[p00b]

This definitely plays well with an idea I've pontificated on for a long time, to the dismay/annoyance of my close friends and colleagues.

The thought is simply that the process of iconifying anything (words, people, companies) inherently decouples the item from the original idea behind it. This introduces a dangerous implication wherein the icon can then be re-appropriated in support of literally any idea, including the antithesis of the original idea this thing was supposed to represent.

Everything from "Disruptive Technology" to "Christian" to "ObamaCare" to "Terrorist" (feel free to replace the last with Witch, Homosexual, Communist, or an assortment of derogatory racial slurs, depending the era you're discussing) is subject to this sort of propagandizing via the iconifying process.

Scary stuff, and very important to notice and discuss now, before "Freedom of Speech" becomes simply another of the icons.