encoded notions

I was thinking about The Bill of No Rights recently while reading about some current news item or something.

You do not have the right to never be offended.

That’s bit about the freedom of speech that a lot of whiney people tend to forget. There is a certain subset of this whiney group that I will refer to as Morons (for lack of a better term); they are the people who bemoan degrading phrases and word choices in favor of Political Correctness.

Oh. I’m sorry. Forgive me if my choice of words and phrases demeans you or casts you in a light that you wouldn’t like. I mean, we wouldn’t want bipedally challenged to think that they are handicapped. We wouldn’t want administrative assistants to think that they are doing a secretary’s job. We wouldn’t want the people with a severe mental disorder to think that they are crazy or insane. We wouldn’t want the less fortunate to find out that they are poor.

Political Correctness is just clever way to dull the truth from some people. Where once you would have used very strong, decisive words to describe something in black and white terms, now the tendency is to choose more evasive words that end up leaving a grey taste in your mouth. (synesthesia anyone?)

The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
Philip K. Dick

Words are intimately tied up in the perceptions we have about something. Each time one word or phrase is chosen over another, the thing you are describing is changed. Tendencies in language percolate backwards into our thoughts given time. I don’t want my thoughts and opinions put in an artificial cage. I would appreciate it if everyone started acting like they still have the ability to express themelves irregardless of what other people think. They haven’t lost that ability yet, but the prognosis isn’t very hopeful.