Political Correctness is Destroying America
by Joe Newby at
Examiner.com
Politcal correctness - the idea of subsituting certain words or
thoughts with others deemed to be "acceptable" - is destroying America.
The phrase has been in existence for many years. A
Wikipedia
entry notes an early usage of the term in the 18th Century, and
proponents of liberal thought used it in the 1970's. The idea has been
around at least since World War 1, and one
website attributes the phrase to Leon Trotsky. In an address to the AIA in 2000,
Bill Lind said it originated in a comic strip. We laugh at the idea of
political correctness, but as Lind points out, it is deadly serious. He calls it the:
...great disease of our century, the disease that has
left tens of millions of people dead in Europe, in Russia, in China,
indeed around the world. It is the disease of ideology. PC is not funny.
PC is deadly serious.
We have seen political correctness, or PC, rear its ugly head since the shootings in Tucson.
For example, one Member of Congress announced he would introduce
legislation banning the use of crosshair graphics in political ads, and a CNN talk show host
apologized after a guest used the term.
"We're trying to get away from using that kind of language," John King explained.
Others have actually suggested banning certain words from our
vocabulary, as though that in and of itself would prevent other acts of
violence.
Destruction of language was a central theme in George
Orwell's signature
novel 1984,
a book that should be required reading for anyone concerned about the
state of modern American politics, for in it one finds many parallels
between the fictitious tyrannical state of Oceania and modern
liberalism.
Remove words, and one removes thought; Remove thought, and one
removes freedom. In a conversation with the main character, Winston
Smith, one of the "creators" of Newspeak explained:
The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact
there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not
thinking -- not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness
If this sounds familiar, it should.
Consider the knee-jerk reaction many liberals have any time
Sarah Palin
speaks. Rather than apply critical thought to anything she says, they
react like Pavlov's dogs, snarling and sniping because that is what they
have been conditioned to do by their puppet masters.
Political correctness has extended its tentacles in other areas as well.
Consider the case of
Cody Alicea,
the California school boy ordered to remove an American flag from his
bike because Latino students might be offended, or the more recent case
of the Oklahoma school boy who was suspended from the first grade
because he made a "
gun gesture" with his hand.
Political correctness plays a huge role in any situation involving prayer, like the recent case in
Hawaii where the state Senate bowed to the ACLU and became the first state to ban prayer in that legislative body.
As Lind points out, political correctness has as its primary goal, the advancement of a cultural
Marxism. Lind explains:
...For the classical Marxist, it’s Marxist economics. For
the cultural Marxist, it’s deconstruction. Deconstruction essentially
takes any text, removes all meaning from it and re-inserts any meaning
desired. So we find, for example, that all of Shakespeare is about the
suppression of women, or the Bible is really about race and gender. All
of these texts simply become grist for the mill, which proves that “all
history is about which groups have power over which other groups.” So
the parallels are very evident between the classical Marxism that we’re
familiar with in the old Soviet Union and the cultural Marxism that we
see today as Political Correctness.
The result of political correctness can be seen throughout modern
American politics. Masses of people, hypnotized by the bumper-sticker
campaign of a charismatic individual, fully supported by a lapdog media,
elected one of the most liberal Presidents in American history.
Many cast their vote without thinking of the consequences, and the nation is now spiralling headfirst into socialism.
Anyone who disagrees with President Obama is instantly labeled a
racist or a bigot, no matter how sound their argument.
Political correctness also plays a huge role in the advancement of many liberal causes like the environment or gay rights.
A casual observer can see how language is often changed to pursue the
statist's goals, and those who disagree are instantly labeled "bigots",
"deniers", or "haters".
What was once "global warming" is now "climate change"; "gay marriage" is now "marriage equality", and so on.
Lind concludes his essay by writing:
...America today is in the throes of the greatest and
direst transformation in its history. We are becoming an ideological
state, a country with an official state ideology enforced by the power
of the state. In “hate crimes” we now have people serving jail sentences
for political thoughts. And the Congress is now moving to expand that
category ever further. Affirmative action is part of it. The terror
against anyone who dissents from Political Correctness on campus is part
of it. It’s exactly what we have seen happen in Russia, in Germany, in
Italy, in China, and now it’s coming here. And we don’t recognize it
because we call it Political Correctness and laugh it off. My message
today is that it’s not funny, it’s here, it’s growing and it will
eventually destroy, as it seeks to destroy, everything that we have ever
defined as our freedom and our culture.
Political correctness is a disease that threatens the very fabric of our Republic.
Free speech and freedom of thought is the cure.
