Propaganda Is A "Toxic Asset" - 3

Toxic Accounting

On this date, in 2009, during a time when lots of "toxic asset" falderal was being promulgated in the bullshitosphere by the MSM, a.k.a. McTell News, we pondered the reality, or not, of a "toxic asset."

Dredd Blog did a post that focused on the senseless talk about "toxic assets" and that phrase's link to doublespeak.

Yes, and since doublespeak is the language of Bullshitistan, a little town with a twisted mouth, like Dick "Chain Man" Cheney, down on Highway 61, today I want to provide a trip down memory lane for your enjoyment and for your perusal of the text of that post (just in case you missed it, and also to show how things like that have not really changed much):

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We have written about business propaganda being used every day and every where in the US, since about the first world war.

Recently the use of business propaganda in the main stream media (MSM) has brought us the oft repeated phrase "toxic asset".

The dictionary defines an asset as:

as⋅set –noun

1. a useful and desirable thing or quality ...

2. a single item of ownership having exchange value.

3. assets, ... items of ownership convertible into cash ...

Investopedia Commentary ... Assets are bought to increase the value of a firm or benefit the firm's operations ... something that can generate cash flow ...

(Online Dictionary, emphasis added). The definition of "toxic" is:

tox⋅ic –adjective

1. of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or poison: a toxic condition.

2. acting as or having the effect of a poison; poisonous: a toxic drug.

–noun
3. a toxic chemical or other substance.

(Online Dictionary, emphasis added). The news media promulgate the dichotomy "toxic asset" so as to deceive the public into believing junk is not junk, and that a toxic product has value.

They do this hoping we won't go ballistic when the government wants to use our taxpayer dollars to pay for junk.

One professor calls this doublespeak, and has written a book "Why No One Knows What Anyone Is Saying Anymore". He points out:

With doublespeak, banks don't have "bad loans" or "bad debts"; they have "nonperforming assets" or "nonperforming credits" which are "rolled over" or "rescheduled." Corporations never lose money; they just experience "negative cash flow," "deficit enhancement," "net profit revenue deficiencies," or "negative contributions to profits."

(William Lutz, Rutgers University). What is forgotten is that this propaganda is toxic and those who use it are doomed to eventually become deceived by it.

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The lyrics to the following song are here.

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