Political correctness is about more than being polite – St. Cloud Times

Adam Ulbricht, Times Writers Group 7:30 a.m. CT June 13, 2017

Adam Ulbricht(Photo: Submitted photo)

One can little doubt the power of language. We learn our vocabularies at a young age and continue picking up phrases and beliefs as we go through life.

Like many things, language is learned beginning with family. As we grow, we attend school. Literature and pop culture eventually lend a hand in expanding our knowledge base.

But language is also susceptible to change. The norms of today are vastly different than in the 90s when I was a young kid. We are currently living in a time of change where political correctness is the prevailing movement.

The notion of political correctness was defended in an editorial on May 27 by Times Writers Group columnist Ben Ament (Relish refusing to be politically correct? Thats just rude). Here, Mr. Ament argued that the PC movement is nothing more than just being polite to one another.

This over-simplified explanation doesnt address the full reality, though. Youll get no argument from me that we should strive to be civil in our interactions with other people. However, this is not whats necessarily playing out everywhere.

Political correctness has played a role on college campuses for around a decade now. Since then, there have been plenty of examples of student groups across the country shutting down speakers in a rather not-so-polite manner. Be it Charles Murray or Milo Yiannopoulous, members of the PC crowd have shown they will act to silence opposing speech.

A free society is dependent on our ability to express ourselves and disagree with one another. Sometimes thoughts, words or ideas that we dislike, or outright reject, are unpleasant.

The recent photos of comedian Kathy Griffin holding a fake severed head of the president serves as a good reminder of that lesson. Although you may disagree with her, she has the right to such expression.

But it doesnt just stop there. Political correctness can also find itself devoid of logic at times. For example, the accepted term undocumented immigrant has replaced illegal immigrant in order to provide greater dignity for those that fall into this category. The problem is that we do document those who are here without legal status. The Pew Research Center says the illegal immigration population remained at a little more than 11 million in 2016 for the eighth consecutive year.

Mr. Ament also touched upon a larger philosophical debate. According to his article, the long held Golden Rule is a bit too self-serving. Instead, he introduced the Platinum Rule in which he wants to treat others as they would like to be treated.

On the surface this may sound pleasant. After all, theres nothing wrong with being respectful to others. However, the idea that you can somehow abandon your self-serving ways is misguided.

Everything that we do is self-serving in some form or fashion. If you give to charity, help a stranger or call someone by the gender pronoun they identify as, do you not receive self-gratification?

What makes the Golden Rule successful is that humans are self-interested. This acts as a powerful incentive when following the Golden Rule. Being self-interested and treating others with respect are not mutually exclusive ideas.

I believe that we can live in a mutually beneficial society based on the belief of individualism. The average entrepreneur serves as a great example. If someone takes the risk and starts up a company that hires employees and provides a product or service of value, are they not serving both themselves and fellow humans? Their success provides employment and a tax base to communities, which reaches to other areas like local schools, libraries or churches.

Will there be people who violate rules? Absolutely. There will always be those who take advantage of others. Im certain that this new Platinum Rule has its own limits, which people will test.

Again, Ill say that political correctness is about a lot more than just being polite. Its a political philosophy as much as its a way to control the meaning of words and language. If language didnt hold such powerful meaning, Mr. Ament and I wouldnt be writing our columns and you wouldnt be reading.

This is the opinion of Adam Ulbricht, whose column is published the second Tuesday of the month.

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Political correctness is about more than being polite - St. Cloud Times