Archive: Opinions

Political correctness is a tyranny enforced by language nazis who have squeezed most of the humor out of comedy by claiming that jokes about people display intolerance and stereotypes.  It has undermined the very purpose of language, which is supposed to be to enable people to communicate effectively, by trying to be so darn nice to everybody that descriptive words aren't allowed and many words aren't allowed to mean what they actually mean.  This tyranny has become so oppressive that it shouldn't be such a surprise that the United States is currently exhibiting a backlash that some candidates like Donald Trump has capitalized upon.  But intolerance, like political correctness, is also a tyranny.

Both are harmful to society and dangerous to individuals.  It is easy to see how intolerance is harmful.  Treating someone differently simply because they are different is un-American, although many Americans don't see it that way until it leads to unjustified violence.  Even then some Americans don't see it that way, which, I suppose, is why we have an intolerance problem in the first place.  Political correctness is more insidious.  It so distorts the language that words no longer have meaning, making it impossible to understand people who are different from us.

Pop culture, to be fair, is as guilty as political correctness in that sense.  Michael Jackson famously sang "I'm bad" when he meant good.  Musicians today say someone is ridiculous when that someone is amazing.  Yes means no, no means yes.  You can see how that could be confusing in a serious incident such as rape.  Words need to mean something or people don't know what you are talking about.

Political correctness came about as a backlash to intolerance, so it is not surprising that intolerance should emerge as a backlash to political correctness.  This speaks to the real problem in America, and in the wider world, that people tolerate and relate to extremes.  All the national elections in recent memory illustrate this, with Republicans who cater to the extreme right doing better in the primaries, and Democrats who lean to the extreme left also doing well.  The problem then is the general election -- most people have the middle view, but they find themselves with two candidates who are too extreme to be acceptable.  Politics shouldn't be like sports with rah-rah fans cheering each side.  It should be about ideas that make everyone's life better.

I can't think of a single candidate at this stage of the election that I think will substantially make our lives better.  The problem with political correctness is demonstrated by the current administration that has arguably been unsuccessful in world politics by trying to be too nice, often to the wrong people.  And seriously, can you imagine Trump in a room with Vladimir Putin?  Think about what that discussion would sound like.  More importantly, think about what the outcome of that discussion would be.

When my wife sees something outrageous, serious or frivolous (Miley Cyrus comes to mind), she likes to say 'civilization is crumbling'.  The battle in America between political correctness and intolerance has polarized Americans to such extremes that our society and everything that America is supposed to stand for -- all men being created equal, America the land of the free -- is in real danger.  America won't be America any more.  If we all don't do something about it soon -- moving toward each other, not away --civilization will crumble.

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