"CALM: A state of emotion which is overrated except in religious retreats.. The Captain of the Titanic was no doubt pleased that his male passengers in first class remained calm as they waited to drown. Had they been less controlled, they might have gained some small satisfaction in passing their time by throwing him overboard.
CROISSANT: Islamic symbol of paradise in the shape of a quarter moon. As an act of religious denigration during the Turkish invasion of Europe, Austrian bakers reduced the croissant to a breakfast bun.
DENIAL: Characteristic reflex of a technocrat. Since actions are the result of solutions arrived at by experts, there can be no error. Error is replaced by a linear succession of right answers. This requires the systematic denial of error when each preceding answer fails to do the job in spite of being right.
ECONOMICS: The romance of truth through measurement.
"FREE SPEECH ... is afflicted by two widely held, contradictory opinions. The first is that we have it; the second is that it is a luxury.
How can you have something which exists only as an existential act? ... freedom of speech is only maintained at sufficiently high levels through constant use. The exhausting effort which this requires involves a willingness to listen combined with a desire to be heard. Listening means taking into account, not simply hearing what people have to say. And being heard means being exposed to criticism, even ridicule.
.. A new method of limitation involves arguing that free speech, having been won in the absolute, can now be treated as a luxury. What people need above all, the argument runs, is prosperity. With the physical well-being and stability that brings, people have the time and energy to engage in free speech. It follows, sotto voce, that the more unsuccessful those in responsible positions are at running the economy of a country, the less the citizenry should use their free speech."
Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon, free at http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2028/last-and-first-men
Accelerando, by Charles Stross, free at http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelera...
The Doubter's Companion, by John Ralston Saul, http://www.amazon.com/The-Doubters-Companion-Dictionary-Aggr...