Letters to the Editor
cabdriver
Published Letters: 497 Editor's Choice: 8
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@Little Brother
[Read the article: Beltway myth: "The left-wing base" vs. "the American people" on Iraq]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]what is this meme "conditions on the ground"?
As someone who employs a phenomenological approach rather than a partisan approach on the subject of politics, I'm actually fond of the phrase "conditions on the ground"- which speaks- or ought to speak- to the idea of that set of extant facts and evidence that are most useful to making accurate assessments of what's actually in front of one's face- as opposed to living up in one's head, propped up by the imaginary furniture, castles, palaces, sailing ships, etc. in that "reality" made of words. Words are fragile and unstable constructions, especially if they happen to collide too directly with the overwhelming power of Actual Reality, that silent and serene iceberg. All is Well, as long as Words and Actual Reality don't collide. A verbal reality too far adrift from actual reality is trouble. Especially in wartime. Hence, bearing the "conditions on the ground" in mind, and seeking to learn the most necessary and updated information about them, is typically very valuable to living in the Reality Based World, and Community.
However, the phrase "conditions on the ground" is itself made of Words, and hence suffers from the vulnerabilities to twisting and abuse that it shares in common with any other construction that can be employed to construct a verbal picture.
So whenever the phrase is employed- especially by an Official Spokesperson- the most productive response from the listener needs to be further inquiries: "Like what? For instance?"
As for the word "metrics"- it's a synonym for the word "measures", used instead of "measures" to avoid confusion with an associated definition of "measures- "actions" (as in "stern measures.")
"Metrics" is actually more specifically defined to be "quantifiable measures"- and, similarly, the listener should best respond with questions like "which metrics?" and "What about these metrics, which you haven't mentioned?", etc.
Whenever an Official Spokesperson employs the word "metrics", the listener should always brace for the threat of Statistics Abuse. As a long-time critical observer of the Zero Tolerance War on Drugs, my acquaintance with the abuse and outright perversion of metrics is of long standing. To check out what I mean, you might want to check out recent announcements on the Drug Problem in the USA by people like DHS chief Michael Chertoff and DEA head Karen Tandy- there are some real doozys in there.
I really don't have much use for the theory of language and communication that's recently highlighted and endowed the term "meme" with such fraught meaning and power. I think it's an intellectual fad.
But in the more general sense, I take your points about those two buzz-words/phrases and their recently highlighted popularity as verbal currency. They're among the latest in a long parade of words and phrases pressed into service and conjured as Authoritative Jargon Invocations- implicitly intended to lead reliably to a reaction of earnest, furrowed-brow, head-bobbing agreement from those in the presence of the Authorities using such Authoritative-Sounding Language, due to the connotations of Hard-Nosed Reality and Objectivity implied by the phrases.
Once the Conjured Reassurance is in place that the Authorities are reviewing/have reviewed the Conditions On The Ground and the Metrics, the listener is to presume that any need for further questions is Obviated (there's another lofty-sounding term.)
But if someone doesn't presume that, and keeps asking questions...it can really mess up that spell something awful.
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Oh Lord...
[Read the article: Jesus loves you -- and your orgasm]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]a Turf War over who owns the Orgasm?