There is a certain type of word that strikes a strange and untamable fury in me – this type being one that has been bumfiddled by the bourgeois and sabotaged with the taint of alternative meanings that revolve around the private acquisition of capital.

Much like assassination attempts against Donald Trump, an overuse and an unwieldy use of certain words have made a mockery of the global languages. Communication is not executed correctly.

This devastates me and many like me who would prefer to use any words we have at our disposal without the capitalistic connotations.

As a good socialist boy who wants nothing more than to educate my good socialist readers of this unfortunate situation, I have recalled frustrating experiences in order to bring you this column.

Since the print of the literarily masturbatory book How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1936, “people skills” has been used synonymously with the word “manipulativeness.”

Of course, there is a distinction between politeness, niceness, and the repulsive term “people skills”:

• Politeness denotes showing good manners and respect for people – communism at its core, is the most supreme form of politeness because you must respect all your comrades as equals.
• Niceness is a tier more personal than politeness, it is descriptive of an action done with the intention of bringing pleasure or joy to another person; I hope the reader recognizes that it is simply unrealistic to imagine being nice to all people; some people are disagreeable; besides that, making it your personal goal to bring enjoyment to absolutely everyone around you is tiring – and it is especially tiring for a certain anti-social Talon Marks columnist.
• People skills (usually) include insincere pleasantries and actions that serve the end of personal gain; it is social bartering, it is selfish, it is manipulation. Just because someone asks for something nicely does not mean they deserve it.

It is a shame that people today are rebuked for not reacting to this kind of manipulation, although the upper class manipulates politicians by offering much more noteworthy amenities, which often do not fail in the undermining of democracy.

Corporate America manipulates the lives of the proletarians with unfair wages, while private industries and elected officials dispense members of the armed forces freely like guns to criminals, and treat veterans with less respect leaving them injured, psychologically scarred and tattered on skid row.

I say “people skills” ought to be another word for “compassion.”