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I think the article is off target and the folks it's reporting about are
misguided. Here, in brief, is why...
The article mentions the word "stakeholder." The word seems to have a
political purpose, and I suspect its users will be loathe to surrender it.
In the UK, an Englishman's home is his castle. In the US, you own your
property; uncompensated taking of property, as well as searching without
warrant, is un-Constitutional.
Current legislation in the works in the US aims to convert
property-owning farmers to "stakeholders" on "premises". The words
"owner" and "property" do not appear. (Some of the related material
seems to regard a premise as a singular of the premises, but that's a
battle grammatical, not legal.) A rancher's livestock disappear into
"the national herd". So instead of owning your property, you become one
of several stakeholders, that is people who have some degree of interest
in what used to be your property.
Is it mere words, or does choice of language have consequences?
The following paragraph worries me:
"While some of the phrases are laughable, the LGA says there's a serious
point to simplifying language, believing that many people miss out on
government services because they don't understand what's on offer."
I contend that government "services" cannot be understood. I still do
not know why I failed to qualify for unemployment the only time I ever
applied for it. Others qualify; I do not. Apparently I'm too rich or was
too early or too late or something. Surely I'm not the only one who does
not want to be serviced by the government. I don't care how they
describe it; I want them to go away and leave me alone.
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