06 October 2012

P.C. ideology & the Republic

For readers who miss political commentary on HancAquam: I ran across this quote on Instapundit that sums up nicely my own views:

Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.   -- Robert A. Heinlein 

Heinlein's two categories of people implies a third, more dangerous category: those who want to control others using political means.  To my mind, there is a stark distinction to be made between using the law to establish civil boundaries for public behavior (boundaries that rule out direct harm to others) AND using the law to establish civil boundaries to shape attitudes and  convictions.

For example, the law can and should penalize murder.  However, it cannot and should not penalize the attitudes, convictions, emotions that lead to murder.  "Hate" simply cannot be made illegal.  To attempt to do so results in a transfer of political power from the individual to the State, a transfer that threatens a free conscience.

Political correctness is a subversive ideology that directly undermines critical thinking and the free exchange of ideas by ruling out huge swaths of civil discourse in the name of "protecting victims." It's the principal weapon that cultural Marxists use to gain power over their ideological enemies.
  
I would argue that PC ideology is the acid that's corroding our Republic.
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5 comments:

  1. Glad you're fasting and not abstaining :)

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    1. USMSF, I'm fasting from all the horse-race/sniping/politicking stuff. Not actual Politics as Aristotle defined it.

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  2. All this and Heinlein too, God rest him. Best science fiction writer of all.

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  3. The attitude is prevalent on both sides of the political aisle. My own views are normally classed as conservative, however the times I've "gone off the reservation" on topics have led to some interesting conversations that fell just shy of my being ridden out of town on a rail. FWIW those topics included gun control, public education and the role of CPS in our society. Setting yourself apart from the herd can get real exciting if you're not careful!

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  4. I noticed 'the Republic.' re publica... hmmm...

    (and I'm not implying 'GOP,' but rather 'Cicero'...)

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