List of wars on concepts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wars on concepts are high-resource efforts to eradicate a perceived problem that use a war metaphor to rally support. These wars differ from more conventional wars in that they do not have a defined country or person as the opponent, but rather a concept. Thus, it is impossible for the opponent to surrender, so it is possible to continue investment forever.
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[edit] The War on Poverty
United States President Lyndon B. Johnson invoked the phrase "The War on Poverty" during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. With a national poverty rate just under 20 percent, the War on Poverty proposed massive governmental social programs to reduce that number to a tolerable amount. The resultant legislation was the Economic Opportunity Act, which established the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to administrate the local application of federal funds targeted against poverty.[1]. The official War on Poverty continued until the OEO was dismantled by the Nixon administration, though many of its programs transferred to other agencies.
[edit] The War on Cancer
In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon offered the phrase "War on Cancer" in 1971 to highlight the passage of the National Cancer Act, which attempted to unify efforts to treat and eventually eliminate cancer.
[edit] The War on Drugs
The "War on Drugs" is a term used by many politicians, notably U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and President Ronald Reagan, to describe funding for anti-drug efforts, both in terms of law enforcement and social programs. The War on Drugs helped justify actual wars such as Operation Just Cause, the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. In the U.S. federal government, the leader of this effort is often referred to as the Drug Czar.
[edit] The War on Terrorism
Though used to describe actions against anarchists in the 1800s and Zionists in the 1940s, the phrase "War on Terrorism" (or "War on Terror") was invoked by President George W. Bush in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. It describes a large array of military and law enforcement programs involving at least two actual wars (the current war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War) and the USA PATRIOT Act's increase of police and federal powers against people suspected of terrorist involvement.
The War on Terrorism is sometimes linked to a suggested War against Islam.
[edit] Other uses of the phrasing
- War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in Great Britain.
- The War on Christmas is a supposed effort by advertisers, the U.S. federal government, and secular interests to eliminate the trappings of Christmas from the December holidays.
- The War on Terra, a pun off the name War on Terror, is a term popularized by The Daily Show to describe environmentally destructive policies of the United States.
- The concept is parodied in the Australian comedy series The Chaser's War on Everything.
- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism is a documentary film critical of Fox News Channel.
- The Republican War on Science is a book which argues that the Republican Party is playing politics with science.
- The War on Britain's Jews? is a documentary film about antisemitism.
- The War on Democracy is a documentary film critical of U.S. policies in Latin America.
- War against Islam is a presumed bigotry against Islam in the Western world.
