I suspect the politically correctness that seems so prevalent today is strongly in the "there is no right way or wrong way" corner. I beg to differ.
I will concede there may indeed be no right or wrong path to a destination but there are indeed universal destinations that are not open to discussion. Some things really are black or white. Those things may well vary by cultural norms but I'd love to hear an explanation for slavery being right. For murder being right. For rape being right. Explain to me how protecting the weaker members of a society is wrong. How can respecting others be wrong?
There are of course many more but I think my point is made.
We as individuals and societies may well subjectively choose the means to a specific end but when that end is a fair and just society then there are absolutes involved. And certainly no society has gotten that absolutely right as of yet. No matter what you may hear to the contrary by the chest thumpers.
slavery, rape, violence, murder, abusing the weak, children- of course there is absolutely nothing right about them. punishing, or better reeducating, the evildoers is the thread of survival, and the way of getting the freedom to live free and grow. my own version of political correctness, however, aside from the above mentioned issues, and the evil of dogfood and hovels for veterans and those who have worked hard all their lives and can't afford more, runs along the lines of "you want to do it, do it, but leave me alone." With a slight tinge of "explain this to me, don't make it into a power game." and I agree with you, that there is no such thing as an absolute- make one simple change, see how it works, go with the flow, change the next thing if needed. It's my personal opinion, that machines are just that, machines, and the continous interaction with machines is changing our human skills. Or has anyone but me noticed, that when you come in tired at night and turn on the tube, you get not people with ideals helping and coping in an idealized but positive manner, but vampires, werewolves, unicorns. Isn't it time the catholic church puts non-human and negative forces telling us what to do on the Index? Oh, and did I mention what I think of "shaming?"
ReplyDeleteYour entire post is right. That is something that has been drilled into you as a solid middle class liberal American. You are smack dab on the middle in the distribution curve. The right tail and the left tail will have serious objections in terms of defining what is right and wrong for each of their own groups!
ReplyDelete