Political Correctness Extremism (PCE)

I would like to address, albeit briefly, the idea of Political Correctness (PC). To be sure, there no doubt have been some benefits from this movement. I won’t try to list any of those benefits here lest we, to use a mixed metaphor, get side-tracked with red-herrings.

The idea of PC I’d like to address is that of what I shall call Political Correctness Extremism (PCE). PCE is a tool, nay, a weapon used by Progressives, if not to silence any opposition to their utopian dreams for society, at least to put that opposition on the defensive. In other words, PCE is a full frontal attack on all honest discussion of any social issue. And so it has become, that to oppose the Progressive view on any subject is to declare oneself to be immoral, cruel, greedy, intolerant and (fill in all the usual prefixes) phobic etc., etc., etc..  

The Parable of the Good Samaritan might be useful to illustrate how the Progressives use the old “bait and switch” tactic to further their political ends. Jesus told the Good Samaritan parable to answer the question, “Who is my neighbour?” “In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.’” Luke 10:29b-30. The Good Samaritan really went out of his way to help the wounded man.

However, to the Progressive mind fixated on his/her version of cultural utopia it is not the half dead man who needs most help, it’s the robbers who nearly killed him! And so the narrative becomes about how society has failed these people that they should need to resort to robbery. If only society had looked after them they wouldn’t have needed to resort to such desperate measures! These robbers no doubt were raised in a low socio-economic backwater with no opportunities. However, those who wish to talk about the actual issue, (i.e., that of an innocent man being robbed and sadistically beaten near to death) are shouted down as not caring about the terrible society that caused these poor underprivileged people to become robbers in the first place.

PCE has a narrative attached to it: Socialism. Like a square peg in a round hole Socialism does not fit into Western Civilization or what used to be called Christendom. To be sure, with a lot of hammering, a square peg may be forced into a round hole – but the end result looks ugly! The Progressive narrative is about driving home that square peg – regardless. Therefore, things that made the West great such as those Biblical teachings such as Capitalism, Banking, Private Property, Free Speech etc., become points of friction as the square peg is hammered home. Thus PCE works hard to put those things that the West was won by in a bad light – shady! So, instead of lifting the half dead man out of the gutter and helping him to get on his feet, the story becomes about socially engineering a society in which people will not have to become robbers.

In this world, i.e., the world of Political Correctness Extremism (PCE), those who are brave enough, for example, to talk about punishing robbers are viewed as callous. Rehabilitation is the new order of the day. Murderous robbers are now the victims and the person beaten and robbed of his money was a Capitalist who, quite frankly, deserved everything he got!

All of this might sound a bit over the top rhetoric to some more moderate Progressives. However, one only has to consider the recent events that took place in Paris to see the truth of what I say. The story is not about destroying ISIS and/or bringing justice to its members, i.e., punishment. Rather, thanks to PCE it is about everyday people in the West being lectured to by Progressives and called bigots, racists, phobics for daring to call ISIS Islamic! Thus, the injured, instead of having their wounds bandaged, are further beaten-up! ISIS attacks us physically and PCE Progressivism attacks us verbally. Either way, attacked from within and attacked from without the West is doomed. The story has become all about the attackers having their pound of flesh, their utopia.

Islamism is the square peg. Progressivism is the hammer. The West is the round hole. Please stop hammering. You’re hurting us, nay, you’re destroying us!