Shared Words

“Do you believe in God?” This question had an easy answer in Westville where I grew up. We had a shared vocabulary. Yes, the people who went to the Catholic Church by the Robots (Traffic Lights) at the top of Westville Road thought a little differently. But God was still an old white dude with a beard. Then schools opened up to other races and suddenly Youth Group on Friday wasn’t necessarily all my buddies cup of chai. Vocabs expanded. I moved on from Christianity, but if I ask friends I grew up with “Do you still believe in God?”, I have to be prepared for a deeper conversation. The God they likely believe in now, is not *identical* to the one I grew up with. Or at least the one *in my head*. The word doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. The same is true in other hard conversations. We don’t have a shared meaning for the word “Racist” and “Privileged”. We do seem to have progressed to where Racist is an insult. Something no one wants to be. An accusation worthy of defence. Increased cultural understanding and cooperation is a fundamental part of wealth creation. Social Capital is the backbone of any ability to generate an income or capital. No one is self-made. Self-empowerment starts with shared words and hard conversations.

Words are Created