Politcial Correctness

Political correctness has taken the emotion out of our culture. Unless you are a comedian paid to be outrageous, you have to watch every word that comes out of your mouth -especially if you have aspirations of public office. Heaven forbid if you say something to offend someone. This country reeks of righteous indignation, and nothing is more boring than a bunch of holier-than-thou citizens condemning anyone who does not “group think.”

We had an interesting discussion in our local NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) meeting about the use of diagnoses when talking about mental illness. It seems there is a movement among some do-gooders to eliminate diagnostic labels when talking about mental illness. All of us at the meeting, including our resident bipolar, OCD member, thought it was a ridiculous idea. Getting rid of labels doesn’t change the illness. It hides it, just as referring to children with learning difficulties as “special education” students hides the real problems. What an insult! Instead of hiding people away in institutions, we hide them by destroying our ability to talk about an issue that influences who they are.

Instead of changing labels to maintain political correctness, let’s talk about the homeless man who talks to aliens from Mars. Let’s say out loud that he is crazy. That doesn’t mean we insult him or make fun of him. It lays out a major defining factor in his life, which also affects the lives of everyone around him. Saying he has a “mental health challenge” doesn’t make him saner. It sanitizes his situation by eliminating the emotional content of his situation. That’s what political correctness does – it takes the feeling out of life. And all of the humor.