The English language is being transformed
by the media and academics who are influenced by political correctness as they
manipulate the proper use of language. Our society is being changed through the
indoctrination of our youths in an education system which has lost its
relevance due to the leftist, unionized personnel. We are gradually creating a
pampered, sheltered and cocooned generation.
In politics as well as in everyday
life, there is an increasing feeling that more and more people are being
offended. Today it seems that any word can cause consternation among one group
or another. Discourse and serious debate is being stifled because certain words
have become anathema. Our universities are advocating and creating many
policies that accommodate certain groups and ban others on campus. It is now
becoming prevalent that universities and schools provide ‘safe places’ for
those students who feel offended or aggrieved by the behaviour or statements
made by those they disagree with.
Universities, once a place for
intelligent and even adversarial discourse is now being used to muzzle certain
groups and discriminate based on political correctness. Our education system no
longer promotes individual thinking, but rather stimulates ‘group think’ activism.
Words are analysed and selected
to promote discourse. But today, more often than not certain words are being disqualified
from the vocabulary because they are deemed to be offensive. The media has been
increasingly in favor of this trend. Newspapers and TV broadcasts have chosen
to self-censor because the reporting of certain words may offend one group or
another. The result is that the news and real information is being moderated to
the point that the truth is not being reported.
Conservative views are being
ostracized, even banned on campuses, while leftist and liberal views are being
promoted and elevated despite the views of a silent majority. Examples of
faculty and university policies which discriminate and stifle debate abound. Recently,
students who believe that chalk writings supporting Trump on the steps of a
campus were so offensive, that the
faculty decided that those students should be provided a ‘safe place’ to shelter
their fragile self-esteem,
While it is allowed to have ‘pro-choice’
and LBGT demonstrations, conservative and pro-life protest are banned on many
campus grounds. It is not the cause of the protest that matters, but it is the
decision to allow or ban protests that matters. Universities used to be a place
for promoting differing ideas and opinions which in the long run shape society.
Today it seems that only politically correct views are the only ones accepted
on campuses.
Once language is being monitored
and censored on campuses and even in high schools, it becomes very easy for
politicians to use the same tactics to stifle debate. It is becoming extremely
difficult for some politicians to express their views and policies because they
may be accused of racism or xenophobia by their opponents. Increasingly the
left has adopted the word ‘phobia’ to ostracize their opponents. The dictionary
definition of ‘phobia’ is (forming
abstract nouns denoting fear or aversion of what is specified.) To this
effect more and more we see or hear labels and words like xenophobia,
islamophobia and homophobia,’ white privilege’, ‘black lives matter’, etc. being used in political debates not to
explain the positions but rather to close the discussion.
On the other hand, many leaders
like PM Trudeau and President Obama, who are terrorism deniers, are given a
pass when addressing the slaughter of people by Islamist terrorists around the
world. They have addressed the acts of terrorism as ‘workplace violence’ or
‘terrorism has root causes that must be addressed’. To obfuscate their cowardice, they often
characterized their critics of lslamophobia - once described by the late
Cristopher Hitchens as “A word created by fascists and used by cowards to
manipulate morons” At the same time
these leaders have declared that climate change, which has been going on for
centuries, and not terrorism is the greatest threat to mankind. I would define
this position as ‘climatophobia’.
By contrast it is refreshing to
see that some people are beginning to challenge the use of political
correctness. We should applaud and support people like Connie Levitsky,
who was fired by the plus-size women's retailer Addition Elle, for using the
word ‘fat’, and who refused to take her job back, when the company apologized
for their behavior.
For those who are still perplexed
by the rise of Donald Trump they should look at themselves. This phenomenon is
the backlash to years of mass media political correctness and manipulation of the
news by the left. The media’s Trumpophobia is here to stay as many
people are starting to rebel against the political establishment which has
taken them for granted for too long.
Politicians and academics can
create an atmosphere of fear or optimism through the use of words. Language
evolves, however political correctness should never be used to stifle debate
through the lax interpretation of language.
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