, we are all vulnerable.