Free Government Programs

I don't normally gripe about politics online. I don't find it useful to scream my views of perceived injustice into the virtual ocean of the techno-sphere. When it comes to language and the way it influences our thinking, I find that I have to take a position. This blog is, after all, an exploration into writing, and I suppose more generally communicating.

So today I will make a request of the universe. It is simply that we all please stop using the word "free" when referring to anything related to any government program of any kind (e.g. the "Tuition-Free NY Excelsior Scholarship", "Free health care for the needy", "Free school lunches"). What does "Free" mean?

In most (maybe all) cases it would be most appropriate to replace the word "free" (which is used much too freely) with the words "taxpayer-funded". So instead of it being "tuition-free", we would say "taxpayer-funded tuition". "Free healthcare" becomes "taxpayer-funded healthcare". "Free School lunch programs" become "Taxpayer-funded school lunch programs".

Please understand (if you've bothered to get this far) that I am neither discouraging nor advocating the practice of taxpayer-funded programs here. That has to be done on an individual, program by program basis. Many tax-payer funded programs are critically important, helpful, appropriate and necessary. Some are wasteful, ineffective or maybe even counterproductive. In all cases though, the word "free" is, at least, misleading. It never, so far as I am aware, applies to government programs. "Free" relieves everyone of any responsibility for the cost and makes having a rational conversation about the cost and benefits of a program nearly impossible.

Of course, I completely understand why the word "free" is used if it is used intentionally. The marketing impact of this word has been studied for decades. It's used to predispose the listener to a particular point of view before a discussion starts. In today's vernacular, I suppose it would be called a program naming "hack". It's a way to cheat an inattentive listener (which it seems most people are these days) into a positive mindset. Everyone wants "free" things and sees no issue with others getting "free" things as long as the "free" things are available to everyone or, if not everyone at least me. In my way of thinking, that dubious use of language is not right. It is past time to return truth, accuracy, and precision to our discussions. This begins with paying attention to and correcting our use of terminology.

"If thought corrupts language, then language can also corrupt thought" - George Orwell

A New Day Dawns

There is something special about sunrise.  I sit here almost every Sunday morning in the winter, in my family room.  When I sit down with my cup of steaming coffee and the modern equivalent of a newspaper (my Chromebook), it is dark and cold.  I turn up the thermostat as I pass by and the furnace churns to life, pushing warm air along the floorboards and slowly driving out the chill that is left from the cold dark night.  The process is slow and I imagine a magnificent struggle between the morning warmth and the evening chill.  I have left my fortress of bed and blanket that protected me as I slept and I am in the middle of the fray.  The rear guard of the morning chill lingers on my hands and face while the cavalry of warmth surrounds the enemy and takes away the prisoners.

All the while, I sip my coffee and watch out the large windows into the yard.  I watch this corner of my world go through a metamorphosis from the night's blanket of darkness and solitude to the hope and light of morning.  It is a slow process that happens in an instant. There is the first hint of change in light, nearly imperceptible, and then, almost between breaths, the morning dawns and like water bursting through a dam, the light of the new day pours into the yard.    I'm struggling to capture the wonder of this moment in words.  There are others I'm sure who understand what I cannot describe adequately.   I think it is known to a new mother, nursing her hungry newborn as she looks out the window through tired eyes and senses the hopefulness in the new day and is thankful for the tiny life that is now part of her's.  The blessing of this transition from night to dawn is understood by the lonely person struggling to get through the night and, realizing the hardest moments are over, allows the light of the new day to lift his spirit and consider some hopeful possibilities ahead.  This feeling I am failing to put into words is probably recognized by someone who was not well through the night and for whom the new day brings hope for rest, health and peace.  It is the feeling granted to the young lovers, having spent the night discovering each other and are now reveling in this promise of a new day to share.

The first rays of sunlight on a new day will always inspire me, humble me, and remind me to be thankful for the darkness, without which there can be no dawn.