New stuff next door at Onedraft.
I get annoyed when people gripe about “political correctness”. I’m all for freedom of speech and vitality of expression. Sometimes it’s good to be earthy – as an artist, I’d hate to see a color taken from my palette. But it seems like most of the time when someone is upset over having to be “too PC”, they’re mostly just tired of embarrassing themselves by using inappropriate and offensive language. Rather than work on correcting the behavior, they’d rather blame the offended for being too sensitive.
Let’s try that on a different scale. Just got robbed? Good grief, get over it already. Possessions are fleeting, right? You probably had too much stuff anyway – it’s good for you to get taken down a peg. Next time don’t be such a Flaunty McRichbritches.
Little Johnny just got bullied at school? Well, son, that’s life. Next time bring a brown bag lunch – let that be a lesson to you.
See how ridiculous that sounds? If I step on someone’s toe and come back with “move your foot, jerk” instead of an apology, am I somehow being more honest and “real”? Of course not.
We all have to share a narrow band of space on a single bit of rock in a vast uncaring universe. It might be a good idea if we tried to get along, if we tried to treat each other with some courtesy and respect. I don’t think watching your words is too high a price to pay for a society where we’re not constantly at each others’ throats.
Recently I saw someone respond to a defense of so-called “political correctness” with an analogy about a horse. We don’t get all bent out of shape when a horse takes a dump in the street – it’s just doing what horses do, whether we find it gross or not. We’re all animals here – we all eat and sleep and screw and die. Why do we have to be so hard on ourselves?
We don’t hold horses to the same standards as humans. I’m not an expert on horses, but I’m not sure they can be trained to hold it in for a more aesthetically convenient time. A person can easily learn not to be a jerk. Lots of people do it all the time. Many parents teach their kids to be polite and respectful of others.
And really, does anyone want to live in a society built on our base animal instincts? The words “nasty, poor, brutish, and short” come to mind. (This is where anarchism and libertarianism fail, in my opinion. But more about that some other time.)
So let’s all stop griping about having to choose our words like grownups.
