George Jochnowitz thinks it’s rude of me to refer to the Democrat Party as “the Democrat Party.” Let’s think this through. First, even if I thought there were a principle that prohibited rudeness, it’s not absolute. Suppose the party chose the name “the Republicans-Suck Party.” Would everyone have to use that name? Suppose there were a party called “the Cunt Party.” Would George, in an attempt not to be rude, use its name, and would it be wrong of him if he didn’t? The point is, there are other things to be taken into account besides getting another’s name right (in the sense of using whatever name the other prefers). Different people will weight these considerations differently, leading to different decisions about which name to use. Some people, such as George, will assign great weight to the nonrudeness principle. Others will assign less weight to it, which makes it easier to be outweighed by other considerations.

Second, democracy is a good thing—indeed, to those of us in the contemporary West, a very good thing. To say that something is democratic is to commend it. Note the similarity between the “the democratic party” and “the Democratic Party.”  The deserved favorable connotation of the former (I agree that democracy is a good thing) rubs off on the undeserved favorable connotation of the latter. (Parties must earn their reputations the old-fashioned way, by formulating good policies and electing good candidates.) I refuse to allow the Democrat Party to have this undeserved advantage. That others allow it, or that most people until now have allowed it, or that members of the party prefer it, is neither here nor there, as far as I’m concerned. I do what I think is right.

So even if I accepted a nonrudeness principle, it would not be absolute. It would merely have some weight in my deliberations. I would still have to take other things into account before deciding whether, all things considered, to be rude. (I assume, for the sake of argument, that it’s rude not to use another’s preferred name.) I also accept a principle of justice according to which individuals and organizations should not have undeserved advantages. (Justice consists in giving each person his or her due.) When I apply these principles to the case of the Democrat Party, I get “the Democrat Party.”