The Point Behind Political Correctness.

This post was originally written on 1/14/2012

A lot of people complain about Political Correctness, and how it infringes on THEIR rights to free expression and independent thought.  They talk about how frankly, they think it's all just a bunch of bull created by whiny little babies who need to shut up and get over it.  Most, if not all, of these people need to get over THEMSELVES and realize that PC isn't about them, it's about everybody.  Plainly and simply it's about getting along.  As individuals we may feel that "getting along" is unimportant, but since the consequences of not getting along typically have repercussions for groups rather than just individuals, everyone else in the group needs to be considered.
    The fact of the matter is that as human beings, we have 1 planet, made up of 7 continents, that are currently divided into about 196 countries.  Since the foreseeable future does not hold any likelihood that any of those countries are going to realize any potential for creating an off planet colony, so that that people can move to space should they get sick of their neighbors down here on the ground, we're all kinda stuck making do with this reality.
    Right now we have a global population of somewhere between 6 and 7 BILLION people, all trying to live out our lives on about 57.5 MILLION sq miles of land.  Now, I'm not a math whiz, so my exploration of the numbers is going to end here, but suffice it to say that this basically means there is only so much land that each person on the planet can claim for themselves without bumping into the land that someone else can claim for THEMSELVES.
    Up until about a century ago, there was still a fair bit of land left for us to spread out on.  To be fair, there WERE people using that land, but it WAS there for the taking or buying.  People who just could not bring themselves to play along with those around them still had the option of packing up their stuff and moving away.  Now?  Well now just about every square inch of land that anyone WANTS to claim HAS been claimed.  With the exception of Antarctica (access to which is controlled by Mother Nature and some scientists with government and big money backers) every area of the world has been claimed by a person, group, or government.
    So what happens when all the land belongs to someone and you can no longer just move away from the people who bug you?  Well, history tells us a little about that.  We can look back at how people handled the situation back before they realized that the world was bigger than just the portion they could walk across.  We can also look at how the different groups of people who couldn't decide WHO should move have handled it.  We will look at the different options, from least to most extreme.
    Option One: Ask nicely for your neighbor to quit bugging you.  This option has been exercised with limited success in the past.  The obvious problem is that it relies on the neighbor to be a decent sort who realizes that they're being an ass, and is amenable to toning it down.  When this is not the case, most reasonable people will move on to option two.
    Option Two:  Barter for a peaceable solution.  This can involve a number of different approaches, from negotiating a system where the space you and your neighbor has to share is divided between you (i.e. you can use it during the day time and I'll stay out of your way, if you agree to let me use it at night in exchange for the same consideration) all the way up to flat out buying your neighbor out of their space to induce them to go somewhere far away from you.  Often this option is used by governments to try and settle ongoing disputes.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes the interested parties move on to option three.
     Option Three: Fight about it.  This is what not getting along usually leads to.  Eventually someone just cannot be satisfied with the way things are, so they just have to bring the situation to it's inevitable conclusion and see it settled once and for all.  Typically these fights start with words, and rapidly progress to physical violence, which continues until one side is either dead or begs for mercy.  We're talking about war here folks, good old fashioned bring out your weapons and let's settle this war.
     Now that we have covered what our options are, let's take it back around to Political Correctness, shall we?  Hopefully by now you have caught on to the fact that Political Correctness is a kinder, gentler way of saying War Avoidance.  Because it is.  Taking it back down to the individual level- your right to be a dick directly coexists with the rights of everyone else to get tired of you and kick your ass.  Here you may be saying a variety of things, such as "I'm willing to take that risk" "Bring it bitch" or "I can take em".  The problem is that these fights are almost never confined to just individuals.  It starts with guy A running his mouth and guy B getting sick of it, then it progresses to all of guy A's friends jumping in on his side and all of guy B's friends jumping in on HIS side.  Then you've got a real rumble going on.  Soon it is chaos as everyone who sees the fight starts picking sides and getting into their own fights with people supporting the other side.  That, boys and girls, is commonly referred to as a riot.  And if those sides decide to take a break and get themselves organized and armed before they start the fighting, it's a war.
     The other thing that we as a species have been busy doing in the last century or so (besides populating the Earth like bunnies and settling all the land) is that we have been learning how to kill each other in spectacular and horrific ways.  Little guns, Big Guns, pink, yellow, and green guns.  Poison gases, bombs, and the mother of all people killers- the NUCLEAR bomb.  We've made so much progress in this area that you now run the risk of pissing off the wrong person and having them destroy your little corner of the planet as a Fuck You Very Much.
     By now I'm sure that there are plenty of people shaking their heads and saying "No one is going to drop the A bomb just cause their feelings got hurt when I called them a name."  Really?  Are you so sure about that?  If you are, then fine- you go on with your bad self.  But do the rest of us a favor, those of us who have the unfortunate privilege of sharing the same neighborhood, town, country, or political allies as you- please go down to your local hardware store and buy some supplies.  Make a big sign, and put it on the roof of your house where it can be seen by anyone flying overhead or peering down with Google Earth.  On this sign, please paint the following words, nice and clear- "I'M THE ASSHOLE, SO GO AHEAD AND BOMB ME, YOU STUPID FUCK!"  Hopefully anyone who is inclined to take you up on the offer will go ahead and use a LITTLE bomb that doesn't wipe out your neighbors as well.
    Anyone who still thinks that Political Correctness is crap, just keep in mind that most of us have some kind of access to the internet now.  The individual that you are offending with your "opinions" about their lifestyle, religion, what you think about their outfit, etc., now has the same ability to connect with others like them that you have.  And the people they connect with may be batshit crazy and trigger happy.  So good luck with that.