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(Created page with "A Free Lunch: There are two countervailing trends in American culture that define a divide so deep it is probably unbridgeable. There's the part of America that declares [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"], and then there's the part that insists that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal#United_States every child in school be provided with a free lunch]. Generation after generation,...")
 
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Postmodern Dictionary Front page:
A Free Lunch:
<div style="font-size:200%; padding:.1em;">The Politically Incorrect Postmodern Dictionary</div>
There are two countervailing trends in American culture that define a divide so deep it is probably unbridgeable.  There's the part of America that declares [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"], and then there's the part that insists that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal#United_States every child in school be provided with a free lunch].  Generation after generation, the first part of America diminishes and the second part increases.  It's inevitable that, eventually, the first part will be a distant memory, the stuff of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivial_Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit''], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!''] or obscure academic discussions, while the second becomes as commonplace as the air we breath.


The politically incorrect Postmodern Dictionary is an attempt to satirize the postmodern use of language. It is currently being maintained by only one person.  As the current author and sysop, I take full responsibility for the comments I make here.  For more information, and commentary, see the [[Postmodern Dictionary:About|About Page]]. For a list of definitions collected so far, see [[Special:AllPages|All Pages]].
You might wonder, then, why haven't the members of Congress ensured themselves a free lunch? Apparently, there's an issue about quality and financial viability.  See [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060801765.html "Senate Votes To Privatize Its Failing Restaurants."]


Obviously, I do not offer all of these definitions in seriousness.  My aim is first to amuse, and, if possible, to educate. (To be quite blunt about it, I'm not sure that's possible. Cf. Isaiah 6:9-10.)  It is quite possible, however, that a progressive could find one or more of the definitions to be appealing for serious reasons, to be endowed with (in Stephen Colbert's memorable term) "truthiness."  The page logo/mascot is intended to be a gentle reminder of this circumstance.
Fortunately for people who live on the margins of the economy, however, the President, who always eats for free, and for whom the cost of fine dining is no object, believes in sharing the wealth.  Ergo, the Federal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)] is always [http://www.kansascity.com/2012/11/19/3925948/more-people-using-food-stamps.html growing in scope] (along with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Lunch_Act National School Lunch Act] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIC WIC]).


The logo/mascot is also, if I may say so, suggestive of what has happened with the truth in our post-modern era.  Namely, it has been excised from its natural substrate, and a "root canal" has been attempted (and is being attempted) to remove any remaining roots, thus bringing relief (albeit of a transitory nature) to anyone whose prior connection with the truth was a cause of some pain.
The issue regarding "a free lunch," however, goes much deeper than a mere question of supplementing the nutrition of the indigent. Ultimately, it comes down to the definition of the word [[Family]].
 
Nor do I offer these definitions in hopes of enlightening post-modern progressives.  Even Jesus recognized the futility of trying to educate the invincibly ignorant, so many of whom were the "elites" of his day.
 
If I succeed in helping yet one more classical libertarian or paleo-conservative to better understand this brave new world, then all the effort in assembling these definitions and posting them online will have been worth it.
 
Let he who has eyes to see, see.
 
Meanwhile, consider this video segment from "The Princess Bride"...
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As it turns out, there has been an evolution of thinking on the "progressive" left...
 
<blockquote>
<p>'''You think, I dare say, that our chief job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it! We’re destroying words — scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We’re cutting the language down to the bone. ... Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.''' </p>
<ref>George Orwell, [https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79n/chapter1.5.html Nineteen Eighty-four].</ref> <ref>Hat tip... [https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2015/05/the-gradual-abolition-of-language.html "The Gradual Abolition of Language"].</ref>
</blockquote>
 
The Postmodern Progressive movement has taken the opposite approach.  Instead of deleting words, they either change the definitions (as in the redefinitions of marriage, gender, racism, democracy and recession) and pretend that the new definitions are the way these words have always been defined, invent pretentious substitute terms (intended to soften or obscure the reality of their referents), or overwhelm with competing words (as in the multiplication of gender pronouns).
 
By contrast, check out a dose of reality.
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==Notes==
<references/>

Latest revision as of 20:21, 5 March 2023

A Free Lunch: There are two countervailing trends in American culture that define a divide so deep it is probably unbridgeable. There's the part of America that declares "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!", and then there's the part that insists that every child in school be provided with a free lunch. Generation after generation, the first part of America diminishes and the second part increases. It's inevitable that, eventually, the first part will be a distant memory, the stuff of Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy! or obscure academic discussions, while the second becomes as commonplace as the air we breath.

You might wonder, then, why haven't the members of Congress ensured themselves a free lunch? Apparently, there's an issue about quality and financial viability. See "Senate Votes To Privatize Its Failing Restaurants."

Fortunately for people who live on the margins of the economy, however, the President, who always eats for free, and for whom the cost of fine dining is no object, believes in sharing the wealth. Ergo, the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is always growing in scope (along with the National School Lunch Act and WIC).

The issue regarding "a free lunch," however, goes much deeper than a mere question of supplementing the nutrition of the indigent. Ultimately, it comes down to the definition of the word Family.

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