Just as luxurious banquets and elaborate dress are indications of disease in the state, similarly a lax style, if it be popular, shows that the mind (which is the source of the word) has lost its balance. Indeed you ought not to wonder that corrupt speech is welcomed not merely by the more squalid mob but also by our more cultured throng; for it is only in their dress and not in their judgments that they differ.
Seneca - Epistulae morales ad Lucilium c. 65 AD
Looping back to Jeremy Hunt’s use of the word ‘unfunded’ as applied to tax cuts, it may be worth taking a closer look at it, because it is a strangely corrupt use of the word for a Chancellor of the Exchequer to choose. It also gives the game away.
When applied to tax cuts, the word ‘unfunded’ tells us that government profligacy is not a political concern, not within major Parliamentary parties. We may assume that the permanent administration is comfortable with it too. This lack of concern does not feel accidental.
Our elites clearly see even the most obvious government profligacy as virtuous investment in the public interest. Personal activities such as going on holiday, owning a car or spending our own money in our own way – they see that as profligacy to be stamped out as wasteful. The bizarre term ‘unfunded tax cuts’ may be a corrupt use of language, but it sits neatly with Net Zero.
When applied to tax cuts, the word ‘unfunded’ tells us that government profligacy is not a political concern, not within major Parliamentary parties. We may assume that the permanent administration is comfortable with it too. This lack of concern does not feel accidental.
Our elites clearly see even the most obvious government profligacy as virtuous investment in the public interest. Personal activities such as going on holiday, owning a car or spending our own money in our own way – they see that as profligacy to be stamped out as wasteful. The bizarre term ‘unfunded tax cuts’ may be a corrupt use of language, but it sits neatly with Net Zero.
4 comments:
Yes, if your living depends on controlling the flow of money, then you are going to want to control as much of it as possible. People keeping hold of it, spending it on what they want, and passing it to their children and grandchildren: that's a missed opportunity.
For corrupt use of language, look only as far back as Gordon Brown and his use of the word 'invest'.
Sam - and it only takes a slight shift in perspective to see things in that way. They probably see themselves as long-term social investors while we are feckless consumers. It wouldn't take much to build that kind of outlook among certain types of people.
decnine - yes, that used to annoy me because he must have known he was misusing the word.
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