Not Bad

There's some pretty interesting stuff in here. The introduction was a little dense, but I thought the first chapter or section or whatever you want to call it was definitely worth reading.

I've never thought so much about what an apology means. If, after all, someone steps on my foot in a dark movie theater, I'd certainly want an apology, but I don't want them to interrupt the movie by falling to their knees and crying out for forgiveness. The section on apologies for past tragedies (like apologizing for apartheid, slavery, ignoring the Nazis, and so on) was truly interesting. What I would like to know is, how much sorrow is actually involved in these public apologies? Sure, it's terrible that slavery and apartheid, and the Nazis took so many lives, but are the politicians and clergymen who speak out after the fact (sometimes hundreds of years after the fact) really expressing their deep sorrow? I think not.

I would have liked to seen the author consider the possibility that these "apologies" are just publicity stunts to make these higher-ups look good. Perhaps that sounds harsh, and maybe some of these public figures are truly apologizing, but I find it hard to believe that self-interest does not play a large part in these mass apologies. Maybe Lakoff just gives politicians more credit than I do.

Also, what we were talking about in class the other day (when we can use words and how they can lose their effectiveness) definitely played out in this section, especially when talking about the word "holocaust." When can this word be used? Should it be treated as a special word that is only applicable when we're talking about World War II ("Holocaust" with a capital "H"), or can it be used to describe any tragedy, man-made or natural? If the word is used more often, will it lose meaning, like "Nazi"?

I was surprised that Lakoff didn't mention one of the other definitions of the word, that of destruction or a sacrificial offering through fire. In the film, "The Philadelphia Story," Jimmy Stewart tells Katharine Hepburn that she's "lit from within. You've got fires banked down in you, hearth-fires and holocausts." Of course, that was in 1940, before Hitler's atrocities were fully revealed, but when I first heard that line, it definitely got me a little. It makes sense because the context in which he uses the word fits the definition of the word, we've given the word a completely different meaning.

I think that's all I have to say. Thank you and good night.

P.S. bobdole