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PrintPlenty of reasons why 'political' is almost always a pejorative adjective
Politics is a form of non-lethal warfare over power, status, income, wealth and the ability to impose constraints on the behaviour of others, all conducted in, around, and through government.
The word "political" is nearly always a pejorative adjective. Why? Because citizens find so much evidence of questionable, unacceptable, and worse forms of behaviour in the political arena. Columnist Andrew Coyne put it this way: "Politics is a business that inverts all the normal rules of human conduct. In most walks of life, it is thought dishonourable—personally shaming—to lie, or even to shade the truth; to boast of one's own achievements, and sneer at others'; to flatter and connive in private, to mock and rage in public. Yet these and worse are the daily work of those we elect." (National Post, June. 6, 2001). In general, politics is full of actions and words that evoke the "cringe factor" in ordinary folks.
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Plenty of reasons why 'political' is almost always a pejorative adjective
Politics is a form of non-lethal warfare over power, status, income, wealth and the ability to impose constraints on the behaviour of others, all conducted in, around, and through government.
The word "political" is nearly always a pejorative adjective. Why? Because citizens find so much evidence of questionable, unacceptable, and worse forms of behaviour in the political arena. Columnist Andrew Coyne put it this way: "Politics is a business that inverts all the normal rules of human conduct. In most walks of life, it is thought dishonourable—personally shaming—to lie, or even to shade the truth; to boast of one's own achievements, and sneer at others'; to flatter and connive in private, to mock and rage in public. Yet these and worse are the daily work of those we elect." (National Post, June. 6, 2001). In general, politics is full of actions and words that evoke the "cringe factor" in ordinary folks.
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