Opinion Forum

Taking a Stand Against Political Correctness

December 12th, 2010

Political correctness is loosely defined as “avoidance of expressions or actions that can be perceived to exclude or marginalize or insult people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.”

In other words, millions of Americans have willingly allowed themselves to be placed in the losing position of continually being forced to prove a negative. “I’m not a racist,” “I’m not homophobic,” “I’m not a greedy capitalist”…ad nauseum.

Political correctness is a hugely successful campaign that has effectively altered traditional standards of behavior in order to advance the political agenda of mostly left-leaning groups. From gay rights, to feminism to open borders, PC rules dictate that you conform with the prevailing group-think at the risk of social ostracism.

The amazing thing about PC is that no-one has yet fought back against the complete idiocy and transparent manipulation that is its very essence.

Until now.

I have decided to quit enabling useful idiots by continuing to mouth the politically correct group thoughts that threaten to snuff out opposing opinions under the guise of tolerance and compassion. I never voted for these idiotic rules. I never agreed to them. And I refuse to abide by them.

I will not let others dictate manners to me. I was brought up to be respectful of others and to live by the Golden Rule. In other words, I have good manners. So why should I allow others to impose their “manners” on me? Especially when their “manners” only apply to favored groups.

Conservative women can be called whores, and the Virgin Mary can be covered in dung and called art, but God forbid anyone acknowledge that many blacks have willingly let themselves be enslaved to the government entitlement system. Or that some people will always be poor because they are just plain stupid and lazy — and subsidizing them with my tax dollars only encourages more stupid and lazy behavior. The majority of them have chosen to rely on others for their existence — but that doesn’t mean I must grant them “oppressed” status.

Acquiescing to political correctness only serves to enable it. And I will no longer enable arbitrary rules whose main goals serve only to contradict traditional values and undermine American and individual exceptionalism.

Here are a few basic facts. America is the greatest country the world has ever known. We have equality of opportunity, not outcome. Respect must be earned, not granted, and promoting self-esteem is just a subtle message that it’s OK and even desirable to be selfish.

Most politically correct “elites” who purport to speak for you have been educated way beyond their intelligence. Life isn’t fair and everyone is not equal. If any of your “rights” are paid for by others, they not rights, they are entitlements. And redefining words to make them politically correct does not change the underlying reality. A rose is a rose and a jerk is a jerk.

Shakespeare once said, “There is no right or wrong, only the definition that makes it so.” I have decided that I will no longer allow politically correct idiots with a vested agenda to define my words for me. I am not willing to adopt someone else’s definition of right and wrong at the expense of my own.

With a black man in the White House, I have also decided that I will no longer lower my voice when discussing race. And since I graduated from high school long ago, I’ve decided that I will never refer to words by their first letter. Those that refer to “the n word” or “the p word” are people who have willingly allowed others to set the rules. They are sheep who have acquiesced to group-think in a vain attempt to appear “with-it.”

From now on, I will call a lie a lie, not a misstatement. Just because many people lie does not make it right. And I will not allow my opinions to be called judgments. I will not allow debate to be redefined as argument, and I most certainly will not have anyone tell me that my point of view is invalid unless they can prove it.

Instead, I will do as Thomas Sowell does when faced with politically correct statements made by self-righteous busy bodies. I will ask myself these four questions that will determine the validity of any statement:

1. At what cost?

2. Compared to what?

3. According to whom?

4. What hard evidence do you have?

By Sowell’s standard, pretty much every politically correct statement and/or idea doesn’t pass this simple test. All the main shibboleths of the left are shown to be lacking in both substance and foundation if put to this test. But political correctness demands that you not question crucial assumptions for fear of being branded stupid. How stupid is that?

If you’re content to allow others to define you, by all means, keep playing by the politically correct rules. If you’re OK with allowing others to manipulate your sentiments to achieve their own agendas, feel free.

If, however, you value individual freedom and common sense over group-think, maybe it’s time you joined me in starting to fight back against all this PC nonsense. It’s easy. Just say no.

(This article was also posted at Right Bias.)

Articles written by Nancy Morgan
Tags: elites, freedom, group-think, liberal, opinion, PC, politically correct, speech
Categories: Politics | Comments (17) | Home

17 Responses to “Taking a Stand Against Political Correctness”

Tom Carter | December 13th, 2010 at 6:35 am

I get frustrated by political correctness,too. That’s especially true when I get that PC-violation stare from someone, and I’m not sure what I said that was wrong.

On the other hand, some words are so offensive that I don’t use them and don’t like to hear others use them. It’s not that I don’t want people to have the right to say whatever they want, but I reserve the right not to listen. I guess what it comes down to is civil behavior in society, which is based on respecting the sensitivities of others. Along those lines, there are some words that just don’t get through the editing filter for publication on Opinion Forum. There’s a list of them in the software, and whenever they’re used in a comment, the comment is held for moderation, and the offending word usually gets replaced by ***. Fact is, it’s been my experience that the more *** are required in a comment, the more likely the comment is to be not worth very much anyway.

I had to look up the “p word”. Here’s a list of “x-words” for those who may be interested.

There was an incident in Washington, D.C. in 1999 which still stands as the perfect example of political correctness and ignorance combining to produce a farce. David Howard, head of the D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word “niggardly” in conversation with two other city employees. He was talking about taking a miserly approach to the administration of city funds. However, Howard, who was white, was accused of using the “n word” or something like it and was hounded into resigning. He was later re-hired, but not in a job where he would be dealing with constituents. I used to use that word once in a while, too, but not since then.

Brian | December 14th, 2010 at 10:56 am

Not only that, he was made to apologize for using a word whose definition these cretins were ignorant of. I don’t have as much patience as Howard. I would have told them to f-word themselves and quit if they expected an apology for their blinding, appalling ignorance. I literally got nauseous when I saw that play out.

Brianna | December 15th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

Nancy, you shouldn’t listen to that evil Sowell guy. He’s just a racist bigot… oh, wait…. 🙂

P.S. Maybe YOU aren’t a greedy capitalist.

Clarissa | December 17th, 2010 at 9:10 am

“Or that some people will always be poor because they are just plain stupid and lazy — and subsidizing them with my tax dollars only encourages more stupid and lazy behavior.”

-What makes you think that anybody penalizes this point of view? As a progressive, I am convinced that this statement is absolutely true and have been vocally expressing it forever. Never had any problems as a result.

“America is the greatest country the world has ever known.”

-Let’s apply your own test to this statement: 1. At what cost?

2. Compared to what?

3. According to whom?

4. What hard evidence do you have?

Something tells me, though, that there will be no concrete answers to this.

Brianna Aubin | December 18th, 2010 at 12:11 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuv0K8H8ILM

Nancy Morgan | December 18th, 2010 at 5:30 am

Clarissa,
In answer to your question:

At what cost? At the cost on millions of American patriots who died defending our liberty

Compared to what? Compared to every other country in the world

According to whom: According to the 50% of the country that hasn’t been fooled by the empty words and promises of progressives continually seeking utopia – at our cost

What hard evidence do you have? How about the millions that die trying to become citizens – or we can just rely on global rankings on freedom. Of course, this last question is in doubt – as Obama and friends have severely undermined our country. But I expect the damage can be repaired, thanks to the patriotism and resilience of most Americans (the ones you don’t see on TV)

Tom Carter | December 18th, 2010 at 9:25 am

Brianna, that’s a great video. Thanks for the link. There’s no arguing with the facts presented, but it’s sad that it has to be presented from a self-consciously conservative point of view. Every American, regardless of his or her political persuasion, should be able to look at the facts and draw the same conclusions. Instead, we’ve divided into three camps, more or less. Liberals focus on and heavily emphasize the faults of America, and of course there are some. With the huge megaphone advantages they have in the media and entertainment, one would think the whole country stinks, and they love to say just that over and over again. Conservatives, on the other hand, ignore the faults and sometimes overstate the exceptional nature of the country, essentially taking a “my country, right or wrong” approach. Moderates try to straddle the fence between the other two camps and often end up just confusing themselves and being criticized by the left and the right as having no fixed convictions.

One thing that is certain: The essential nature of America isn’t set it concrete. Americans going back two centuries before us made it the way it is, creating the conditions that have made everything possible. It would be possible in much less time to throw it all away by purposely diminishing our strengths and intentionally promoting policies and solutions that will have the inevitable effect of seriously eroding our unique nature. Let’s not do that.

Clarissa | December 19th, 2010 at 10:12 pm

Nancy: leaving aside empty verbiage, let’s turn to numbers:

Satisfaction with Life Index puts the US in the 23rd place. This index is based on how citizens themselves measure their own happiness. If you want to contradict it, you’ve got to contradict all the Americans who voted this way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_with_Life_Index

According to the human development index, the US is not in the first place either. In 2010, it occupied the 4th place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

In terms of Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, “which factors in inequalities in the three basic dimensions of human development (income, life expectancy, and education)” the US is in the 12th place.

According to the Democracy Index, the US is in the 17th place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

Once again, are you in possession of any actual statistical data that would support your contentions and refute all the data I have provided here?

Nancy Morgan | December 20th, 2010 at 4:44 am

Clarissa,
I’m very impressed that you have marshalled ‘facts’ to back up your assertions. Most on the left just tar the messenger.
I guess it all depends on which sources are most credible. I’ll rely on Freedom House survey of economic freedom, my own eyes, and 225 years of recorded history over Wikipedia..
Here’s a statement I make, based on feelings – You are a recent graduate of government schools. That’s the only explanation I can figure as to why you are so determined to undermine your own country. Yes, I profile…

Clarissa | December 20th, 2010 at 5:13 am

Nancy: I’m confused… Which is “my own country” that I “undermine” according to you? I was born in Ukraine, and today I’m a citizen of Canada. Which one of those countries did I “undermine”? And which “government school” did I graduate from? Yale? Since when is that a government school?

You are very dismissive of the facts I provide. Please, feel free to provide any facts of your own. If you have access to more credible sources, I’d love to hear about them. But, once again, I have no use for emotions, just statistics, please.

Brian | December 20th, 2010 at 5:38 am

Clarissa, a “satisfaction with life” index? Really? Could you get any more subjective?

You’re going to cite the Human Development Index? Norway and New Zealand both have total populations smaller than what we have within 60 miles of downtown Houston, smaller than the metro areas of probably our 10 largest cities. And Australia has the same population as Texas. Demographically, they all have small, relatively homogeneous populations. Yet more subjectivity.

From your cite at wikipedia on the “democracy index”:

As described in the report, the democracy index is a kind of weighted average based on the answers of 60 questions, each one with either two or three permitted alternative answers. Most answers are “experts’ assessments”; the report does not indicate what kinds of experts, nor their number, nor whether the experts are employees of the Economist Intelligence Unit or e.g. independent scholars, nor the nationalities of the experts.

Again, this can hardly be considered objective. I thought you might actually have something concrete to back up your assertions.

One has to wonder, though, if things are so horrible in the United States, perhaps when you left Russia, you shouldn’t have come here. You are certainly free to leave any time you like. But, like so many other people, you’ve decided to vote with your feet and come here. How many other countries around the world have people literally dying to get here?

I’m old enough to remember the Vietnamese “boat people,” crossing the entirety of the Pacific Ocean with only the barest of hope that they were going to survive that 5000 mile trip in leaky boats to end up in the United States. Maybe if they had had access to teh “Satisfaction with Life” index, they’d have cut their trip short and stopped in new Zealand or Australia.

You’ll also observe that Mexicans risk death to come to the United States, but they don’t risk anything at all to go to Guatemala.

The examples of people risking EVERYTHING to come here are far too numerous to dismiss as anecdotal. Is there a better measure of who’s “#1” than the numbers of people wanting to come here versus any other place?

Tom Carter | December 20th, 2010 at 6:06 am

Clarissa, I don’t quite understand why you’re so intent on establishing that the U.S. is a mediocre country. You’re in the U.S. because of the opportunities it offered you for education and professional advancement, and, presumably, because you value the freedom it offers. And you, of all people, have direct knowledge of how bad things can be when those freedoms and opportunities are lacking.

Measures of the type you cited, often based on UN surveys or work by other groups that have a low view of anything American, are generally flawed in a number of ways. You’ll find some of them in one of your own references, HDI criticisms. To state a few others, it’s often an apples-and-oranges comparison between the U.S. and much smaller, much less complex, and much more homogenous countries; the outcome of such surveys frequently depend on the politics of those who conduct them; and the areas addressed in the surveys are subjective at best. For the most part, these things are exercises in futility.

Beyond all that, look at the countries ranked above the U.S. in all your references. Don’t some of them strike you as a bit curious? I’ve lived in some of these countries and studied many of the others, and I just don’t see it.

As I’ve said many times before, I realize that the U.S. is not perfect. But having lived in many other countries and having studied international affairs, both comparatively and specifically, for many years, I’ll stay with the U.S. Warts and all, it’s the best country I know of.

Clarissa | December 20th, 2010 at 1:22 pm

Tom, I’m not intent on establishing anything. I just quote evidence that is freely available to everybody. As you must realize, I wasn’t the person who conducted these studies.

I don’t value emotional statements that are unsupported by factual evidence very much.

“You’ll also observe that Mexicans risk death to come to the United States, but they don’t risk anything at all to go to Guatemala.”

-I’m sure they would have loved to go to Norway, but it’s kind of far geographically, so this isn’t evidence of anything.

“One has to wonder, though, if things are so horrible in the United States, perhaps when you left Russia, you shouldn’t have come here.”

-I never lived in Russia, so I couldn’t come anywhere from there. When I left my country (which is Ukraine), I didn’t come here but to a completely different country. Also, please, show me where I said that “things are so horrible in the United States.” All I’m saying is that, emotions aside, there are several countries in the world where the standard of living is higher than in the US. I don’t understand why this simple, well-known fact isn’t seen by so many people as a well-intentioned suggestion to improve things that are lacking here but as a statement that “things are so horrible.”

“The examples of people risking EVERYTHING to come here are far too numerous to dismiss as anecdotal. Is there a better measure of who’s “#1″ than the numbers of people wanting to come here versus any other place?”

-Of course, this is no evidence of anything. BEFORE people arrive, they have no knowledge of how things actually are in the country. How can anybody rely on the opinions of those with no first-hand knowledge of the country? It seems like you are suggesting that the only people who think that “this is the #1 country in the world” are the ones who’ve never seen it. What sense does it make to rely on their opinions when those opinions have no factual basis whatsoever??

Among the people I know in the Russian-speaking immigrant community, there is not a single person who doesn’t feel extremely unhappy and disappointed with their decision to emigrate. Not a single one.

Clarissa | December 20th, 2010 at 1:27 pm

“The U.S. has one of the highest poverty rates among developed countries, about 22% of our population live in poverty compared with, say, Finland and Denmark whose poverty rates are under 3%. Further, about half of the 40 million students in public elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. qualify for free or reduced lunches. America has, by far, the greatest income inequity among developed countries as well. It also has the greatest demographic diversity, with more than 25% of public school students who speak English as a second language. Plus, we have among the highest rates of low-birth weight and among the worst health care among developed countries”

-This is a quote from Dr. Jim Taylor’s most recent post that appeared on this very blog. So I don’t understand why people get so incensed when I say the exact same thing.

Tom Carter | December 20th, 2010 at 2:19 pm

Clarissa, you might also have included some of the nuance in Jim’s article regarding the size of the U.S., the complexity, and the concentration of low statistical findings among distinct minorities of the population. The reality of conditions among those minorities are troublesome and deserve significant attention, but the fact is inescapable that they also skew the results of any top-level statistical analysis.

I don’t run around wrapped in red, white, and blue waving a single digit in the air screaming, “We’re number 1!” At the same time, I’m weary of the incessant criticism of a small number of people in places like the academy and Hollywood, aided by the megaphone of a like-minded media.

As a Canadian citizen, how would you feel on hearing native leftists and immigrants who had been welcomed in Canada and given all the advantages of that great society constantly denigrating it? Canada and the U.S. both have their problems, of course, and we all know it. We work to try to resolve those problems, but the reality is that large, complex nations will never be without their faults. The level and volume of criticism doesn’t solve anything, and it gets pretty tiresome.

steve | March 18th, 2011 at 4:40 am

I enjoyed reading this thread reading it from a safe distance, away from the homeland. I have refugeed out of the US of A, finding a civil and respectful society to live in without the militarism, the hostility and high decibel debate. I am glad that I am now a permanent resident of the Peoples Republic of China, a place where in my experience, education is valued and government is trusted. I like not having to stand in lines at the supermarket, efficent and polite service at government institutions, and a growing economy producing jobs and visable improvements in everyday living. It is not heaven,but for me a middle class life is realistic and attainable here, a life I could only dream about in the USA. I do not have to worry about political correctness or monitor what I say like I do when I go back to the states, for fear of being bashed or verbally abused.

Tom Carter | March 18th, 2011 at 6:45 am

Steve, I’ve never lived in or even visited the PRC, although I’d like to. However, I’ve lived in many other countries, some of them primitive and backward. In each country — from the best to the worst — I’ve known American expatriates who sometimes expressed opinions similar to yours. In most cases, they suffered from a lack of information and understanding about both their own country (the U.S.) and the country they were living in, exacerbated by an odd kind of know-nothing bias. But then, I don’t know you, so maybe you’re different….