Political correctness started innocently enough, but like a rehearsal dinner speech by a mean-spirited best man, it soon became ugly and uncomfortable. An entire culture developed - and not a very bright one I might add - that was passionate about not wanting to hurt
This linguistic claptrap became a BBM (Big, Beautiful, Monster) with gigantic, intellectually challenged tentacles that reached out and strangled all other aspects of our lives. Suddenly, teachers don't grade in red ink because that's "hurtful," and teams no longer play for scores, because that might indicate that one team is actually better than another. Everyone gets ribbons just for showing up at the race, and according to the profiles on Match.com, "we're all good looking" too. It's no wonder, then, that the end result is a generation or two that have never heard a discouraging word; people for whom the mere suggestion that they can't paint, dance, or sing on American Idol is incomprehensible.
The consequence of this - as we see far too often on T.V. - is a kid who has spent his childhood being praised extensively for merely existing. A child who never failed because failure was un-possible. A child who thinks un-possible is an actual word. Family, friends, and society, never once critiqued his abilities because under the rules of political correctness, critically constructive thought and opinion is considered hate speech.
And so, we're left with children who dream so large and so stupidly, they'll sleep in a tent for two days just to get the opportunity to butcher "Proud Mary" in front of 38 million laughing people. Back stage, the family will conclude the life-long lie with one more "You were great out there."
The book is available at Borders, and is highly recommended reading for anyone possessing a 3-digit I.Q.
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4 comments:
i deal with these kids everyday. and not a day goes by that i don't want to give their parents a swift kick in the ass. and one of the worst parts is, the army has become amazingly pc. and in doing so has taken away a large number of my tools to be an agent of change and improvement. i don't need to intentionally be mean to these kids. i don't need to make fun of their parents or their sexual orientation or go after any of the protected tenents of e.o. i can leave their race and religion alone. but i should be able to tell a fat-ass that they're fat and need to lose weight. i should be able to be honest, and if that makes them cry? (which it has...) that should really be their problem, not mine. i've said this a million times. if you're a civilian and make a choice to be overweight? i really don't care. more power to you. if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you knowingly made the decision to be overweight, i just might buy you an extra donut. but in today's all volunteer army? you can't tell me that you didn't know you were supposed to work out and not be overweight.
intelligence is protected either. if you can't write well, do basic math or possess no basic problem solving skills? i should be able to point that out. and you know what? my doing it? in an honest way for the first time in their life? might actually embarrass them enough and make them do something to better themselves.
this is a serious job. bullets hurt worse than harsh (hell, forget harsh. let's just go with "honest") words. whatever happened to "sticks and stones"?
"is not protected"
Yup...what DID happen to 'sticks and stones' ?
My kids were little in the era of "no team wins, we just play for fun and don't keep score". Fortunately, we could count on the older siblings to tell us EXACTLY who scored more!!
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