Straightjackets Pt.1

There exists a long, unwritten, unspoken list that governs all of us, in every interaction we have outside of our close friends. It is a list of things we cannot say – Political Correctness, in other terms. To speak these words or phrases is a death sentence in the court of public opinion. This list is well-intentioned – after all, what it contains is offensive, highly so, and can be seen as representing ideas antithetical to what our modern society stands for.

But there exists a little thing in liberal democracies called freedom of speech, a foundational basis for most other freedoms. How can a desire not to be offended trump a fundamental right? I see no “freedom from offense” in any democratic constitution – the only places where freedom from offense exists is as a dictum in authoritarian systems to minimize and silence opposition (China is a case in point).

Yet the freedom from offense is inviolable to its defenders. They see themselves not as authoritarian, but rather as champions of the rights of minorities, and warriors against a language intended to preserve an unequal system.

I do not deny the ability of language to oppress. It is a frightening projection of power. But let me ask you, reader, a simple question. If you wanted to stab me, for whatever reason, would I benefit from you keeping that intention a secret and alluding to it cryptically every now and again, building up vitriol until it explodes? Or would I rather have you openly say “I want to murder you,” and then we figure out why?

This might seem absurd, but it gets to the root of the problem. To tell a racist to avoid derogatory slurs does not cure his racism. It leaves it to fester even more, in silent resentment. And when it manifests itself, how can we be surprised? There was no dialogue, no language he could use to express the offensive ideals in which he believes and which we find abhorrent. How is he to understand his errors when he can’t express them?

And this is just talking about the average person. When we look at systematic discrimination, whether against the poor or any racial/ethnic/LGBTQ/etc. minority, those in charge don’t bother with saying derogatory things. They just put their views into action, with devastating consequence.

But political correctness isn’t just non-effective. It aids the cause of the oppressor. Have you noticed that there are no longer “racists” in America? The problem is systematic and institutional, yet no single person in any American system or institution will say, as Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens openly and despicably stated in 1861: ” the negro is not equal to the white man”. What has changed since then?

What has changed is that those who wish to enact their racist or discriminatory doctrines can now hide behind pseudonyms and cryptic allusions. Political correctness gives them a tool to obscure what they’re actually trying to do. To borrow from Carlin (link at the bottom), the poor/minorities no longer live in slums or ghettos in America – they “occupy substandard housing in the inner cities.” In our context, law enforcement isn’t anti-black, it’s “prioritizing the preservation of law and order.” Take a vile intention and hide it under layers of cold clinical jargon and it’s not vile anymore! It’s clean, ambiguous, inoffensive, and it flies over our heads.

And the worst part, the scariest part of all of this, is that when we are enforcing this list of things we can’t say, we’ve fallen for the trap. We’re fighting the words people say rather than the manifestations of their faults. We’ve been baited into alienating potential allies in the fight against cruel inhumanity.

So when someone is lambasted and told to be silenced for using words and phrases from that terrible list, I say: let them speak! Let them shout their opinions for all to hear and see what they truly are, for the truth of their intentions to be loud and crystal clear. If they are willing to talk, we can talk, and convince them of their errors, and understand just what drives ordinary people to grotesque views of the world.

But if they are not willing to talk, at least we can see that knife well before it strikes.

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Note: I’m not quite done with expressing what I feel about political correctness, its role in humor and comedy is significant enough to warrant its own separate piece: Straightjackets Pt.2 (Coming Soon :))

Link to the George Carlin Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o25I2fzFGoY