I will be happy to answer this question once it is re-stated without
the scare-quotes. I do not consider them innocent. They are
demeaning and serve a suppressive function.
The use of the scare quotes is something Jerry picked up from the
simultaneists themselves. By refusing to acknowledge their
commonality as simultaneists, the simultaneists are refusing to
acknowledge that their paradigm is ONE PARTICULAR paradigm, not
The Way Things Are. They are therefore denying our legitimacy.
It is just like people of European heritage in the US thinking
something is funny or strange about the term European-American and
refusing to use it. They don't think of themselves that way. They
think of themselves as just "Americans" (read: The Real Legitimate
Americans), while everyone else is "black Americans,"
"Hispanic-Americans," "Asian-Americans," etc., i.e., flawed deviants
to which a qualifier needs to be attached.
(If anyone accuses me of insinuating that they are racists, this
time I'll leave the list.)
Andrew Kliman