It Isn't What It Is

Frank Lutz thinks you’re an idiot. Well, uhm, he thinks you’re mentally different (in fairness he doesn’t necessarily think you’re “stupid” but he definitely thinks you’re easily manipulated). Now, don’t you feel better? You should. After all, Mr. Lutz, the author of Words That Work and a political “language consultant”, has made a cottage industry of verbally massaging the egos and sensitivities of the electorate simply by substituting a term here and replacing a term there. And he’s at it again.

During a recent conference of republican governors, Lutz advised governors which terms to use to describe everything from tax policy to the occupy movement. Yes, people actually pay him to do this. The self-professed “word doctor” shared such gems as substituting “taking” for “taxes”. You know, like the government isn’t taxing you. They are taking your money! Now, that is much more intellectually bankrupt and emotionally driven. Yet that is what works. As Lutz’s research supports, people tend to react more emotionally than logically or intellectually.

So, what you think “is” isn’t and what it isn’t is what it really is. So much of what we know, or think we know has been manipulated or misrepresented with a seemingly innocuous term. To paraphrase a former President, it truly does make one ponder what the definition of “is” is.

Thanks to the linguistic acrobatics of Lutz and his types, uhm brethren, a rose by any other name is anything but. Lutz and his ilk have twisted the language so much they have twisted the meaning of words and phrases into a misleading labyrinth of lies and half-truths. In this language sensitive climate, Lutz, the man widely attributed with such cheery phrases as the “death tax” has utilized the power of words for other purposes: misdirection and manipulation.

The so called death tax is a tax administered to the wealthiest of Americans that is taxed on their estate at the time of the death. Formerly dubbed the “estate tax”, the death tax was relabeled by Lutz as the much more sinister “death tax”. Scary, huh? What the death tax infers as that merely by passing along you or your family would be subjected to a hefty tax.

In actuality the death tax is almost anything but. It’s a virtually nonexistent tax that is used to tax the wealthiest 2 or 3 out of one thousand people, roughly .02%, will pay according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. So, while everyone surely will die, very few of us will be involved in the death tax. If anything, most of us would benefit from it as it would be used to pay for services and programs some of us may use. Yet, the “death tax” sounds scarier and makes a stronger impression with would be voters.

Truly speaking from the heart, Lutz measures each word by running them through focus groups. In fact, Lutz carefully selects his volunteers to test market words and phrases to find out what are the most effective terms before he lets them loose on the American public.

Lutz is also responsible for the manipulative phrase, “It’s not what you say it’s what people hear.” However hard Lutz may be trying to manipulate us, he could only be successful if we allow him to manipulate us. His success has more to do with our own weakness and vulnerability than his own manipulation.

Some of the seemingly innocuous word magic Lutz uses is to never say “government spending” but rather say “government waste”. And we should say tax simplification instead of tax reform. We like simple things.

Lutz also suggests we shouldn’t say “cuts”, like tax cuts. Lutz cleverly uses warm and cozy terms like “relief”. “Tax relief” kind of makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Are we so easily misled as to agree with a policy or support a candidate simply by virtue of the word substitution trick? Yes. Absolutely. As much as we might be upset by this it does work.

For instance, you hear these words being used throughout your days. Politicians say we should have a “conversation” rather than saying we should have a debate. Debates are too confrontational and heated. Yet, based on the climate in Washington, heated debate is rampant. But, it is the image and vision of people sitting around a coffee table comfortably talking that people buy into. It’s warm, fuzzy and wholly unrealistic. In other words, it is easily sellable to the public. So, regardless of whether it is true or not, the right words can sell the wrong ideas.

The truly sad part is Lutz is right. Words do matter. But only if we let them.