Free Speech has been arrested by Political Correctness

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Lately, I’ve been thinking about this age of Political Correctness (PC) that we live in. I view it as a means of censoring people from saying things that are on their mind. Some of these sayings may not be malicious, but ignorant, misguided, or just simply lacking empathy. I do realize that some people say things that are deliberate and hateful, I’m not talking about those.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Hulk Hogan, the professional wrestler, said something about black people. Many in the African American community were upset by his comments. So much so that they called for some of his sponsors to drop him as a client.

Another example is when Paula Dean made some racial slurs against one of her employees. She too lost some corporate sponsorships. Many think the punishment was appropriate for making such statements. I don’t think so. I think people should be allowed to say stupid things. Maybe I’m wrong and I’d like to hear opposing arguments to the contrary.

My last example involves Manny Pacquiao, the professional boxer, who said something about homosexuals. I believe his statements were based on his religious views that were in accordance with the Bible. His statements got him in hot water. Nike terminated his contract as result of his statements.

In each of the previous examples, was the punishment too excessive? Was it too severe or heavy handed?

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Political Correctness on the Rise

I think I first heard of the term Politically Correct 10 or 15 years ago. Now I hear this term almost on a weekly basis. In the process of writing this post, I looked up the definition of Political Correctness to understand its origin. Also, I wanted to understand if my personal definition was the same as the official definition.

A Google search returned this definition:

the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against

Merriam Webster offers these two definitions:

1. agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people
2. conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated
   After reading the first Google definition, I thought I was using the using the term wrong or incorrectly. However, the other two definitions from Merriam Webster gave me a point of clarity. In each of the examples that listed above a specific group of people was the subject of the comments. I now see how Political Correctness could be applied in each of those examples.

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Political Correctness in Academia

The following reference is addressing the political correctness on college campuses.

Our colleges and universities do not offer the protection of fair rules, equal justice, and consistent standards to the generation that finds itself on our campuses. They encourage students to bring charges of harassment against those whose opinions or expressions "offend" them. At almost every college and university, students deemed members of "historically oppressed groups"--above all, women, blacks, gays, and Hispanics--are informed during orientation that their campuses are teeming with illegal or intolerable violations of their "right" not to be offended. Judging from these warnings, there is a racial or sexual bigot, to borrow the mocking phrase of McCarthy's critics, "under every bed."[72][relevant? – discuss]

Political Correctness is much more diverse and applies to more areas than I knew about or even considered. See the following article for more information.

Now, I have a greater understanding of its origin and intent. Given that, I’m still disappointed at the way I see it being applied today. Often Political Correctness appears as a lurking big brother carefully watching for any violation in speech as an opportunity to punishing someone. This type of behavior makes the public at large to become fearful. Fearful of anything said could be twisted, mischaracterized, or taken out of context. Intolerance is also view as a bad word and any hint at exclusivity is automatically viewed as a potential violation. The aggressive nature and implementation of this strategy led me to believe that PC have been hijacked by groups to further a particular agenda.

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What’s really going on?

I see this happening an ever increase rate. This agenda is so blatant that I wonder what is really going on. Is there a new agenda of some powerful group that is sneaking in something very subtle on the back of the PC movement? When I see a trend that seems to come out of nowhere and gain viral like popularity, I start to ask myself this question. Is there something else hidden behind what I see very clearly? This may seem like a bit of paranoia on my part. It could be, but I don’t think so. Let me give you an example to illustrate the point.

We see Donald Trump behavior is so different from any presidential candidate in recent memory, maybe possibly in history. He says what he wants, whenever he wants to without regard to his intended target. At face value you could argue that Trump is crazy, irrational, or just a big jerk. Now this is what we see. However, is it possible that Trump’s behavior is part of a larger plot to usher in a new agenda or scheme? I don’t know. However, I do wonder if his behavior is a precursor to some larger, something more calculated with particular endgame in mind.

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Political Correctness is being commandeered

I see another trend that has me perplexed. Have you noticed in the past 5 years an increased rise of the homosexual influence in television programming? I have. A year or so ago, a coworker of mine told me about a TV show called Mr. Robot. I didn’t watch the show at that time. Having purchased a Amazon Fire Stick a few months ago, I decided to watch Mr Robot’s first episode. As a computer programmer, I like the hacking plot of the movie, however I noticed a few things at were a bit risque. I was captivated and started to watch the second episode. Now this is where things got real interesting.

There was one scene where the character goes to this club and runs into an employee. The employee ask the boss why was he at the particular club. The boss said he was looking for the employee. Then the boss proceeded to grab the male employee face and kissed him right in the mouth. I almost drop the remote. I couldn’t believe it. I tried to dismiss it and continue watching. The very next scene pans to the boss’s apartment and it show the two men in bed having sex. I immediately changed the channel and turned off my TV. I declared at that point that I couldn’t watch another minute of Mr Robot. I felt violated. The aggressive nature in which the LGBT community pushing their agenda via entertainment industry is shocking.

Now in this age of Political Correctness I might be punished if I said anything derogatory about LGBT community in relation to the TV programming messages and characters. Has this particular group used PC as a means to further their agenda? Maybe. Some opponents might say just choose to watch other TV programs. But with pervasive and forceful nature of these influences in television, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find programs without those influences. To be balanced, I also have issues with media programming that promotes violence, misogyny, and just plain evil.

Don’t lose your sponsorship

Well enough about that. Also have corporations become a hostage to political correctness as well. I do understand that companies are protective about the identity and brand. In spite of that, I think they are quick to drop a sponsor in light of some negativity. The PC Police uses their influence to pressure corporations into doing something to reprimand their spokespersons.
I hope companies will perform due diligence prior to terminating contracts to allow time for facts to be collected and the investigation to be completed before making decisions.

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Free Speech has been arrested

Finally, the Politically Correct movement is slowly taking away our 1st Amendment Right without enlisting lawyers, judges, and the court system. I hope we wake up and draw a line about how it is being applied. I believe the original intent was admirable, but over the past few years it seems like Political Correctness has morphed into something different or used by groups to further their cause. I do not like it in its current form. Something needs to done about this, before it is too late.

Let's talk about it. I'd like to hear your thoughts.