Quote of the Day
Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
(Via Maggie’s Farm, which has many links to peruse, right here.)
David Mamet independently came to the same conclusion several years later, in The Secret Knowledge:
This gave the young fellow pause, for he was not sure if my comment supported or opposed his thesis.
For, in fact, he was not sure what his thesis was, but I think it could be reduced to this: All speech should be susceptible to his review on the basis of a series of precepts which, while they could not be cogently enumerated, might be inferred from the generalized precept that all people are equal, and anyone from whose actions a dedication to this principle could not be constantly inferred was a subhuman swine. [...] But the class had ticked over into what I recognized was a usual stage of progression; someone had taken the high ground and shouted “racist,” or “homophobe,” first and loudest, and all who did not wish to be so branded must submit to his dominance, for did he not speak in the name of all the Good?
But here was my question: On leaving the university, what would these young Stalinists do? Who would pay them for the ability to bravely proclaim, “That’s not funny?” In what society could they live?