Al Gore has not done us any favors in publicising that phrase. He's managed to turn both "inconvenience" and "truth" into dysphemisms, touting truth as a threat and inconvenience as deserved punishment. Making life convenient for other people is supposed to be a virtue. Courtesy demands it. Making life difficult for other people, also referred to as making "hard choices," is not a praiseworthy attitude. Though politicians who see themselves as secular ministers seem to think it is. At a minimum, inconvenience, they suggest, is supposed to "toughen people up," preparing them for the fray, letting them prove they can "take it."
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