Dear Doyle, in polemics concerned with red-baiting Marxism, the term "jerk" is used in a way to stigmatize the people on the Marxist left. Additionally, it serves the religious purposes of classifying them as dogmatic. The term dogma refers to religious convinction or faith. Associating Marxism with dogma is to dogmatize Marxism and invite the Church to the discussion. Like Carrol, I would not, of course, advise people not to use jerk. People need to stress out in a polemic, and "jerk" is one of the advisable terms to attack. I always look at the context of the meaning of jerk though. What it means and what it stays for can have class, gender, race and disability connotations, because our language is not always politically correct and neutral. For example, sometimes, drug abusers are called jerks and criticized as being individually responsible for their own victimization. Regarding gender, I don't know how it applies here, but I am sure it must be pretty the same, in my culture, a similar term to jerk is used to stigmatize women who do not follow the traditional feminine practices (cooking, birth giving etc..). Many times Marxist women, feminists on the left have been attacked for being masculine and imitating men--masculinity complex they call-- both by the mainstream culture and women on the far radical front. good night, >It is also very interesting to put this point out in regard to how mental >illness is stigmatized repeatedly this way. The point being, that the >word, >jerk, is not certainly about a mentally ill person. But that if someone >is >obsessive, then they belong in the social structure not external to >society >exactly in the sense that the liberal Democratic law ADA was intended. >There is a way in which the sense of these sorts of discussions is that >we >are healthy functioning people and there are those who aren't and we >certainly know the difference don't we. That is the dividing line >between >us and the dogmatists. it was written: By mistake, I've been sending pen-l my wrong web-page address, the one that refers to the support group for parents of kids with Asperger's Syndrome (mild autism) that my wife and I run. >Doyle >With regard to this web site, your phrase irony-impaired is offensive. >You >have a lot of gall to criticize anyone for being "irony-impaired". >thanks, >Doyle Saylor
