by Robert Heston

Created on: February 27, 2010

Political correctness is hurting the United States in ways that many people aren't aware of, and most people don't fully understand.

For many years now it seems as though we've been stuck in a repetitive cycle of crawling out of one mess only to fall into another one.  Instead of making an honest attempt to solve our problems we get to watch the spectacle of Democrats pointing their fingers and blaming Republicans, while Republicans point their fingers and blame the Democrats.

Political correctness reminds me strongly of "Newspeak" in George Orwell's book 1984.  The meanings for many words have changed, because of political correctness.  Many subjects have been removed from discussion and debate; they're simply off limits because they're politically incorrect.

The term "politically correct" came into being under the old Bolsheviks/Communists.  In many ways it's an insidious attempt to alter and control our very thoughts through language.  In the Soviet Union under Stalin, being politically incorrect was likely to cause a trip to the gulag, at best, or an execution, at worst. 

Mark Twain once said, "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."  Now days he'd probably remove the first four words from that statement, after fighting with publishers who refused to publish his works for being politically incorrect.

How can problems ever be fixed if we can't even talk about them?  With both sides showing respect for the other, free and open discussions should be able to take place.  Even if things get a little heated at times, surely that's preferable to placing entire subjects off limits and letting the problems fester.

A brief look at actions taken, or not taken, due to political correctness shows how dangerous this self censorship can be.

The world first became aware of HIV/Aids in the early 1980's.  While there were still many unanswered questions early on, it was known that intravenous drug users, gays, and hemophiliacs were in high risk groups for becoming infected.  In times past, people with polio, tuberculosis, and other highly contagious diseases were quarantined for the public welfare.  Eventually, those diseases were brought under control, or even eliminated.  But by the 1980's common sense had been replaced with political correctness.  A public discussion about placing those infected with HIV/Aids in quarantine

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