Political correctness - Bullying of the very worst kind

WE SEEM to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to get others to behave like ourselves or to share our beliefs in the things and ideas we hold dear.

Ideas we often hold to be better and more important than those cherished by others.

We no longer send many pale, tightly shorn young men to warm, far away places — or, as it was known in a more-direct time, Darkest Africa — to spread the values of Christianity and, sometimes, ground hurling.

These innocent young men, often straight from the seminary, “took up the white man’s burden” and tried to spread their version of civilisation and religion in a continent bewilderingly rich in resources and cultures.

Extremism takes many forms and operates at many different levels. In the unfortunate city of Basra, once a liberal place, at least 40 women have been killed this year because they did not adopt the dress codes required by the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council. Let’s repeat that just in case it did not register as it should: More than 40 women died because they did not dress as religious fanatics might wish. Incomprehensible as it may be to a Western mind these women, mothers, daughters and sisters were murdered over a dress code.

Though at the opposite end of the spectrum from killing women who choose not to wear the hijab or chador, having ads pulled from television because offence was taken where none was meant; censuring a toy show over what was perceived as sexual stereotyping; brow beating a chain store into ending fur sales; forcing play groups to drop nativity plays and banning firemen from flying the flag of their country during the Rugby World Cup represents the same puritanical, intolerant, soulless, intemperate and humourless rationale.

All of it genuine, stultifying baa humbug.

Already this week two businesses have had to capitulate to politically correct bullying.

Telecommunications company Meteor felt it necessary to drop a wonderful television ad because sufficient heat was generated by people who could not see beyond their noses and imagined that it was ageist.

In reality the ad poked fun at the commercialism and greed that surrounds Christmas and our view of old people as no more than legacies-in-waiting.

Of course, Meteor are delighted as the coverage generated by the idiotic condemnations will give the company more publicity than they imagined possible when they produced the ad.

The Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) rejoiced early this week, saying the Brown Thomas decision not to sell furs anymore “was the best Christmas present”.

Most certainly there is unpleasantness involved in fur farming, just as there is in all industrial farming. So if fur farming is naughty, what about intensive turkey farming? Unless ARAN are protesting outside poultry farms this week you can see their arguments for what they are — begrudgery informed by hypocrisy.

One of the basic and most irritating tenets of political correctness is the ability, indeed enthusiasm, to take offence where none was intended. Another is believing that by changing the vocabulary of a situation it changes the reality of that situation.

Undoubtedly there are many phrases in common usage that carry a latent hostility and do cause genuine and intended offence. Changing these phrases will not end the offence just dress it in a different vocabulary. The reality is that people do offend each other, usually because they disagree. The offence might be unnecessary and unwelcome but agreement is not obligatory.

The problem with political correctness is that it is a refuge for the bewildered and politically unaware who will climb aboard any bandwagon that will have them; it’s a transient fashion rather than a set of principles.

It is no more than social bullying and like all bullying it should be confronted without ambiguity.

Stuff political correctness.