The term "Political Correctness" originated as something of a joke,
literally in a comic strip. Too often "political correctness"
camouflages an underlying disease like racism and sexism.
The word Correctness is derived from the Greek term ὀρθοπραξις. Literally, this word is translated Orthopraxy
which means "correct action/activity" in rules of ethics and behavior
and extends to the actions of daily life and social obligations. In
essence, Correctness is an ideology.
What's so wrong with living "idealistically" one might say?
Once the term "PC" became an ideology,
it became a disease, in fact "PC" became deadly serious. It is the
great disease of our century, the disease that has left tens of
millions of people dead in Europe, in Russia, in China, and around the
world.
All ideologies are totalitarian because the
essence of an ideology (note that conservatism correctly understood is
not an ideology) is to take some philosophy and say on the basis of
this philosophy certain things must be true – such as the whole of the
history of our culture is the history of the oppression of women. Since
reality contradicts that, reality must be forbidden. It must become
forbidden to acknowledge the reality of our history. People must be
forced to live a lie, and since people are naturally reluctant to live
a lie, they naturally acknowledge this as untrue. Then the power of the
state must be put behind the demand to live a lie. That is why ideology
invariably requires a totalitarian state.
How do we cure
ourselves of this disease? Just like "alcoholism" we need to identify
it for what it is, a disease. Next, just like any other type of
disease, once we know what it is we can prescribe an effective
treatment.
Since untruths lie at the core of what makes "PC" deadly, I propose that an effective cure begins with telling the truth.
This
may seem like too large of a step for society to embrace, so why not
just begin with replacing "Correctness" with "Politeness"?
"Politeness" is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. Politeness is a culturally defined phenomenon. The goal of politeness is to make all of the parties relaxed and comfortable with one another. To be polite is an attempt to save face for another.
Of course we know that politeness doesn't infer what is true, just simply that it is pleasant. Therefore politeness will never be mistaken as a "truth".
POLITICAL POLITENESS
is simply an action that seeks to establish a positive relationship
between parties; respects a person's need to be liked and understood.
While keeping "PP"
in mind we can effectively discuss what is true and therefore discover
a cure for other diseases such as racism and other forms of social
inequality diseases.
literally in a comic strip. Too often "political correctness"
camouflages an underlying disease like racism and sexism.
The word Correctness is derived from the Greek term ὀρθοπραξις. Literally, this word is translated Orthopraxy
which means "correct action/activity" in rules of ethics and behavior
and extends to the actions of daily life and social obligations. In
essence, Correctness is an ideology.
What's so wrong with living "idealistically" one might say?
Once the term "PC" became an ideology,
it became a disease, in fact "PC" became deadly serious. It is the
great disease of our century, the disease that has left tens of
millions of people dead in Europe, in Russia, in China, and around the
world.
All ideologies are totalitarian because the
essence of an ideology (note that conservatism correctly understood is
not an ideology) is to take some philosophy and say on the basis of
this philosophy certain things must be true – such as the whole of the
history of our culture is the history of the oppression of women. Since
reality contradicts that, reality must be forbidden. It must become
forbidden to acknowledge the reality of our history. People must be
forced to live a lie, and since people are naturally reluctant to live
a lie, they naturally acknowledge this as untrue. Then the power of the
state must be put behind the demand to live a lie. That is why ideology
invariably requires a totalitarian state.
How do we cure
ourselves of this disease? Just like "alcoholism" we need to identify
it for what it is, a disease. Next, just like any other type of
disease, once we know what it is we can prescribe an effective
treatment.
Since untruths lie at the core of what makes "PC" deadly, I propose that an effective cure begins with telling the truth.
This
may seem like too large of a step for society to embrace, so why not
just begin with replacing "Correctness" with "Politeness"?
"Politeness" is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. Politeness is a culturally defined phenomenon. The goal of politeness is to make all of the parties relaxed and comfortable with one another. To be polite is an attempt to save face for another.
Of course we know that politeness doesn't infer what is true, just simply that it is pleasant. Therefore politeness will never be mistaken as a "truth".
POLITICAL POLITENESS
is simply an action that seeks to establish a positive relationship
between parties; respects a person's need to be liked and understood.
While keeping "PP"
in mind we can effectively discuss what is true and therefore discover
a cure for other diseases such as racism and other forms of social
inequality diseases.
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