No. 74 of 108
August 26, 2025
The President wants to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War, which is what it was called until 1947. President Truman changed the name as part of a reorganization to unify the various forces, some of which were independently governed, including the functions of war and the maintenance and deployment of hard power. The current president says the name change was about political correctness. (In other news, apparently a really big celebrity is engaged to another really big celebrity. Eight news services flashed alerts.)
What’s in a name? Names count. Words matter. Especially if you bring energy and intent, directionality and emotional force into the naming. The reverse holds true because it is only the other side of a hand which, by definition, needs both sides to be a hand. When we deride a name, offended and repulsed, we reflexively deny not only the name, indeed, the-ones-that-name. In a world equally divided, both happen at the same time – its own declaration of war. What’s in a name? Seems consequential to call an institution an institution of war, or defense, or security. And to cancel or takeover those institutions holding the name “peace”, already assigned to a lesser authority than war, or defense, or security, believing the word and deed to be soft, the word said with a sneer. Lots of work in front of us, that we not get kicked in the behind of us!