George Carlin (deceased) is in my all-time top three of funny people, if not number one. For me the other two are Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor (before he burned his face off). Chris Rock is very funny, and there are others, men and women, who thankfully make me laugh, but this post isn’t about them.
As funny as George Carlin was, I almost wish he hadn’t taken on political correctness. Some people have taken his routines too seriously. Some on the right choose to hyperbolize it into an authoritarian attempt at mind control.
PC language, policies, or measures are no longer seen as push back against bad manners. Political Correctness has become an unfortunate political football in the liberal versus conservative culture wars.
Back in the sixties people on the left started using the term as a satirical put down of conservatives who sometimes seem to take political orthodoxy too seriously.
Today, you are much more likely to hear the term used as a pejorative put down of the left.
In turn, commentators on the left react by claiming that conservatives use the concept of political correctness to downplay and divert attention from discrimination and racism.
Political Correctness started as pushback against pejorative speech, but now there is push back to the push back, Reverse Political Correctness (RPC). Or should we just drop the word Reverse and call it what it is? It’s still just push back on pejorative speech, but now it’s being fired as cannon shot from the other side of the political barricades.
On a different platform, a contributor said. “Political Correctness is a shit idea. Change my mind.” Some other contributors agreed by adding windage to the echo chamber; but when asked for one concrete example, they struggled for a while to come up with one.
One said, “Biden’s speech months ago where he instructed vaccinated people to be angry with the unvaccinated.”
Overlooking the obvious reinterpretation of President Biden’s words, President Biden is entitled to his opinion that anti-vaxxers are knuckleheads, and WinLoseorDraw agrees. A mere statement of opinion, even by the president, is not an example of the dreaded phenomenon, Political Correctness. People in America still have the right to express opinion.
Another contributor said, “The Body Positivity movement. This has emerged because we are now disallowed to call people fat….the sin of it forces us to go along with these land whales…”
Nobody is preventing anyone from calling a fat person “fat”. If you want to be rude, do so! You won’t be very popular, but that will be the trade off you have chosen. Good manners are not being “forced” on anyone, or not much more than they always have been. Thanks Mom!
Another comment was: “Nowadays your uncle is your uncle on Thursday and on Saturday tells you that he’s your Aunt, and political correctness tells us we must nod, smile and go along with this delusion.”
As mentioned above, your reactions are still your own. The next time you encounter a transgender person, keep that in mind. Also, try to keep the phrase “live and let live” firmly at the forefront of your thinking.
One comment was: “The forums here are overrun with examples of political correctness. Take your pick: extreme media bias, teachers and professors having to pander to gender neutral terminology (thought police), support for the Marxist BLM that doesn’t really care about blacks, avoidance of anything critical of Islam, the requisite gay scene in all things Hollywood, etc etc.”
Responses to each point in turn were as follows:
You are free to choose your media outlet. There is bias available and favoring both sides of the aisle.
I am unaware of any educators being arrested for using the traditional pronouns.
Are there marxists involved in the BLM? Probably! But political correctness implies they are somehow influencing our thinking. Not happening as far as I know!
There is push back on criticism of the religion of Islam in general, but we are still united against extremist Islamic terrorism. If he was still alive, you could ask Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla.
There does seem to be a “requisite gay scene” on many entertainment venues and television commercials, or more of them at least. If it bothers you, Vote with your Remote! There are better ways to spend our time!
Proposed: Let’s make room for inclusive language that refuses to marginalize and exclude.
You wrote, “As funny as George Carlin was, I almost wish he hadn’t taken on political correctness.” It is a good sign that you included “almost.” And, “Some on the right choose to hyperbolize it into an authoritarian attempt at mind control.” If you think its hyperbole, then maybe you are beyond “almost.”
“Political Correctness has become an unfortunate political football in the liberal versus conservative culture wars.” In war the aggressor sets the rules. The aggressors call themselves “progressive,” a lifetime ago they appropriated the good word “liberal” and inverted its meaning. The expansionist faction of the political class is neither progressive nor liberal and language is a weapon. Conservatives are on defense and some dare to sass back.
“Are there Marxists involved in the BLM? Probably!” Yes. See “Black Lives Matter and Marxism | Socialist Alternative” and, “BLM co-founder describes herself as ‘trained Marxist’ (nypost.com).” I just looked at the BLM website and clicked on “about.” Here are their own words: “…whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy…”
Get ready for eradication.
“But political correctness implies they are somehow influencing our thinking. Not happening as far as I know!” Consider the National Football League, an elite popular entertainment business whose teams are owned mostly by whites. On the field and on some helmets are politically correct messages. I will list them:
“Black Lives Matter.” What about the 7500 blacks killed by other blacks annually? The white elite is a soft high value target.
“Advance Social Justice.” This means more redistribution of wealth and outcomes, very Marxist.
“Inspire Change.” Which change? Any? The conservative view is that there must be good reasons for a specific change.
“We are all in this together.” Impossible, unless one is talking about planet Earth. So go along, get along, comply, and don’t complain or you may be a racist.
“End racism.” Racism is low on the list of problems facing black and brown Americans. The top problem is crime, followed by high rates of family disfunction. How will racism end?
Eradication of the alleged perpetrators is a solution.
Germany was run by the National Socialist Party 1933-1945.
We have racial socialism.
George Carlin’s routine is a guaranteed LOL every time. Partisan bashing by either side of the aisle is annoying and counterproductive. My complaint may seem misplaced to you, but in another forum the denizens of the deep instantaneously paint every expression towards humanitarianism (for lack of a better word) as authoritarian mind control. I said they are weaponizing the term Political Correctness, and that is exactly what I meant to say. However, I agree with you that the Right has only recently found the value in political hyperbole. I also agree with you that the Right has the right to defend their ideology, an ideology of personal freedom that I share. I just think it is stupid to alienate, demonize, and bully anyone and everyone who stands for civil rights, inclusiveness, and equality before the law. It’s the wrong approach. No one learns anything from it.
BLM has many willing volunteers. As you say, some at the very top are wild-eyed radicals bent on tearing our great nation apart. Hmmm….Could this be next week’s Thought Bomb? Why not? Sounds good to me, but any thoughtful analysis of BLM must include some sympathetic consideration for the rank and file who are good Americans who don’t feel like their voices are properly heard!
Charlie Manson wanted a race war. I don’t!
You say good Americans who happen to be black should worry about crime and stop complaining. That’s simplistic and ineffective.
You say we have “racial socialism”. Okay. Racial Socialism is not, then, the same as Racial Communism, and it does no good to portray it as such!
Socialism has the root Social. Social implies a well-integrated group in which everybody gets along.