Vanguard 1998's definitions

political monopoly

A reference to when one or two political parties have control of a vast majority of the government over a prolonged period of time.

The United States government would be an example of a political monopoly.

by Vanguard 1998 February 3, 2023

Tracking

1: When a person or another animal examines an area to see if there are any signs that people or animals have passed through it recently and try to figure out how many of them were there, what they were doing, and which way they went
2: When people monitor where a person or a particular object they are interested in, usually packages, is located
3: When an individual goes online to find more information about another person in order to understand them better. When they do this, they use publicly accessible information that does not require a people search website to get.

Ivan: Cisco, have you been tracking that package that supposed to be coming in this week?
Cisco: Yeah, I've been tracking it. It supposed to be coming on Thursday.
Ivan: Good to hear.

by Vanguard 1998 February 9, 2021

being tailed

1: when someone is following you for some reason
2: When a pet dog, cat, or any type of lizard repeatedly hits someone in the face with their tail

I'm being tailed by my dog right now, which is making it difficult to see.

by Vanguard 1998 March 18, 2021

multifaith parishioner

An individual who is an active member of two or more religious institutions ran by different religions.

Miguel has been an active member of a local Zoroastrian church and a Falun Gong group for years. They are a multifaith parishioner.

by Vanguard 1998 February 28, 2021

Political climate

The various political opinions and ideologies, as well as people’s overall opinion of the government and the numerous political parties that are active at the time, held by the numerous populations and subpopulations in a specific society in a specific geographical location, which can vary in terms of scale. Political climate can be observed on the local level, county level, state level, regional level, national level, and international level. Political climate can be impacted by various demographic factors such as the amount of ethnic diversity the population has, which religions are the most commonly practiced in that area, how densely populated the area is, the atmospheric climate the area they are in has, particularly what types of natural hazards are they most prone to have, the socioeconomic conditions like in that area, how well educated the people in that area are, etc.

The national political climate is moving to support more liberal policies, including police reform, increasing restrictions on guns, loosen restrictions on immigration, promote gender equality, and so on.

by Vanguard 1998 April 25, 2021

social justice two-way expectation rule

An ethical rule that states that before an individual can start calling out other people for making discriminatory comments or performing biased actions against minorities, the individual must first acknowledge and deal with their own implicit and explicit biases, as well as effectively manage their emotions, so they can lead by example. This includes recognizing biases that are not typically viewed as being part of social justice. (That means you must confront biases like Privilege of the Living and Political Identity Privilege.) It is recommended that when calling someone out over biased comments or behavior that you try to so in a calm and polite manner, so they are less likely to feel attacked, and to avoid supporting the stereotypes about social justice supporters spread by some far-right wing political commentators. Basically, if you expect other people to listen to you and change their behavior in order to be less biased, then you have to be willing to deal with your own biases and privilege and control your emotions.

The social justice two-way expectation rule is an important ethical responsibility for any person considering standing up to discrimination, because if you don’t deal with your own biases first, then a lot of people will ignore you due to the fact you don’t practice what you preach. Failing to deal with your biases prior to calling someone out can also negatively impact the views of social justice in other people as they may see the movement as being just being all talk, without producing any real results.

by Vanguard 1998 March 12, 2021

Romantic lens flare

A situation that arises when one or both partners in a romantic relationship are infatuated and distracted by each other that they become oblivious to what is happening in the world around them. It could be they just were not paying attention to their surroundings or they just don’t care. It is not usually done on purpose or to be intentionally mean as they are just distracted.

Luna: Hey Ivan. How are you doing today?
Ivan does not respond to her at all.

Luna: Ivan. How are you doing?
Ivan continues not to respond. Luna turns to Sergio.
Luna: Why is Ivan not responding to me?

Sergio: He is with his girlfriend right now, whom he is easily distracted by. He is probably suffering from a romantic lens flare. I think she will be leaving in a few minutes though, which hopefully he will listen once she leaves.

by Vanguard 1998 June 13, 2021