Do you remember when sports was just about sports? When sports news was actually about issues related to sports play, such as which player was assigned to what team?
Now sports is all about political correctness. The NFL's announcements lately have included their threat to keep the Super Bowl out of Arizona should a religious rights bill pass that would allow conservative Christians the right to refuse to bake gay wedding cakes (it was vetoed), and a new initiative by the NFL to ban "offensive" words such as the "n-word" of "f-word."
No, not that f-word you were thinking of, but fag, as in a cigarette (if you are in Australia or England), or a gay slur, if you are a football player giving your teammates a hard time for a fumble.
Today, the big news in sports is which player has decide to come out as gay. Tomorrow, it will be a transgender. It is only a matter of time before an NFL player will announce his desire to become a female, and yet still want to remain a football player. (When that happens, count me as the skeptical person asking who paid that guy/gal off, because as a female I can tell you right now that boobs and violent tackles do not mix!)
I have been hearing more and more people lately point out the excessive frequency gay rights issues are covered in the news, such as NPR covering three gay stories in a row. This comes from people from both sides of the argument - people who are very much against gay marriage and those who are more tolerant on the issue.
Let me make this clear that this article is not about the merits or demerits of gay marriage. It is not about the pros and cons of gun control, abortion, or any other sort of divisive wedge issue.
This article is about how the media in America approaches these issues. It is my belief that these issues are being cynically manipulated to divide the country, distract us from real issues, and create a culture of shaming that is designed to silence dissent.
In the past five years or so, political correctness has been on steroids in this country. I don't think it is an accident. Some might say this is just the media trying to push controversies to get more ratings, and there may be some truth to that, but I think there's something more.
I'm old enough to remember an America that was a lot more moderate. I was a teenager in the 80s, and that was the last decade of polite media in America. Starting in the 90s, cable television opened up a door that allowed swearing and nudity into our living rooms. But this wasn't immediately embraced - I remember when even The Simpsons was controversial, and Married With Children was a huge deal.
It's funny, but with the advent of sleaze on television we've also seen a marked increase in political correctness. We are told we need to be sensitive to diversity. We need to show actors of different races. We need to stop using certain words.
Diversity in and of itself doesn't bother me. I actually applauded when Ellen came out in the mid-90s. But the thing is, Ellen came out almost 20 years ago. Why are we still making coming out such a huge issue?
I caught a brief spot on CNN a few weeks ago about the "state of gay rights in the world." The reporting was clearly biased towards gay marriage and was in effect trying to equate efforts in America to keep marriage "traditional" with actual oppression of homosexuals in other countries.
No-one is advocating the jailing or stoning of homosexuals here in America. But the very pointed comparison was done for a purpose - to elicit a strong emotional reaction. (For what it's worth, as a libertarian I think it is absolutely ridiculous that any government thinks it has a place in anyone's bedroom...unless a rape is occurring.)
It's quite clear the mainstream media has decided to make "gay marriage" a fait accompli - the debate is over to them, and anyone who disagrees is a homophobe and hater of the worst sort.
But look at the net results of this forced political correctness on the actual bottom line of the corporations at the forefront of the charge: A&E faced a massive boycott after suspending Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty for his comments on homosexuality. The NFL has been a having hard time selling seats at games, ever since a very quiet boycott started over their anti-gun stance. CNN and MSNBC have miserable ratings...Piers Morgan just had to run back to England with his tail between his legs.
I don't actually think Americans are that different today than we were in say, in the 1980s...but the media seems to be dead set and determined to make it so...that we have evolved, and we need to move forward and change our language to go along with the new, improved America. And they don't care if they have to lose money to make their fundamental change happen.
How could they be so unconcerned with their bottom line, unless something else (or somebody else) is driving them?
What's the end game? When you start policing language, you are in effect trying to tell people what to think. You are trying to control not just their speech and behavior, but the ideas that drive them.
So let me point out a few chilling quotes from the article about the NFL possibly banning the "f-word":
“There’s going to be some fools that are going to say something, but I think most players realize, you know what, we’re in a changed society and we’ve got to wake up and go in lockstep.”
Really? Did this guy just say "lockstep"? I'm not a big fan of the word "faggot" myself, but when I'm told I need to be in "lockstep" in banning the word, it kind of makes me want to start calling everything a faggot. That loaf of bread in the grocery store: a faggot. The bundle of coins you have stashed in your safe: a faggot. The stash of pens and pencils in your desk drawer: a faggot. (Which is actually close to the original meaning of faggot: A bundle of sticks of wood.)
Here's another scary quote:
"I will be totally shocked if the competition committee does not uphold us on what we’re trying to do,” Wooten said. “We want this word to be policed from the parking lot to the equipment room to the locker room. Secretaries, PR people, whoever, we want it eliminated completely and want it policed everywhere."
WOW. Did he really say that? He wants speech monitors out in the parking lot to make sure someone doesn't use a potentially offensive word?
This country has lost its collective mind. Do we really need to go to such great lengths to protect one openly gay NFL player from insult? I'll bet that 99% of the time the term "faggot" is used by guys in a locker room, it's thrown at other straight men, and often in good humor.
Now, lest I be guilty of distracting from the real issues at hand, I'm sure quite a few of you reading this have noticed how this language policing and media propaganda affects efforts to try to educate people about the precarious nature of our financial system.
- Actually planning ahead for a potential economic collapse? You're just a crazy "prepper" or "doomer."
- Think there might be some powerful people manipulating currencies behind the scenes? You wear a "tin foil hat" and therefore must be mocked and shunned.
- Step out of line from the mainstream narrative about economic recovery? You're an "alarmist."
- How many of you reading this are white men? I hate to break it to you, but you're the bad guy...you're apparently only where you are in life due to "white privilege."
I have to say, whoever it is that came up with the strategy of labeling any and all opposition a "hater" and using wedge issues to divide people - they are an evil genius! It is the most insidious, difficult, maddening form of propaganda to overcome.
Let's take this current push to allow transgenders into opposite sex bathrooms and facilities. I, for one, as a woman, do not want men who claim to be women allowed into my gym locker room. I have very good reason to believe that some men might try to abuse that privilege. And yet, that sort of argument will be easily shouted down with charges of "Hater! Transphobe!"
I'm waiting for the day when Texas tries to pass a "bathroom safety" law designed to protect women from predators, and the media is going to start howling about how Texans hate transgenders. The women's gym I go to? It will be forced to admit men, all in the name of tolerance - so even something formerly feminist (a women-only gym as a safe place for females to work out without being harassed) will be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
They've set it up that any reasonable concern can be painted as a hate crime as long as it involves some sort of minority group.
If you haven't read Animal Farm by George Orwell yet, please do. It is a quick read, but very aptly describes the sort of crazymaking psycho-psychology that tyrants use to bend citizens to their will. It involves a heck of a lot of doublespeak, hypocrisy, and false concern.
If Orwell were alive today, I'm sure he'd be writing a book about a future world in which sexuality and race are used as a weapons against freedom.
If political correctness in America is left unchecked and reaches a frightening, hysterical crescendo, we can be sure to experience scenes like this from Animal Farm: "they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes."
It's already starting. Right now, we live in a world in which whites are to be punished for not welcoming more minorities in their communities, but when whites move to minority communities, they are blasted for their intrusion. Heaven forbid services improve when wealthy white people move into an area!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. That is the hallmark of the psychotic tyranny imposed by a political correctness that can never be satiated, never satisfied.
Just give up, you can't win. That's what they want you to believe.
The way to fight this insanity? We all need to stand up for freedom of speech and freedom of thought. We need to speak up for free speech - especially speech that offends us. We need to roll our eyes at anyone who gets their panties in a twist over certain words and phrases. We need to defuse political correctness by not letting our buttons get pushed.
And by the way, if you are just a metals trader or stacker and think none of the affects you, think again. I hate to break it to you, but you are officially "The Fringe." The Powers That Be may try to come for your gold and silver someday. And when they do, they are going to do it by painting you all as crazy people. They are going to say you are dangerous. They are going to justify taking your money and food because by "hoarding" you aren't doing your part by spreading the wealth around. Better start fighting the propaganda now, while you still have time.
Does that make me "tin foil hat"? So be it. I'll wear it proudly.
“Four legs good, two legs better! All Animals Are Equal. But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm
Stephanie blogs sporadically at a number of websites, including Freeople and Free Thinking Christianity.
