Define liberal for me. If you are a liberal, you probably define it in terms of making things better. If you are a conservative you probably define it in terms of policies like abortion and deficit spending. Both are correct and both are wrong.

Truth is, we use a LOT of political jargon to define groups and most of those words aren’t themselves clearly defined. What a political scientist means by liberal will be literally defined in the beginning of his paper because the term is so amorphous that it can mean almost anything. This is a bad thing when writing a scientific paper so we define our terms.

Not kidding, the first part of any poli sci paper reads like a dictionary only not as interesting. The labels we spew around all day long: liberal, conservative, independent, Republican, Democrat, libertarian, et al all have to be defined because they mean so many different things to different people. And those are just the terms related to identification. I love poli sci; I hate chemistry but I’d rather read a chem paper any day of the week than sort through another glossary of basic terms.

At the lofty academic level, we can’t make sense of the terminology half the time. I once spent three interesting (yes, I’m a geek) hours arguing with two other grad students about something to do with conservatism in Europe. I was a moderate at the time but ended up arguing the conservative side. It took us the three hours to realize we weren’t talking about the same thing. My area of study was American politics and they specialized in European and comparative politics. It finally dawned on me that they didn’t realize that the terms are very different – the US political spectrum is a bell curve where the European is more like a flat tire that’s pulled apart on both ends – and ‘conservative’ in one was ‘moderate’ in the other.

Doesn’t leave a lot of hope for the everyday folks, does it?

Well, I can’t recommend pulling out a dictionary every time you want to discuss a political issue but you can get around this linguistic pain in the backside. Don’t just use the terms. Use a whole sentence to clarify what you’re talking about before using words that are likely to confuse.

Not like a definition – just a good outline of what the word means to you. Remember, most of these terms are so loosely defined that it’s impossible to say who’s right – so don’t worry about it. Just tell folks what you mean and keep right on going.

This is also a good idea for keeping your own thoughts straight. what do you mean by ‘I’m a Democrat’? Are you a card carrying member of the party? Do you always vote Democrat? Do you mostly vote Democrat? Do you just think of yourself as a Democrat but tend to vote for the other guys? Any of these can be used when someone tells you they are a Democrat – so what do they mean? What do you mean?

Not sure? For yourself, take some time to think about it. Most Democrats aren’t card carrying members, but if you aren’t voting Democrat anymore, are you still a Democrat? Decide for yourself and carry on accordingly. If you aren’t sure what the other person means, ask. The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask – unless the silly thing is rhetorical.

And don’t stop at party identification. The idea of having your own truth is nonsense but it’s perfectly possible to have your own definition. What does Bob mean when he says he’s LGBQXYZ? You don’t need to be rude – just ask for clarification. People who are being straight with you generally won’t mind, especially when talking about themselves. If Bob gets upset, just be gracious and change the topic. Bob is having a problem and he needs to deal with it. A fight won’t help.

Don’t know how to talk to people without fighting? Invest in some etiquette videos. Or wait until you are out of diapers. Seriously, this isn’t that hard. People spend more time upset over how to talk politics than they do actually being upset over politics. Relax – it’s just like talking about anything else. It takes practice and it’s okay to disagree respectfully.

Which word salad doesn’t help us do. Grown ups know better than call people names or use denigrating labels. It’s the perpetually offended babies that resort to labelling everyone else in the simplest and usually nastiest terms. Labels are just for sorting. They have a place. Labels are not for dehumanizing others. Only the insecure and the evil do that – don’t stoop to that level. Know the terms so you have an idea what they mean. Ask if you aren’t sure, but never use words to strip others of their humanity. It’s just a word; that is a person. Know the difference.

There are some words that we should just drop. Conspiracy theory (okay, that’s actually a term) is just a cheap way to ignore the argument. Be a grown up – if you don’t want to address the argument, say so. You don’t have to argue every possible issue or theory. But just because you don’t think much of the argument, don’t denigrate those who have more interest by hand waving it away as a ‘conspiracy theory’. Either address the argument, decline to argue or just find another topic – no need to talk down to others, no matter how silly you think their argument is.

‘Denier’ is another. It’s a way of denigrating the person without addressing the argument. It’s not even an intelligent comment. I deny that Julius Caesar visited Brazil. Since I happen to be correct (please tell me you knew that statement was absurd) then being a ‘denier’ isn’t a bad thing.

If you think Caesar founded Rio de Janeiro, then let’s talk. You tell me why I’m wrong and I’ll drag out a few history books. Maybe you won’t agree but calling me names won’t change the truth of the statement and me refusing to talk to you only proves I’m a jerk. I plan to skip the being a jerk thing as much as possible.

Listen for denigrating terminology in news reports and media coverage. It’s never the sign of a strong argument. It’s usually the sign of something important being omitted. No one side has a monopoly on this, either. Both sides of any argument are made up of humans. Humans don’t come in size saint very often. When one side uses name calling and denigration it is probably the side with the weakest argument – or at least it’s the side afraid it can’t win the argument.

For the most part, I’ve been discussing the nice side of terminology confusion. Sometimes, words are used to denigrate the opposition; sometimes they are used to dehumanize. Liberals become libtards. Unborn children become clumps of cells; Protestors become insurrectionists. Opposition becomes evil, fascists, Nazis, racists or just plain old trash. Notice that people are stripped of their humanity.

We are no longer people of good will who disagree. We are no longer loyal opposition. We are no longer people.

It doesn’t matter which side is doing it – it’s morally, politically, rationally and humanly WRONG. Those who dehumanize are the real evil. Don’t be the monster. Be the solution.

Know the enemy. Don’t become the enemy. Recognize how words are used to manipulate; don’t manipulate.

What cheaters don’t realize until its too late is that the means will come back to bite even if you get the ends you desired. People don’t forget that they were cheated and lied to – I can name a number of companies that found that out the hard way (Hi Sears!) that you young ‘uns have probably not even heard of but were once big companies. Cheaters don’t prosper because people don’t forget.

Neither does God – when the Creator of the universe tells you to love justice, you are well advised to listen.

You spent a lot of time and we the people spent a lot of money on that education of yours. This is where all those English classes pay off – use your words well. Use your words to represent clearly your ideas and your ideals. Use your words to uplift and encourage. Use your words to criticize the problem and help find the solution rather than denigrate the messenger or dehumanize the opposition. Use your words to make your little corner of the world a better place.

Imagine what would happen if we all would try to use our words well.