Wordsmithing can be defined as reshaping the meaning of commonly used words to imply something different.  Used over and over, wordsmithing can charge the meaning of a word.  

The Left is good at this.  Take ‘White Supremacy.’  This implies if your skin is light, you are a bad person that believes in racial discrimination.  Or ‘Black Lives Matter’ suggests that black people are less important than others.  All the while, most of us know better.  Not all Whites are racial, and all lives do matter.

The Right needs to take some lessons. 

A group of scientists, businesspeople, and common-sense interested parties have joined together to counter the ‘global warming’ mantra.  The group calls itself the CO₂ Coalition. 

As their website points out, CO₂ is required for both plant and animal life.  It is greatly beneficial for all life.  Unfortunately, CO₂ has been wordsmithed into something very negative.  Maybe the coalition should consider just a spot of wordsmithing of their own.

How about ‘Sustaining Life Worldwide’, or ‘Sustaining Life On-Earth’, or 'Organization for Sustained Life' ?  ‘Sustainable’ is a wonderful wordsmithing word. How long a period of time is sustainable?  Is anything sustainable forever?  When coupled with Life, sustaining implies an organization all about a better future for everyone.  And this is really what the CO₂ Coalition is all about.

This past Thanksgiving the coalition released a one-minute video of many fantastic views of our beautiful country.   It was well done.  At the conclusion, the last slide faded to the CO₂ Coalition.  Did this motivate the viewer to investigate the coalition’s website?  Or did CO₂ scare most Greenies away?  Did it help Greenies learn the benefits that CO₂ provides for every type of life, every day?  Or did the wordsmithed ‘CO₂’ turn away the very audience the coalition seeks?    

Get it right, those on the Right.  Start wordsmithing so we can communicate with the non-fact-believing Greenies.

Dann E. Kroeger,  Commonsense Economist

Image: RawPixel.com