This is actually very interesting. I think the point of saying "abolish x" when we more accurately mean "radically reform x" or "replace x with a better alternative" is that the former is near impossible to be co-opted by liberals. But this shows that even us leftists can be tricked into thinking what is being proposed is something absurd, just by presenting the slogan in a different context.
I don't think chapos (hexers? bearers?) are entirely to blame here, even though more should have picked up on the pattern. At the end of the day, the success of communicating is mainly the responsibility of the person who is speaking, and not the one who is listening. I guess the main lesson here is to know when something you are saying could be misconstrued and to communicate extra carefully around that.
The people of Haiti did after all abolish slave plantages for a bit (and anyone saying that '"slave plantages" are only places were work is done, so we obviously don't want to abolish that!' ought to be punched).
This is actually very interesting. I think the point of saying "abolish x" when we more accurately mean "radically reform x" or "replace x with a better alternative" is that the former is near impossible to be co-opted by liberals. But this shows that even us leftists can be tricked into thinking what is being proposed is something absurd, just by presenting the slogan in a different context.
I don't think chapos (hexers? bearers?) are entirely to blame here, even though more should have picked up on the pattern. At the end of the day, the success of communicating is mainly the responsibility of the person who is speaking, and not the one who is listening. I guess the main lesson here is to know when something you are saying could be misconstrued and to communicate extra carefully around that.
We can abolish the police though.
We can also abolish schools.
The people of Haiti did after all abolish slave plantages for a bit (and anyone saying that '"slave plantages" are only places were work is done, so we obviously don't want to abolish that!' ought to be punched).