Playing the "PC" Card

[wagers at computek.net]

Gary Tartakov writes:

>In between the old left usage of the phrase *political correctness* and
>recent new right's usage there was a new left usage that was essentially
>a joke about people who took their politics and themselves a bit too
>seriously.  And then the right came along with its quaint epithetical
>usage of PC as a designation for any language or politics that they didn't
>like.
>
>I can seldom make serious sense out of the term as anything but a name
>to call objections to intentions that someone on the right wants to lable
>a language issue rather than face as the social issue being referred to.

"Political correctness" refers to the removal of an entire topic from the
arena of discourse due to overt and covert pressures. Americans couldn't discuss
Communism or organized labor rationally in the fifties and sixties, the
poor and under-
privileged in the sixties and seventies, racism in the seventies and eighties,
nor abortion rationally in the eighties and nineties. Whether on target or
misguided, the right is honestly complaining about their points of view (on
these topics - not defense) being suppressed and ignored (politically incorrect)
for at least three decades. And, since America is broke and in turmoil, partly
as a result of their being ignored, a great many people are willing to
listen to them.

Don't worry, I am neither a New Deal Democrat nor a Moral Majoritist.

>Think about this as you encounter the term.

Sincerely,

Will