Via Jerry Pournelle this quote from FrontPage Magazine:
Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
I am in awe of the clarity of this quote. Thanks to you, and Jerry!
I am in awe of the clarity of this quote. Thanks to you, and Jerry!
Thanks. It puts so well what I think we all feel when we live in a society in which words lose all connection with reality.
Thanks. It puts so well what I think we all feel when we live in a society in which words lose all connection with reality.
It is an initiation ritual. You go along with the lies as a way of showing solidarity with the community that enunciates and lives by those lies. The same kind of game that the commies played. Just as making members of guerilla gangs or criminal gangs participate in crimes, this is not “meaningless” behavior. It is a way to force the initiate to detach himself from the rest of the world, to alienate him or her from the rest of the world, and make it possible for him or her to only live in a world of “us”, the people who are complicit in this behavior. The modern academic in the developed world lacks the animal virtuess necessary to participate in actual rough behavior, but the moral depravity of the thing is the same.
It is an initiation ritual. You go along with the lies as a way of showing solidarity with the community that enunciates and lives by those lies. The same kind of game that the commies played. Just as making members of guerilla gangs or criminal gangs participate in crimes, this is not “meaningless” behavior. It is a way to force the initiate to detach himself from the rest of the world, to alienate him or her from the rest of the world, and make it possible for him or her to only live in a world of “us”, the people who are complicit in this behavior. The modern academic in the developed world lacks the animal virtuess necessary to participate in actual rough behavior, but the moral depravity of the thing is the same.
Very good remarks. From my thirties I became aware that one can do almost whatever one wants but one can’t tell what he/she thinks. Words are more repressed than actions.
Very good remarks. From my thirties I became aware that one can do almost whatever one wants but one can’t tell what he/she thinks. Words are more repressed than actions.
This should be sent to Steven Bing Sean Penn, Barbara Streisand, Tim Robbins, Cameron Diaz Robert Redford et. al in Hollywood.
This should be sent to Steven Bing Sean Penn, Barbara Streisand, Tim Robbins, Cameron Diaz Robert Redford et. al in Hollywood.
“purpose was not to persuade…but to humiliate”
That certainly describes many of the “progressives” I have known, including academics.
“purpose was not to persuade…but to humiliate”
That certainly describes many of the “progressives” I have known, including academics.
Political Correctness is the enemy. What would Madison have to say in these days of PC?
JW
Political Correctness is the enemy. What would Madison have to say in these days of PC?
JW