MAY 10, 2013
The Rules of Political Correctness
Many people find Political Correctness confusing. It can be so hard to know what to say, especially when poor oppressed minorities are fighting each other. But you just have to follow a few simple rules and soon you'll be ready to work in the public sector, dine with the intelligentsia, or even write a column for the Guardian. What's more, you'll have a complete system of belief that is impervious to rational argument and which guarantees you permanent moral superiority without any effort. You just have to remember the following:
Rule One: The whole of humanity can be neatly divided into a small number of groups, based on race, gender, sexual orientation and class. The world isn't nearly as complex as people say.
Rule Two: Each group consists entirely of Victims or Oppressors. Oppressors will always try to dominate and Victims will always try to resist. Co-operation between Victims and Oppressors is impossible. Therefore society is a zero-sum game played by two teams.
Rule Three: Victims are always blameless and Oppressors are always guilty. It follows that the demands of Victims must always be supported and the demands of Oppressors must always be opposed. It also follows that cultural diversity is to be encouraged, as long as its effect is to reduce the influence of Oppressor groups.
Rule Four: Groups should be designated as Oppressors or Victims according to their position in the social hierarchy in the early 1960s, when civilisation is assumed to have begun. Any apparent social changes since that time can be safely ignored on the grounds that they merely obscure the underlying power structures.
Rule Five: Victims must by definition be powerless, so the powerful must always be Oppressors. America is the most powerful nation on Earth so logically it must also be the biggest Oppressor and therefore must always be opposed with particular vehemence.
Rule Six: Each individual is completely and permanently defined by the group to which he or she belongs. It follows that nobody can ever change from Victim to Oppressor or vice-versa. To do so would also violate Rule Three, since it would require a Victim to adopt behaviour that was not blameless and an Oppressor to adopt behaviour that was not guilty. Oppressors may do penance for their crimes by turning against their own group, but they can never achieve the moral purity of true Victims.
Rule Seven: Victims might fail to express the correct attitudes for their group as a result of False Consciousness. Oppressors will usually lie. Therefore Victims should only be represented by enlightened activists who understand their true condition, and Oppressors should be silenced.
Rule Eight: Victims must be given preferential treatment to compensate for their oppression. But their status as Victims is immutable, so they will always have a right to further privileges.
Rule Nine: Acts of hatred or violence committed by Victims are a natural reaction to their oppression and are therefore the fault of the Oppressors. Acts of hatred or violence committed by Oppressors are proof of their innate evil.
Rule Ten: Any failure to obey these rules will only benefit the Oppressors at the expense of the Victims, so to question them is itself an act of oppression. It follows that no other opinions can exist, since anyone who disagrees must be an Oppressor and therefore wrong.
Rule One: The whole of humanity can be neatly divided into a small number of groups, based on race, gender, sexual orientation and class. The world isn't nearly as complex as people say.
Rule Two: Each group consists entirely of Victims or Oppressors. Oppressors will always try to dominate and Victims will always try to resist. Co-operation between Victims and Oppressors is impossible. Therefore society is a zero-sum game played by two teams.
Rule Three: Victims are always blameless and Oppressors are always guilty. It follows that the demands of Victims must always be supported and the demands of Oppressors must always be opposed. It also follows that cultural diversity is to be encouraged, as long as its effect is to reduce the influence of Oppressor groups.
Rule Four: Groups should be designated as Oppressors or Victims according to their position in the social hierarchy in the early 1960s, when civilisation is assumed to have begun. Any apparent social changes since that time can be safely ignored on the grounds that they merely obscure the underlying power structures.
Rule Five: Victims must by definition be powerless, so the powerful must always be Oppressors. America is the most powerful nation on Earth so logically it must also be the biggest Oppressor and therefore must always be opposed with particular vehemence.
Rule Six: Each individual is completely and permanently defined by the group to which he or she belongs. It follows that nobody can ever change from Victim to Oppressor or vice-versa. To do so would also violate Rule Three, since it would require a Victim to adopt behaviour that was not blameless and an Oppressor to adopt behaviour that was not guilty. Oppressors may do penance for their crimes by turning against their own group, but they can never achieve the moral purity of true Victims.
Rule Seven: Victims might fail to express the correct attitudes for their group as a result of False Consciousness. Oppressors will usually lie. Therefore Victims should only be represented by enlightened activists who understand their true condition, and Oppressors should be silenced.
Rule Eight: Victims must be given preferential treatment to compensate for their oppression. But their status as Victims is immutable, so they will always have a right to further privileges.
Rule Nine: Acts of hatred or violence committed by Victims are a natural reaction to their oppression and are therefore the fault of the Oppressors. Acts of hatred or violence committed by Oppressors are proof of their innate evil.
Rule Ten: Any failure to obey these rules will only benefit the Oppressors at the expense of the Victims, so to question them is itself an act of oppression. It follows that no other opinions can exist, since anyone who disagrees must be an Oppressor and therefore wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment