Why is there a problem with the use of the "N" word?

Question

Neocons can call themselves neocons,but are outraged when others do it. In fact they get insulted.

happily con. yours is an insult,neocon is not. if you are not a neocon that is fine,ignore it,as it is not directed at you. I don't claim to be lib or con,yet i'm not offended by being called either.

Answer 1

The "N" word (neo-con) is justifiably used as by its definition contained within the encyclopedia.

It isn't an insult, it defines a group ideology supported by those who fall into its category.

In return, the neo-cons use insults such as "loony" and "lib-tard" which are personal attacks against individuals.

Personally, this poster would be ashamed to be a part of the neo-con political agenda.

Answer 2

Do you know what the term means? Or have you just fallen in with the rest of your smug liberal buddies and decided to sling the word around because it upset others and sounds good?

The term neoconservative was first used sarcastically by democratic socialist Michael Harrington. Historically, 30 years ago, it meant a former liberal who became a conservative. The cliche was because "they were mugged by reality," but it was because they saw the empirical failures of liberal welfare, state and foreign policies, and they were therefore less ideological than other conservatives and brought much more of a social science background to their argumentation. They are intellectuals.

That is, the neoconservatives were people who in the 1970s were former liberals, in some cases socialists, who moved right in reaction to the left's shift on cultural mores, personal responsibility and foreign policy. The term "neoconservative" has that narrow meaning of that historical period.

Since I was a little girl during that time period and have always held Conservative views, I'm not a neocon, but I've been called that. It doesn not outrage me, but it makes me wonder how the some of the condescending left gets off by making these general and blanket statements. And on top of all that, you guys demand that sensible, logical people bow to the new and brilliant liberals when you guys can't even take the time to look up a definition before you start applying it to people.

If we have to point a few, Charles Krauthammer, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith in the Pentagon, Richard Perle, and Bill Kristol. Many are Jewish and feel that "Neocon" is also used as a pejorative by anti-Semites: "neo-conservative" is a codeword for Jewish used by many Americans, but mostly by Muslim journalist and press for some kind of imagined yet nefarious Zionist conspiracy.

And while we're here, Vice President Cheney is certainly not a neoconservative. The president is not a neoconservative. Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice are not neoconservatives. Yet you people wrongly and constantly fling that title at all four, look down from your ivory towers at us low-life, bible-thumping, hay-seed, fundamentalists, conservatives and think you are superior.

So, now that you are educated, don't you think it's a bit presumptious to call all conservatives, or all Republicans, or all Bush supporters neocons? The fact is, that none of the three I've just listed ARE neocons.

Answer 3

Republicans dont get offended with the word "neocon". In fact most of us find it funny. I find that most uneducated liberals dont even understand what the word means. They seem to think because it has "neo" in it that it means something like "neo-nazi". Really, the word Neo means "New"
So Neocon would just mean, "new conservative". Hardly a cut down. And as far as myself, I am not a new conservative. So why would the rantings of some lesser person bother me?


Addition: I have to add a little to my answer because I'm laughing so hard. Someone above me actually demonstrated what I was talking about and thinks that Neocon is related to Neo-nazi. Too funny!

Answer 4

Neoconservatism is a political movement that emerged as a rejection of liberalism and the New Left counter-culture of the 1960s. It coalesced in the 1970s and was influential in the Reagan administration, George H. W. Bush administration, and George W. Bush administration. It has received so much attention because it represented a realignment in American politics and the defection of "an important and highly articulate group of liberals to the other side."[1] Because the neoconservatives knew liberalism from the inside, they were more effective than previous conservatives at criticizing the failures of liberalism, and one of their first accomplishments was "to make criticism from the right acceptable in the intellectual, artistic, and journalistic circles where conservatives had long been regarded with suspicion."[1]

The term neoconservative was first used derisively by democratic socialist Michael Harrington to make clear that a group, many of whom called themselves liberal, was actually a group newly conservative ex-liberals. The name eventually stuck, both because it was reasonably accurate, and because neoconservatives came to accept that they were, in fact, conservative.[2] The idea that liberalism "no longer knew what it was talking about" became one of the central themes of neoconservatism,[3] and by the 1980s, being considered a conservative was far from an insult.[2]

Answer 5

The term actually is pointed to all races not just African Americans but since the revolutionary war it was used on African Americans by Caucasian men and women and soon it became more of an insult towards on race and is thought to be the most despicable word to be used against a race

Answer 6

When I hear the word neocon, all I can think of is the Matrix.

Answer 7

I don't call myself anything.

I do however recognize that the term fits me better than liberal would, of which I was once . . .

I think people who have hate for a conservative view use it as a pejorative, which is their prerogative.

But you must be prepared to hear illogical as a modifier when I address some liberal doctrine.

Answer 8

I don't mind being called a Neocon, I just don't understand what it means. New conservative? uber-conservative? Conservative on only some issues?

Answer 9

I think the problem is when it is used incorrectly and it often is here. I don't think most on this site actually know what a neo-con is and use it as a derisive term.

Answer 10

Neo- is a prefix, derived from Greek that connotes a "new" or recent form of something, or a revival in a modern form.

New and Improved conservative movement... sure I can take that