Dakota Beacon

The earliest use of the term “political correctness” (PC) occurred between two Soviet communist factions, the Stalinists and the Trotskyites. Each sought to establish their dominance by proving they were more correctly aligned politically with Marxist theory and practice.

In an exquisite display of totalitarian curtailment of thought and free speech a leader of one communist faction, Leon Trotsky, was banished from the communist party in 1927 and exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929. Trotsky continued to speak out and lead his worldwide school of thought in opposition to the Stalinists. Stalin chose to silence him.

On August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico with an ice ax. His executioner, Ramon Mercader, was a Soviet NKVD agent.

From that time on the term “political correctness” symbolized any effort intended to silence free inquiry and open debate. Today, the best techniques use intimidation, ridicule, and regulations backed by law rather than physical assassination.

With graduation season receding in the rear view mirror, we wish the kids well in their foray into a Brave New World. For better or for worse, they’ve been prepared, somewhat, for what follows. Whether in the work place or in college they will face a pervasive PC environment. Some schools do a more impressive job than others training their students in PC codes.

Because schools vary in conformity with PC dogma, avoidance of the PC environment is reason enough for some parents to choose alternative schooling for their children. It’s not that they want their children shielded. Rather, they want their children trained in what to look for in order to confront PC courageously.

Whether we realize it or not, our culture was founded upon classical liberalism with the emphasis on “classical.” Classical liberalism according to John Locke’s understanding, however, has morphed through the years into a degenerate ideology focusing more on identity politics, victimhood, and misnamed “progressivism” and less on the essence of true liberty. PC, spawned by the contemporary version of liberalism, tends to depreciate individuality, uniqueness, and dissent. Totalitarian mores determine what may or may not be thought or said.

Debilitating and oppressive campus speech codes enforce guilt and silence on behalf of special interests. PC rules determine what may or may not be expressed. A person takes a risk when expressing personal opinions openly. Radical leftists weave a fabric of fear thwarting the incentive to share one’s thoughts. Thought police deem good manners and common sense insufficient restraints in guiding one’s opinions.

PC becomes most hypocritical, abhorrent, and reprehensible when espousing protection of free speech and personal liberty when, in fact, it demands the opposite. Social justice is selectively intended for minorities but not for everyone. Fairness is applied discriminately. Religion of an eastern variety is acceptable; Christianity and Judaism are not. The great byword “tolerance” becomes a play on words.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has discovered leftist “bias response teams” on hundreds of college campuses. Their mission is to report to campus officials and law enforcement officers any speech or thinking that may offend by causing fear, alarm or anger. This “hate speech” could include cartoons, drawings, and other constitutionally protected communication.

College bound high school graduates will encounter liberal professors who came of age in the 1960s but did not see their Marxist dreams come to fruition. These PC professors, some of them tenured, use their positions to intimidate students. Like the totalitarians they are, they effectively rule their small corner of the world.

High school grads may have already learned not to express their opinions. Challenging the PC orthodoxy of affirmative action, racial and gender preferences, gay and lesbian studies, women’s studies, welfare reform, environmentalism or, of late, manmade climate change might stigmatize a college student leading them to be branded as a racist, sexist, homophobe, or worse. Challenging PC orthodoxy in the workplace may land a person in sensitivity training, hauled before an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hearing, or otherwise jeopardize their advancement.

Only the courageous will resist the PC movement. To ridicule PC is still the most effective weapon. Given enough wisdom and courage, the use of ridicule, mockery, parody, satire, and farce is the best way to deal with the PC fallacies of bad logic and oxymoronic disconnects. Making PC advocates a laughing stock through a variety of mediums is a sure way to disarm these cultural despots. It is infinitely important to show that the emperor has no clothes.

An edifying film from which high school grads might benefit is the German production “The Lives of Others” set in East Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. This realistic movie depicts the consummation of a totalitarian society as the Stasi (secret police) monitors East German citizens for evidence of free inquiry and open debate. PC violations are punishable offenses.

We wish the best to the new graduates as they embark upon a Brave New World of an increasingly PC society.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).