In practice, stripping funding from education and healthcare and poverty prevention is irresponsible, I agree. Those specific austerity measures are irresponsible.
And yet, people still use the term on purpose. Why? Because it’s easy to sell to the public by saying, “It’s just responsible money management,” with the followup benefit that “Anyone opposed to this austerity measure is opposed to responsible money management.”
They’re bullshitting the public by covering up their intentions with language that is marketable. That’s my point. If you agree that this is a “rebellion against austerity”, you’re giving the propagandists what they need to turn public opinion against the thing that these protesters stand for.
In practice, stripping funding from education and healthcare and poverty prevention is irresponsible, I agree. Those specific austerity measures are irresponsible.
And yet, people still use the term on purpose. Why? Because it’s easy to sell to the public by saying, “It’s just responsible money management,” with the followup benefit that “Anyone opposed to this austerity measure is opposed to responsible money management.”
They’re bullshitting the public by covering up their intentions with language that is marketable. That’s my point. If you agree that this is a “rebellion against austerity”, you’re giving the propagandists what they need to turn public opinion against the thing that these protesters stand for.