Political correctness, at its best (not exactly a high point) is a feeling in the country that bigotry should be wrong and looked down upon. Not outlawed, but considered unacceptable to the majority of the country. That I and I believe a consensus of Americans believe in. Political correctness, at its worse, (which is as high as Mount Everest) is this feeling that we should not only say things that may offend people that Progressives support, but that we shouldn't be allowed to say that and there should be legal or civil sanctions that should come down upon people who offend people that Progressives support. "But if you say offensive things about people that Progressives oppose, like right-wingers, well thats just free speech. And what's the problem, because all they are saying is the truth." So its not just political correctness that can be a problem, but a double standard that can come with political correctness that can also be a problem as well.
To put it bluntly, Freedom of Speech protects the assholes as much as the enlightened. Especially when the enlightened says things about people that Progressives (and I'm being nice with the word Progressives) believe deserve special protection and are part of some vulnerable class of people that government should give special treatment to. There's nothing bigoted about the truth and I would argue nothing offensive either. The Christian-Right and Muslim-Right have one big nasty thing in common. They tend to see women and homosexuals as second-class citizens. In the women's case, people who are only on Earth to serve their men and raise their kids. In the homosexual case, people who should be in mental institutions, if not jails and in the Islamist case, people who don't even deserve to live. You can still be put to death in some parts of the Middle East simply for being gay.
So when a Liberal or Conservative or Libertarian, says that the Christian-Right and Islamists view women and gays as second-class citizens, who are they offending and where is the bigotry? If you just say that about Christian-Conservatives, you'll be viewed as a hero with the New-Left in America. And as someone with the guts to speak the truth. But if you say the same thing about Islamists, even though all you're doing is speaking the truth, you'll be viewed as a bigot. The politically correct thing should always be the truth. And if someone is wrong, or ignorant, or even hateful, they'll be held accountable by everyone else. They won't be forced to shut up and government wont' take their platform away from them. But public opinion will sanction them and the asshole will lose supporters and perhaps their job. But they won't be thrown in jail simply for speaking their mind. That is not how a liberal free society works.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All relevant comments about the posts you are commenting on are welcome but spam and personal comments are not.