Hey, Who Needs "Capitalism" Anyway?

Not Voice of America, not anymore, at least not in the core vocabulary VOA uses in its “Special English” broadcasts meant to teach our lingo abroad and – in the war of ideas — represent the American way of life.

As Senator Tom Coburn observes, under the heading “Your Tax Dollars at Work,” on his web site as ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, VOA has now removed the word “capitalism” from its 1,500 word lexicon of Special English.

Shouldn’t we leave it to America’s enemies to delete a word like that from our broadcasts?

Note: The last time I posted a comment critical of VOA, I received a letter of protest from the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, James Glassman — formerly a commentator who over the years has written eloquently in defense of capitalism. I can only hope that in this case he would agree — while “capitalism” is a long word, it is probably far more vital to the basic American message abroad than any number of words which have just survived the VOA special English vetting process, such as “ecology,” “evaporate,” “parachute,” or “guerrilla.”