A few words about the situation in Egypt.
Feb. 4th, 2011 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinTwo of them, in fact.
One is "riot".
The other is "demonstration".
These words mean different things. If you're not sure which one applies to a given situation, there are at least three different things you can do about that.
One would be to stop and educate yourself. That seems pretty basic.
The second would be to look at what words other people are using, particularly the people involved. If one side is using the word "riot" to describe what the other side is calling a "demonstration", then you're pretty much allying yourself with one side or the other based on which one you choose.
Now, you might feel that once a certain amount of riotous activity can inarguably turn a demonstration into a riot, so once violence and destruction happens, the shorter label must, ipsoid factoid, be applied. But consider: if one side is invested in seeing demonstrations being discredited by riots, then such honorable dedication to accuracy in word use hands an awful lot of power to that party.
And of course, I said there were three strategies that could be followed. If you're really unsure about what words do or don't apply to a given situation, there is a tack that is exceedingly easy to take: don't use any. There are times when it may indeed be a great sin to keep one's mouth shut, but not every event that happens in the world cries out for the commentary of every person with access to an internet news portal.
One is "riot".
The other is "demonstration".
These words mean different things. If you're not sure which one applies to a given situation, there are at least three different things you can do about that.
One would be to stop and educate yourself. That seems pretty basic.
The second would be to look at what words other people are using, particularly the people involved. If one side is using the word "riot" to describe what the other side is calling a "demonstration", then you're pretty much allying yourself with one side or the other based on which one you choose.
Now, you might feel that once a certain amount of riotous activity can inarguably turn a demonstration into a riot, so once violence and destruction happens, the shorter label must, ipsoid factoid, be applied. But consider: if one side is invested in seeing demonstrations being discredited by riots, then such honorable dedication to accuracy in word use hands an awful lot of power to that party.
And of course, I said there were three strategies that could be followed. If you're really unsure about what words do or don't apply to a given situation, there is a tack that is exceedingly easy to take: don't use any. There are times when it may indeed be a great sin to keep one's mouth shut, but not every event that happens in the world cries out for the commentary of every person with access to an internet news portal.