re-the use of defund.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. It's the ambiguous binary / non-binary nature of the word

A word like "defund" can mean either

1) Withdraw all funding of an institution, or

2) Withdraw some funding

My gut reaction on hearing "defund" used widely re police departments some weeks ago was it was to destroy, delete, and dead-end police departments.

And that is despite that I frequently encourage people to avoid binary all-or-nothing thinking. Hoist by my own petard. Or, more accurately, I am not immune to that which I warn against.

It was only a little bit later that someone made it clearer to me that it can mean reducing funding, say by 10%, not eliminating it entirely. A duh moment for me. There is merit, for example, to the idea of sending wellness professionals to do wellness checks instead of sending beefy police with guns and tasers and sunglasses and black boots and all.