I have a theory about this.
Want to hear it?
Sorry, too late to stop me now:
A "society" is not simply a mob of people who happen to live near each other, but rather a complex system of interactions between an immense number of people over a long period of time-- over generations-- these interactions governed by "social technology"-- a sort of intellectual software program that human beings developed over hundreds of generations, over tens of thousands of years of evolution.
It was thanks to this intellectual software that humans managed to get together in large numbers and cooperate to alter their environment, and insure their mutual safety and prosperity in a nasty, hostile world.
The basis of this program is an all-encompassing set of rules of personal and group behavior, which together make it possible for large numbers of people to work together without too much friction. Some of these rules are written down-- laws against murder, rape, robbery, etc.-- but the huge majority of the rules are simply understood among members of society, and are passed on from generation to generation under the guise of "manners," and "morals," and "common decency." Examples:
.....Don't lie.
.....Don't cheat.
.....Don't mess with someone else's woman/man.
.....If you don't work, don't expect to eat.
.....If you want respect, be respectable.
.....If you want dignified treatment, live with dignity.
.....You can have what you earn, you must earn what you get.
...And pages and pages, and volumes and volumes more of the same kind of hateful and reactionary and oppressive and old-fashioned thinking that modern and sophisticated people see right through.
What we call "political correctness" is a successful rebellion against the little, unwritten rules, a demand that select people be given special treatment, above and outside the standards of manners and morals that kept society together for a couple thousand generations. You might call it the "How Dare You" Revolution...
....."How dare you be offended by my offensive behavior, you BIGOT!"
....."How dare you deny me what I know I'm entitled to have for free, you FASCIST BASTARD!"
....."How dare you hit me back first, you NAZI!"
The essence of political correctness-- Hell, admit it, of what we call "modern society"-- is sophisticated, liberated, progressive hypocrites shitting all over the rules of common decency that built the society that sheltered them and fed them and allowed them to become the smug, degenerate asses they are.
And the problem this leaves "modern society" with is that there is no modern "society." Without universal acceptance and adherence, the little rules of society no longer work; and unless the little rules work ("play nice") the big rules ("don't murder," "don't steal") don't work either.
It's all broken, and we have no way to repair it. No way. None.
Last edited by chump4u; 25-02-11 at 01:00 PM.
When in trouble,
Or in doubt,
Run in circles,
Scream and shout.