[ExI] 1984 and Orwell's Warnings

[Lee Corbin]

Olga and Spike write

> Olga wrote
>
> > [you like A.D.] Because you want to keep
> > "Anno Domini?"

A label is a *label*.  It need not constantly remind everyone
of anything.  A convention is merely a *convention*. There
is no reason, no reason whatsoever, for such changes.

No, I do not think of "Anno Domini" every time I see "A.D."
and I hope that for your sake you don't either, and I don't
want to use that Latin anyway. It has become meaningless,
except for the ideological pure.

Remember the impulse of the Académie Française intent
on keeping out foreign words out of France?  Well, all
through history sensible groups have not been resistant
to adopting foreign conventions when they served a
*real*, as opposed to symbolic, purpose.

The important thing is to not let idiotic conventions get political!
Then---you see---all the Christians will be going for "A.D."
and "B.C.", and so we will just *have* to go with the opposite,
since every darned date will carry a political message.
Big wasted struggle over what is really nothing. Labels
are not that important, yet here we go into wars about them.

<sigh> Of course, it's a lost cause in this case. The war
is on. But can't this be a lesson to us to stick with
convention in cases where is simply doesn't make any
difference in ease of use or substance?

The whole impulse to rename arises from a demand to
stamp out any reverberations that don't accord with our
prejudices.  And when you come right down to it, that's
totalitarian.  Thank goodness that the Chinese and Japanese
had no real trouble adopting Western numbers, and that the
West had no problems adopting Arabic numerals.  But
then, not *everything* was ideological in those days.

> And you expect people like Jews and Muslims and atheists
> to like using that designation? I don't understand.

They grew up with it, they're used it it, it doesn't really
matter, and they shouldn't give a damn. I'm as much an
atheist as anyone, and it doesn't bother me. What does
bother me is constantly renaming cities depending on
who is in power (the Russians are the experts at this),
and this same nasty impulse to change terminology for
the sake of political correctness.

Again, WHY CHANGE?

> So, you think museums in China should use "in the Year of our Lord?"

Nah, don't be silly.  They'll use "A.D. and B.C." or their
Chinese language equivalents because---again, thank goodness
---they didn't really have a problem adopting the Western
calendar.   Even I have adopted it, though it was
devised under the oversight of a (ugh!) horrid pope,
(who backed Philip's intended invasion of England).
You think we can keep "Gregorian Calendar", or should
that be renamed to something politically more savory,
e.g. the "Sagan Calendar"?

Do you want to go all the way?  I've got some dandy names
you'll like for the months (since the old ones, ugh!, refer to Norse
gods and Roman emperors).  How about Brumaire, Frimaire
Fructidor, Thermidor, Vendémiaire, Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse,
Germinal, Floréal, Prairial, Messidor?   If we're going to be
fanatics about naming things, let's look back to the masters!

Spike writes

> I would recommend BP (Before Present) to be used for
> long term retrodating and BPC for Before Present
> Calendar in place of BC, and CE for less than 2008 BP.

Oh, no, not you too!   :-(

The impulses behind all this really scare me. If we could
focus on *meaning* and not *form*, we'd be a lot better
off.  There is nothing harmful about adhering to harmless
traditions.

> A lot of us have hardwired into our brains the whole BC concept,
> but we can relearn.

At what cost and effort?  Now, on the contrary, there would
be a point to  converting to metric, but change for the sake of
ideological purity makes me puke.

Lee