me-tooism

plural me-tooisms · alternative metooism · alternative me-too-ism · alternative me tooism · alternative me too-ism

1. countablederogatoryinformaluncountablegovernmentThe act of following or taking on a policy of another (especially competing) person or political party.First known use late 19th c.

   Next week's programme is one of peculiar interest. The following questions are announced for debate: The origin of "Me-tooism" in politics and "Too-tooism" in æsthetics, with reference to the study of modern history.

   1883 August 23, Harold Van Santvoord, “Philosophy at Pompoonik”, in Life, volume II, number 34, New York, N.Y.: Published at the Life Office, […], →OCLC, page 96, column 1

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   Senator [Arthur] Vandenberg answered critics who say the bipartisan foreign policy has produced mere Republican “me tooism” with the assertion that unity is vital if any policy is to get results. He declared: “If that's ‘me tooism’, then any unity is me tooism.”

   1949 December 21, “Vandenberg Backs Continued Europe Aid, on Reduced Basis”, in Department of State Wireless Bulletin, number 299, [Washington, D.C.]: International Press and Publications Division, Office of International Information, Department of State, →OCLC, page 11

   For some elections past the Republican party has appeared to be acting on the fatuous theory that it could lure the labor leaders away from their Democratic alliance. Of all the "metooisms" that the Republicans have committed this one was the most transparent and the least effective.

   1955, George S. Benson, NERBA, volume 34, part 5, Boston, Mass.: New England Road Builders Association, →OCLC, page 12-2, column 2

   I believe [Dean] Rusk has abdicated. Rusk merely follows [Robert] McNamara. It is McNamara who is calling the shots in South Vietnam. [...] The South Vietnamese program is McNamara's program. I am not interested in Rusk's "me-too-isms" in regard to it.

   1964 April 9, Wayne Morse, “McNamara’s War in Vietnam”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 88th Congress, Second Session (United States Senate), volume 110, part 6, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7431, column 1

   Having [Richard] Nixon woo the hard-shell Republicans and ardent anti-Communists and pleasing [Robert Alphonso] Taft and [Joseph] McCarthy, however useful for expunging "me-tooism" from the campaign, constantly threatened to jeopardize the greatest potential source of [Dwight David] Eisenhower's political strength: that fickle, uncommitted, apolitical, independent vote.

   1972, Herbert S. Parmet, “Holding the Center”, in Eisenhower & the American Crusades (American Presidents Series), New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Transaction Publishers, published 1999, →ISBN, page 134

   For some time there has ceased to be any significant difference between the Democrats and the Republicans; they are best thought of as two branches of the same party. [...] The depoliticization of most of the American intelligensia merely reflects the conformism and convergence—the "me-tooism"—of political life in general.

   2001, Susan Sontag, “A Few Weeks After”, in Paolo Dilonardo, Anne Jump, editors, At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 2007, →ISBN, page 116

2. broadlycountablederogatoryinformaluncountableThe tendency to do or say the same as somebody else; the tendency to follow something that is trendy.

   [T]he solutions were almost exclusively the product of half-understood ‘me-too-isms’ based upon what they felt the competition were doing.

   1995, Victor Newman, “Generate Solutions”, in Made-to-measure Problem-solving, paperback edition, Aldershot, Hampshire; Brookfield, Vt.: Gower Publishing, published 1997, →ISBN, part III (The Problem-solving Process), page 83

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   In socialist societies, there is a ‘me tooism’, a complex which startles the sensitive observer. Here despite social controls, the cities rise like jungles, the traffic jams are consciously sought, and so are the wasteful standards. No genuine alternative is posed. The choice before man remains what it has always been—conform or perish.

   1972, Romesh Thapar, “A Disciplining Philosophy of Living”, in Anil Bordia, J[ames] R[obbins] Kidd, J[ames] A. Draper, editors, Adult Education in India: A Book of Readings, Bombay, Maharashtra: Nachiketa Publications, published 1973, →OCLC, section III, page 104

   One of the things that characterizes the snack food industry in the United States is the sense of “metooism” that generally pervades the product mix. Though there might be slight variations in flavors, there is a sameness in virtually every snack company's line, starting with potato chips and ending with popped pork rinds.

   1981, Chipper Snacker: International Voice of the Potato Chip and Snack Industry, volume 38, Hanover, Pa.: Potato Chip/Snack Food Association, →OCLC, page 67, column 1

   Workers may be so concerned with reading the boss's mind and supporting group consensus that ideas become conservative and timid. The Japanese work hard in general, of course, but the same group atmosphere which encourages this type of enthusiasm can also encourage conformity; a form of "me tooism" develops.

   1986, Jon P. Alston, “The Individual and the Work Group in Japan”, in The American Samurai: Blending American and Japanese Managerial Practices (De Gruyter Studies in Organization; 6), Berlin; New York, N.Y.: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, section 5.2 (Group Consensus Encourages Trust), page 155

   But I would like to say to you that, while the 1970’s were very much the age of the me-too-ism, of I’ve got mine, of all of the conflicts in this country, and while the 1980’s are very much an era of great change in our society, with new technologies and new opportunities, the 1990’s will be the era of creativity.

   1988 September 27, W. Mitchell (witness), Americans with Disabilities Act of 1988: Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Handicapped of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United States Senate, and the Subcommittee on Select Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session, on S. 2345 to Establish a Clear and Comprehensive Prohibition of Discrimination on the Basis of Handicap […] (Serial No. 104), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, published 1989, →OCLC, page 83

   [S]uch gestures smack of the politics of ‘me-tooism’; don’t leave me (i.e., women) out. While it is absolutely right that feminist concerns should not be disregarded, begging for space at the pluralist table misrepresents the value of feminist thought in addressing the central concerns of the workshop.

   1991, Jean E[lizabeth] Howard, “Towards a Postmodern, Politically Committed, Historical Practice”, in Francis Barker, Peter Hulme, Margaret Iversen, editors, Uses of History: Marxism, Postmodernism and the Renaissance (Literature, Politics, Theory), Manchester; New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 101

   Synonyms: bandwagonism