What follows is basically a lead-in or
preface to my next article, a rant about my efforts to
understand what’s happening in the world and how we got where we are today. Some stuff I’ve learned has either led me to some
(possibly) weird or hair-brained conspiracy theories. As a consequence, I’m
trying to be rational and base my information on
not-easily-verified but interesting information from outside sources.
The article below was first published on Helium.com on May 24, 2008 under my Helium pen name.
The article below was first published on Helium.com on May 24, 2008 under my Helium pen name.
Political
Correctness Gone Wrong
by Sondra Deuber, May 2008 [lightly edited in 2011]
Here's a purely rhetorical questions: how can something that
was wrong from the start go wrong? Political correctness was never a good idea,
but the ramifications are either worse than its creators ever dreamed or
(heaven forbid!) it's exactly what they had in mind from the beginning.
According to Philip Atkinson, "Political Correctness
(PC) is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous
declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behavior, which were then
legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be
punished."
Mr. Atkinson points out that freedom of choice and freedom
of speech are the community's safeguards against tyranny and states
