Statists Use PC to Undermine Liberty

Statists use PC to Undermine Liberty
By Tom Rhodes, 5/22/2012

What is Political correctness (PC)? According to Professor Jonathan I. Katz; "Political correctness is the narrowing of the range of acceptable opinions to those held by a small group that enforces it. It is an attempt, often successful, to coerce the majority to accept the opinions of the enforcing group by suppressing any contrary opinion and making independent thought unacceptable. The enforcing group may be afraid of the consequences of open discussion, or of making the facts known. It generally has a practical motivation: it wants something of value (money, jobs, special privileges) to which it has a weak claim. So it attempts to enforce its claim by ruling any disagreement from it outside the bounds of acceptable discourse. This is unnecessary when the claim is self-evidently strong, but may be the only means of getting the claim accepted when it is weak."

The late Charlton Heston put it more succinctly: "Political correctness is tyranny with manners." Over 20 years ago, before being totally overtaken with Political Correctness (PC), Newsweek recognized the fact that PC is totalitarian saying in its Dec. 24, 1990 edition, "PC is, strictly speaking, a totalitarian philosophy." 20 years later Newsweek is now an ironic parody of George Orwell's "Newspeak" as coined in his famous work, "1984." The walls of Oceania's "Ministry of Truth", headquarters for propaganda and revisionist history, are festooned with three "Newspeak" phrases: War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength. Today's PC press work on similar "Newspeak": Charity Is Entitlement, Envy Is Righteousness. Sin Is Love.

Let's talk about basic culture. Today's PC police want us to accept abject falsehoods as fact. The claim that all cultures are equal and that we must embrace diversity simply flies in the face of reality. Western culture based on representative government and liberty has provided most of the worlds progress, food, medicine, technology and the highest quality of life for more people; why is a culture that is ignorant openly oppressive, misogynistic, a culture where punishment for paltry offenses is the amputation of limbs and death is mandated for differing opinions on historic leaders, worthy of equal respect, value, or even tolerated by Western culture?

Political correctness works by squelching any opinion or idea that doesn't meet the goals of the enforcers of PC beliefs. As an example let's use the absurd policy that disregards common sense, consistently depresses wages and hurts our culture; unlimited immigration. Open discussion and debate would not help the promotion of unlimited open borders. Because parts of honest and open discussions may offend minority immigrants, and political correctness mandates nobody other than white males, should be offended, then open and honest discussions shouldn't happen. Those who would still openly and honestly discuss the effects of our unsecured borders are then treated with derogatory and vile labels, such as racist. Once this label is applied, statists use peer pressure both publicly and professionally on those opposed to unlimited open borders threatening promotions and jobs of those who refuse to toe the line. It's not PC to call people who break the law and criminally enter the US, illegal aliens.

Imagine you purchase a set of tools from your neighbor at a garage sale, and the next week the police come and inform you that what you purchased was stolen. Because you did nothing illegal are you entitled to keep the tools? Of course not, they are the property of their rightful owner and your only redress is to attempt to get your money back. This same concept applies to illegal immigrants. The big worry is for children who were brought here by their criminal parents. Just because those children committed no crime does not grant them the right to enjoy the benefits of their parents illegal activity. They do not have the right to remain in the US just because they didn't choose to come here, anymore than possessing stolen property gives somebody the right to keep it.

To rationalize something is to devise self-satisfying but false or inconsistent reasons for one's behavior, especially as an unconscious defense mechanism through which irrational acts or feelings are made to appear rational. The PC police have gone so far as to redefine what justice means to rationalize immoral behavior and policy. Terminologies such as "social justice" or "economic justice" are euphemisms for appropriation by both threat and use of force, of what justly belongs to another. "Social justice" and "economic justice" are misnomers to obfuscate injustice. In order to validate unequal treatment under the law, and rationalize the acceptance of selective racism the PC police have used and defend the term, "affirmative action." By using this term the PC police say that if a person has the right skin color they may be "entitled" to a job over a more qualified applicant. This is the definition of the injustice called racial discrimination. Political correctness rationalizes acts of racism as "social justice."

The statist's success of PC has changed the way we are allowed to discuss and treat charity. Charity is generally defined as generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless, or as something freely given to a person or persons in need. In the past the poor and disadvantaged were the grateful recipients of charity. Now because of PC rather than being thankful of the generosity by individuals, churches and other groups, organizations, today the poor and disadvantaged feel "entitled" to the labor and property of others. The very idea that charity, be it in the form of a government "safety-net" or private-sector origin is something which those who receive it "entitled" is a bizarre presupposition and totally dissonant thought to rationale-thinking persons. The result of "entitlements" rather than charity is that the recipients are now ungrateful. Why should somebody be grateful for receiving what they are entitled? This perversion of "charity" to "entitlement" has been used to justify forcing people to fund charity through taxation. What is lost is the honor, culture, respect, and belief that is associated with earning something, Of course earning is a concept lost on most cultures and languages, many don't even have a unique word to address the concept of earning and equate earning with winning, but then, pointing that out is not PC. We have also suppressed the moral obligation to take responsibility and be charitable to those in need. Why donate to charity when you already have through onerous taxes. "Entitlements" are the tool of Scrooge not a responsible and generous society. It was Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," who said that his taxes supported institutions for the poor so he could ignore them.

The most PC of terms is "tolerance." Statists now expect and demand that everybody reject the moral norms of civilized societies for thousands of years and not only show "tolerance" but celebrate sexual immorality and deviancy. Minimally everybody is expected to remain silent and not utter a word of disapproval of what is a immoral, decadent, and demonstrably self-destructive behavior. The irony is seen in the total "intolerance" of homosexual activists who condemn, ridicule, and attacks all those who holds traditional views of what is moral and just.

The entire idea of political correctness PC is a battering on the freedom of the thought. PC operates on raw intimidation. In our PC culture, if the wrong people use the wrong word they are deemed ignorant, insensitive, intolerant, bigoted or hateful. The logical extension is that those who even think in a non-PC way are the same. The scorning, mocking, and visceral attacks by the PC are made to intimidate people from saying or standing up for what they really believe. The very core of PC is the unjust, immoral intimidation to make people think and speak in a certain way. It is statist mind control.

We are now in dangerous and foolish territory. Trying to placate the emotions of others by restricting speech and tolerating unjust and unequal treatment of everybody so that nobody is offended and their self-esteem is preserved is a prescription for losing our most basic rights. The vast majority of people lack the intellectual aptitude or emotional development to hear much less rationally discuss differing political opinions without taking personal umbrage. If we accept political correctness... accept communions only so long as nobody is offended... accept as legitimate peoples "comfort" with words, ideas, and beliefs as more important than open expression and debate... then we stifle, restrict, limit, and denigrate legitimate free speech.

Political correctness is sinister nature. PC goes beyond stifling legitimate opinions in the interest of indulging certain groups. PC furthers one opinion and belief at the expense of all other ideas. PC is a weapon to achieve both political and intellectual orthodoxy by silencing opposition. The head of what is arguably our countries most prestigious school, Harvard, was forced to resign for merely stating a PC heresy that there may be a scientific and natural basis for the variation in male/female IQ distribution. The PC police were successful in both removing Larry Summers, and silencing any who would dare express an idea contrary to accepted feminist dogma that all unequal outcomes between men and women are the result of discrimination by the white male hetero-patriarchy.

Truth, facts, and rational thinking are not allowed in the PC world, but propaganda if supporting the current PC police is allowed. In "documenting" Global Warming, Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth" is propaganda, not science. This is not just a biased claim but a legal ruling. A judge in the British High Court, accredited that there were at least NINE areas in his movie where the truth wasn't being told. At the time the politically correct British government was forcing the exposure of this propaganda to school children, and treating it as fact. The High Court classified "An Inconvenient Truth" as propaganda not fact, and ruled that it could only be shown in schools if the teacher pointed out all NINE of the falsehoods presented in Al Gore's movie. Those who would point out the NINE falsehoods in Al Gore's movie, are labeled "deniers" and vilified even though the facts and even legal findings make it clear that the movie its conclusion and recommendations are based on lies.

Thomas Jefferson said, "The legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions." PC promotes injustice and unequal treatment under the law. So called "hate" crimes are a prime example, which promotes some people and ideas are more worthy than others. This is prototypical Marxist ideology, PC guardians must protect the "oppressed;" racial minorities, homosexuals, women (when convenient), and non-Christians. The idea is that Christians and white men have been "privileged" for such an extended period of time that they no longer deserve equal protection under the law. This is a twisted concept of justice which grants special preference to some people based on race, gender, or geographic origins. Historically justice has been administered based on actual crimes committed, not the perceived or actual reason the crime was committed. What difference does it make the reason a mugger chose to beat and rob somebody, that victim is still assaulted and deprived of property through force. Whether convenience, boredom, sport, or hatred, criminals should be tried, judged, and punished based on their actions not thoughts. Since we as people cannot know the thoughts and desires of others, we can the only legitimately punish criminal acts not motives. It should not matter who the victim is, white, red, yellow, brown, or black; unknown or celebrity; homosexual or heterosexual; rich or poor; all people should be judged the same. This is both the traditional and biblical standard and the only morally acceptable rationale for justice. "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly" (Leviticus 19:14-16). Any other standard amounts to criminalizing mere thoughts.

Without being allowed to speak plainly, we deny the ability to think clearly. What rationale can be used to deny the freedom of expression? Under the social dementia that is political correctness there is no place to refute, only the empty jingoism of people motivated by selfishness unrestrained by any sense of moral turpitude. The purveyors of PC nonsense don't comprehend or realize the repercussions of what they say, nor comprehend why espouse PC sayings. The social decline we are seeing is augmented by political correctness, as our society degenerates PC is used to rationalize the less restrained and less rational behavior of the public.

Nobody has the right not to be offended. Nobody has the right not to feel uncomfortable. Nobody has the right to have their "self-esteem" treated as a right. Nobody has the right to suppress opinion, thoughts, and ideas they don't like. Political correctness elevates feelings above the law and provides a path to accept injustice, immorality, sloth, envy, greed as righteous principles. This is the most effective tool that statists have developed to undermine liberty, and attack the foundational idea that power and authority come from the consent of the people, not from some ruling elite.