What is Political Correctness?

Political Correctness is a term and concept that is often invoked by those on the right when they detect an attempt to restrict speech or other discourse that those on the left find objectionable. It has been invoked so often though, that it occasionally becomes cover for those who have no deeper desire than to be provocative or promulgate hateful views.

This ubiquity also results in a general haziness when it comes to defining exactly what Political Correctness is or is not; so much so that many have no notion of it beyond restrictions on using speech that is racially charged or telling jokes that in a previous generation would have been known as off-color. The fact is that Political Correctness is much more, and much more dangerous, than that simple notion.

William S. Lind writing at the @TAC blog:

Political Correctness is cultural Marxism, Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms.

But what, exactly, does that mean? Marxists thought that war between the working classes from different nations was impossible. World War I proved just how wrong they were about this. In response, Marxist thinkers cast about for an explanation.

They said that Western culture and the Christian religion had so “blinded” the working class to its true (Marxist) class interests that Communism was impossible in the West until traditional culture and Christianity were destroyed...destroying traditional sexual morals would be a major step toward destroying Western culture itself.

In the middle part of the twentieth century, this thinking entered into books and curriculum for college students and then became the dominant mode of thinking. Lind describes just how deeply this cultural Marxism penetrated the generation that came of age during that time and how little this phenomenon is recognized today, saying it was injected,

into the baby boom generation, to the point where it is now that generation’s ideology. We know it as “multiculturalism,” “diversity” or just Political Correctness.

That is the dirty little secret of Political Correctness, folks: it is a form of Marxism. If the average American knew that, I suspect Political Correctness would be in serious trouble.

Lind's post is a short but informative narrative of how cultural Marxism came to be, and came to dominate the thinking of much of the left in this country. He reminds us that Political Correctness has an agenda much broader and more dangerous than the simple notion of protecting the feelings of others. An agenda that should be resisted by those who recognize the value in our traditions and wish to preserve them.

Catholic League Continues the Culture War

Catholic League President Bill Donohue has a column in the Washington Post's On Faith section which pulls no punches when it comes to describing what he sees as our state of decay:

There are many ways cultural nihilists are busy trying to sabotage America these days: multiculturalism is used as a club to beat down Western civilization in the classroom; sexual libertines seek to upend the cultural order by attacking religion; artists use their artistic freedoms to mock Christianity; Hollywood relentlessly insults people of faith; activist left-wing legal groups try to scrub society free of the public expression of religion; elements in the Democratic party demonstrate an animus against Catholicism; and secular-minded malcontents within Catholicism and Protestantism seek to sabotage their religion from the inside.

And that is just the opening. He also doesn't fear to tread where so many within the church do:

Secularists within Catholicism and Protestantism are so out of control that it makes one wonder how any serious-minded person would ever accuse these religions of being oppressive.

He saves this sharp criticism for the close:

The culture war is up for grabs. The good news is that religious conservatives continue to breed like rabbits, while secular saboteurs have shut down: they're too busy walking their dogs, going to bathhouses and aborting their kids. Time, it seems, is on the side of the angels.

I can understand that some are unwilling to accept that Catholicism is the cure for what ails us, but even for those folks I think you would be hard pressed to refute Donohue's indictment of our culture's attitude toward religion and religious believers.

Though if you read the comments, it's obvious this type of commentary touches a nerve with a lot of folks and their own personal bias makes it impossible for them to recognize what is going on right in front of their noses.

Some of the commenters are simply frothing with rage! I especially like the guy who said this commentary shouldn't have been published since it lacks "understanding of the Establishment Clause of the First Ammendment," guess he forgot about that pesky freedom of the press part.

Americans Idle

The Nielsen Company has issued a report stating that television viewing is at an "all time high" with Americans averaging 151 hours of viewing per month. This is about 5 hours per day. Looking at the television listings, I can't imagine what it is that people are watching during that time.

Until some reclusive billionaire, who just happens to be a cross between Stephen J. Cannell and a bond villain, starts a pirate TV station originating from his tropical island lair with programming that consists almost entirely of The A-Team, Murder She Wrote, Buck Rogers, Family Ties, and Match Game 78, I am in no danger of joining the 5-hour club.

Of course, I can't stand to miss the Sunday morning political talk shows. The appeal of which is completely lost on my wife. (I tried to tell her about the verbal sparring between Karl Rove and Katrina vanden Heuvel on This Week, but to no avail.)

As I have noted before, though, I haven't seen the Soprano's even once. Maybe I am missing something great on TV, but I doubt it.