A card-carrying member?

Reader question:

Please explain this sentence, particularly “card-carrying member”:

“It seemed to me that Michael Dukakis blew any chance he had of defeating George Bush in 1988 when he ran away from the ‘L-word,’ even to the extent of letting Bush get away with accusing him of being a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union.” – Walter Cronkite in his 1997 book, A Reporter’s Life.

My comments:

Without delving deep into American politics, let me just say that George Bush, a Republican, while running for President against Michael Dukakis, accused the Democratic candidate of being liberal (the “L-word”). Dukakis gave the impression that he tried to defend himself as if it were wrong to be liberal. And that might have cost him the presidency.

Now linguistics, a more appetizing subject, politics being politics. By accusing Dukakis of “being a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union”, Bush was simply accusing of him of representing liberal views.

Saying someone is liberal, however, is different from saying someone is a card-carrying member of the liberal. More on that later.

First, card-carrying. The card stands for the membership card they give you if you join a club, society or political party, or any organization. You join the group and they issue you a membership card for recognition or identification. You’re sometimes advised to carry the card with you because, if, say, your night club is exclusive, security may stop you at the door if you’re unable to present your card.

Showing your card, you see, is just a way of verifying your identity. By extension, if figuratively speaking someone is described as a card carrying member of a certain political party he’s considered as a devoted member – fervently believing in that party’s ideals or philosophy.

All simple, innocent and cool, isn’t it? Yes, but in America, where card-carrying as a phrase is often a derogative term, giving bad connotations thanks to the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union. This, from Wikipedia:

The term “card-carrying” originally had no political connotation, and was used to describe membership in any organisation. During the Second Red Scare, the term was used as a label for members of the Communist Party, and was used in this manner by both the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations and Senator Joseph McCarthy. In the context of politics, the term remains derogatory. After the 1950s, the scope of the word expanded and is used for non-political applications.

Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed there were fifty-seven “card-carrying Communists” working for the United States Department of State, an allegation that was widely reported by American newspapers. This figure was different from the 205 “bad risks” figure, confusing reporters. The “fifty-seven card-carrying Communists” phrase first appears in a radio interview that McCarthy gave in Salt Lake City, and is the phrase that appears in the Congressional Record on the speech he gave at Wheeling. McCarthy made a distinction between “card-carrying Communists” and what he called “fellow travelers.” A card-carry Communist was considered a genuine member of the party, while a fellow traveler only sympathised with the ideology.

There we go. So, you see, for Bush to call Kukakis a card-carrying member of the liberal camp is more lethal, more hurtful than to merely call him a liberal, which, by the way, sounded much worse in America of the 1980s than it does today.

All right, here are media examples of people who carry their card around of are just being accused of metaphorically doing so:

1. Instead of trying to manage this generation, consider their fresh approach to life.

AS A card-carrying member of generation Y, I have listened with growing alarm to political, social, economic, religious and business commentators discussing my generation's flaws.

Whole industries have now sprung up, attempting to guide older members of society through our challenging ways. Managing Generation Y, Employing Generation Why, Generation Y: Thriving and Surviving with Generation Y at Work are just some of the volumes of management texts educating employers on mechanisms to cope with us.

Apparently, we have never really had to “want” for anything. Many of these gurus believe that one of generation Y’s biggest downfalls is that we “work to live” rather than “live to work”, as our perennially depressed older generation X counterparts do.

Furthermore, we lack loyalty — particularly to our employers. We swap jobs like we swap technology crazes and we have no inclination to be with a company for life. We are also selfish, overly confident, arrogant and flighty.

Rubbish!

I am sick of hearing these ridiculous diatribes that contain sweeping statements without any assessment of current employment conditions.

- Generation Y asks more from work than 9-to-5, TheAge.com, May 14, 2008.

2. Did you know that merchants are considering tacking on a point-of sale fee for purchases made with a debit or credit card? In other words, at 2%, a $100 purchase would cost $100 in cash, but $102 when charged. I have seen this sort of thing in Europe, so will it happen here? If so, who will it hurt and help? The argument for imposing such a fee is that cash customers are now bearing part of the cost of processing all those bank card payments. In other words, the cost of goods is going up because without bank card purchase costs to absorb, merchants could charge all of us less for their products. As a credit card doubter and a vehement proponent of a cash economy, I was on board with this thinking. Why should I support all those card carrying members of the debt society?

Um…except that, my assumptions were all wrong. Cash users are not carrying the water of card users; rather, it is the other way around. Shockingly, cash is more expensive to process than card payments. Not so shockingly, accepting plastic increases a retailer’s market share. And as we know, people buy more with plastic than with cash. Given all this, and the fact that 56% of all retail sales are made with plastic, accepting plastic is already a win win for retailers. All this caused author Allen Rosenfeld, writing for the New American Foundation, to conclude that at the end of the day, point-of sale surcharges will transfer wealth from consumers to retailers, and will not, surprise surprise, lower the cost of goods.

- Point of Purchase Bank Card Surcharges: Will They Help or Hurt Consumers? CreditSlips.org, December 1, 2010.

3. Bookstores opened two hours early on Tuesday for the release of Harper Lee’s latest novel “Go Set a Watchman.”

The manager of a Barnes & Nobel in Mission Valley said the excitement and desire of this book is matching that to the releases of the Harry Potter books.

The novel is set in the 1950s, 20 years after the events in Lee’s beloved “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The new book is considered a more accurate reflection of the 1950s South than “Mockingbird” ever was, as well as a difficult reminder of how far we haven’t come.

The much-anticipated novel is, however, stirring up controversy.

Critics say “Go Set a Watchman” hosts an ugly and racial plot. The emotionally complex story focuses on some of the characters from “Mockingbird” including Scout and Atticus Finch. The conflicts surrounding the Finch family are seen through Scout’s childhood, as her father, Atticus, is a card-carrying member of the KKK.

“Go Set a Watchman” is rumored to have been written before “To Kill a Mockingbird” as Harper Lee’s first ever publication. This work of fiction was published in the original manuscript in an attempt to showcase the original vision to her work.

- Lee’s, Go Set a Watchman finally hits shelves, Sandiego6.com, July 14, 2017.

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.