Browsing: Government by Palliatives

With a root in palliatus, a Latin word, palliative is anything meant to palliate, i.e., relieve, decrease, ease, assuage, soothe, help, etc., a situation. That situation could be a disease, dispute, deprivation or anything that discomfits. While hospitals palliate diseases by administering medicinal palliatives, in our case, the word has taken a political meaning. Politicians now dole out whatever they feel the people want as a palliative, in most cases against poverty.