The revolution will be complete when the language is perfect
Political correctness is in my opinion an attempt at controlling the masses by influencing the language and the thought process of the people. How many times have you said something only to be told that you should not say it because it is not politically correct? That does not mean that what you said is not relevant or true, it simply means you should not say it.
When this happens you are attacked as a racist, or as being insensitive, or as a misogynist, or as being anti-this or anti-that all for expressing an opinion on a divisive issue. In some cases this might be true but in many cases it is not.
This is purposely done to intimidate a person into not speaking his or her mind, but worse yet it is designed to change your way of thinking into falling in line with whatever agenda you may oppose for fear of being ostracized by the public when in fact the first amendment was designed to protect your right to say what is not “politically correct.”
The Most recent example of this, as well chronicled by Jim at Asylum Watch, is on the issue of illegal immigration. As Jim points out the terminology has changed over the years from ‘illegal immigrant’ to ‘undocumented alien’ to ‘migrant’ and now the push is on to designate some illegal immigrants as ‘refugees.’
Why it this being done? For the very reason I mentioned above; it is designed to change the mindset of the American people by changing the language. A person can oppose illegal immigration but what kind of cold-hearted person can oppose refugees seeking asylum from an oppressive regime? So the language is changed to influence the mindset of the masses and destroy all opposition.
Recently I wrote a post about thesaurus.com and what that website lists as synonyms to the term ‘obstructionist’ and included in that list are right-wingers, traditionalists, rightists, and rednecks. This was done once again to influence the language by painting a certain group of people as being against what the establishment considers to be progress.
But there was one synonym that I found to be quite interesting and that was ‘unprogressive.’ That term is quite Orwellian indeed in my opinion. In George Orwell’s ‘1984’ Big Brother looked to stifle individuality by limiting the thought of the people by shrinking their vocabulary a little bit at a time over a period of time.
In that book George Orwell also said “the revolution will be complete when the language is perfect” and I have been thinking about that quite a bit in recent days. The establishment is constantly trying to perfect the language.
What is this if it is not an attempt at completing the revolution by perfecting the language to shame people into falling in line with the agenda? When this is accomplished the establishment is sure to think this is doubleplusgood…
Political correctness–while some have called it intellectual fascism–is nothing more than what George Orwell called Newspeak.
America's Watchtower 
Very well done and an astute observation. It is thought control. Complete with the thought police coming into power.
Not sure if this will get caught in your spam filter but this may be of interest. I was working on it.
FEC chair warns of chilling regulations, book ban on conservative publishers washex.am/1A7buUh#.U9KF8… via @DCExaminer
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Thank you and I did read a story on the FEC changing the regulations on Paul Ryan’s book but I never got to that story.
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Well done, Steve! The only thing Orwell missed was the year. Everything else is playing out as he foretold.
Which Little Miss Piggy will be our next more equal pig?
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Thank you Jim. To answer your question that would most likely be Hillary. But of course that mow makes me a misogynist. 🙂
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In 1949 when Orwell predicted the power of “Big Brother” and the control of language that we have today, I imagine 1984 seemed like a time in the ‘not too distant future’. That time is now. Do you remember what Big Brother was trying to punish? THOUGHT CRIMES! If Big Brother says 2+2=5, then it does. If the media says Hamas is the victim, then it is.
Dennis Prager uses the abbreviation SIX HERB as shorthand for what the left loves to “carpet bomb” us with, “sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, bigoted.”
My only question is WHY IS IT SO EFFECTIVE?
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Yes, this is not only about limiting free speech but also about limiting thought. It is effective because in the end most people are worried about how they are perceived whether it is the truth or not so in the end they just keep silent. Which means it is working…
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This is a homo-zeno-islam-latin-migrant-trans-ophobe post!
Im offended
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LOL, looks like a covered all the bases.
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This one language reminds me of a time of old: “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” A historical city and tower being built by the ‘collective’ into Heaven – before the LORD ‘confused their languages and scattered them abroad’. Genesis 11. The importance of Language.
Good assessment Steve – you pin the use of ‘ridicule’ and manipulation.
You’ve not been taking your ‘zombie’ pills, consequently a non-compliant to the system … an obstruction to the Regime.
Good for you! 😊
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Thank you. Yeah, I guess in this case the synonym for obstructionist is accurate.
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Great post, Steve.
Many of the problems we have in America either stem from, or manifest themselves, in political correctness. I am afraid it will be our ultimate downfall.
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Thanks Larry!
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Reblogged this on thescottcarpdream.
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Thank you.
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Reblogged this on Dead Citizen's Rights Society.
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Thank you.
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Reblogged this on BLOGGING BAD w/Gunny G ~ "CLINGERS-AMERICA!".
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Thank you.
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It works both ways, of course – I’m reminded of the abortion debate, where one side wraps itself in the “pro-life” flag while trying to tag the other as “anti-life” or “pro-abortion” or, in the most egregious example, part of a “culture of death.” The other side tags itself as “pro-choice” and is now characterizing the “pro-lifers” as “pro-birth” and “anti-choice.”
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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I can always count on TGY to throw out a challenge. My immediate reaction is that TGY’s example is nothing like what we are talking about. But why?
Steve’s point has nothing to do with open honest debate, opposing views, or even our desire to describe and promote our beliefs in as positive and flattering way as possible while trying to show why the other side is wrong. That was basic to my time in speech and debate.
What is new and different here is the desire to skip the honest debate, and simply dismiss the opposition with FALSE labels. I admit that I don’t support changing the definition of marriage and support Clintion’s DOMA. I accept the label traditionalist. I accept the label anti gay marriage. I DON’T accept the FALSE label of homophobic, hater etc. I accept the label of “pro-life” and if you want, maybe “anti-choice” but not the FALSE label of sexist or intolerant. I don’t believe there is sufficient science to show man made climate change, but Obama gives me the FALSE label of “flat earther”. I support voter ID, but reject the FALSE label of racist. THAT is the essence of this discussion; false labels! ( again, SIX HERB) Just like I said, 2+2=5 is a FALSE label and that is what the left tries to do every day with the help of the media and the elitist universities, they want to “re-brand” us using carefully crafted pejoratives that fit their narrative and avoid have any serious debate.
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Well said Bruce!
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Speaking of FALSE narratives Steve, did you see in the news that the government sponsored Russian TV news announced that the plane shot down over Ukraine was actually flight MH17, the Indonesian plane lost in the Indian Ocean, shipped back to the Netherlands, flown by robots filled with the dead bodies from the original flight?
The sad part is that this story is no more honest or factual than the lefts’ “war on women” fable.
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What challenge? Steve’s post is accurate – I just pointed out that it’s not only the libs who push emotionally-laden labels, even if they’re not quite accurate – or not quite as accurate as existing terminology. And I gave a few examples.
Another example comes from the GWBush presidency, during which a bill whose intent was to loosen the restrictions on the emissions coal plants were permitted to spew into the atmosphere – its name was along the lines of “Clean Air Bill.” And let’s not forget the USA PATRIOT Act – deemed so crucial to the nation’s survival that members of Congress weren’t afforded enough time to read it before they had to vote on it . . . but which then languished for two weeks before the president found time in his busy schedule to sign it.
Anyway, Steve’s point is valid – control of the language is essential to control of society. Mine is just as valid – both sides are working overtime to seize control of the language.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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Eh, Bruce, do you mean MH370? MH17 IS the designation of the flight shot down over the Ukraine.
The Russian machine got embarrassed on this one – a few weeks before MH17 was shot down, they were bragging about how the rebels had acquired surface-to-air missiles – in fact, they actually used them to down a couple of Ukrainian aircraft.
When MH17 was shot down, Russian media had to backpeddle like mad, and even removed from its website and twitter feed any mention of the rebels’ acquisition of the missiles, as well as any references to their new-found ability to shoot planes from the sky.
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TGY, I think Bruce meant the word ‘challenge’ as a compliment, as in you challenge him to think.
I think the examples you used in this comment are great examples; who could be opposed to clean air and who could be opposed to the PATRIOT Act in the wake of 9/11? A perfectly named billed designed to draw support with the American people and without that act perhaps we would not be talking about the NSA spying program today.
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Yes TGY, I was trying to say the Russians are saying that MH17 was MH370.
“According to the report on Russia’s News2 website, the Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing flight that disappeared on March 8 was in fact taken to an American military base on Diego Garcia, an atoll in the Indian Ocean.
A translation of the Russian report reads: “Then it was taken to Holland. On the necessary day and hour, it flew out, bound for Malaysia, but inside were not live people, but corpses. The plane was flown not by real pilots; it was on autopilot. Or takeoff (a complicated procedure) was executed by live pilots, who then ejected with parachutes. Then the plane flew automatically.
“In the necessary spot, it was blown up, without even using a surface-to-air missile. Instead the plane was packed with a bomb, just like the CIA did on 9/11.”
As I said, that is one hell of a FALSE narrative.
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Yep. I’m also aware of a recent North Korean piece in which they claimed to have won the world cup, beating Brazil (I forget what score they claimed). Even more recently, I saw articles with a video, similar to the jibjab videos of years ago, spoofing the young Kim running North Korea – superimposing his head on the bodies of people dancing. North Korea is loudly whimpering that the video holds their dear leader up to ridicule and disrespect. Uh, guys . . .
Any, this collection of mendacity demonstrates that the big lie is an easy tactic when you live in a controlled society. It’s somewhat tougher in societies like ours, especially today when claims are routinely examined within minutes of issuing forth from he mouths of politicians and pundits alike.
Do both sides lie? Of course – and that extends to the labelling issue we’re discussing. Referring again to the abortion debate, recall that the anti-abortion side years ago strenuously relabeled itself pro-life, when “anti-abortion” is far more accurate (anti-choice is also more accurate than “pro-life”). Note also that some “pro-lifers” seem to have painted themselves into an ideological corner, claiming even that pregnancies resulting from rpe or incest should be carried to term because the baby is a gift from God. This contributes to the movement afoot in the pro-choice community now to relabel the anti-abortion people “pro-birth.”
Do I excuse the lies because both sides do it? Of course not. Two wrongs never make a right. I’m just pointing out an unfortunate reality.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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You hit it dead on TGY, you got to the heart of the issue, “the big lie is an easy tactic when you live in a controlled society”. I am convinced that a controlled society it exactly what the radical left wants. That is what I think Steve is talking about, and that is what I think the PC movement is all about. In Orwell’s book, the point of Newspeak is to create a controlled society. The question then is, how close to the goal of a controlled society are we? With what we know about the IRS and NSA scandal alone, I think we are very close.
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No, Bruce, the sky isn’t falling. Think back a few short years, when any voice raised in opposition to the president’s policies was declared to be “emboldening our enemies” and characterized as just a shade this side of treason. Thankfully, the efforts to suppress those dissenting voices were unsuccessful, and today many more people realize that those dissenters were correct in their assessment of many of the president’s policies, especially the invasion of Iraq and the USA PATRIOT Act.
TGC and may God bless us all!
TGY
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Yes, the internet can be a wonderful thing because it allows us access to information. This is why so many people fear the FCC getting involved in the internet. Their intentions may be well intended but once they have a foot in the door all bets are off because over time we feel that they will look to expand their power.
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TGY, there is no doubt that this happens on both sides but when it comes to labeling the opposition there are more examples of this happening on the left in my opinion. But I happen to agree with you on the PATRIOT Act; people who were opposed to this were labeled as unpatriotic but they were right all along.
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Yeah, I do not deny that it works both ways. Both sides use rhetoric instead of honest debate. And you forgot the left uses abortion as part of the ‘war on women.’ 🙂
I don’t think your example quite lives up to my point though. Sure rhetoric is being used by both sides on the abortion issue but not to the level of what we are seeing elsewhere. The ‘culture of death’ much like the ‘war on women’ rhetoric is used to gain support for an issue but, but that only appeals to those who already support those positions and is not at the same level as political correctness at its worst where people are intimidated into silence.
But it is a point well-taken.
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I think you make a critical distinction Steve. Yes, I use the term “challenge” in exactly the sense of clarifying.my analysis.
TGY, in reading your post I see two points, 1) everyone is doing it so no big deal 2) it is just a matter of false advertising.
What I steadfastly believe, and what I understand you to say in the opening comment is that the current push for “political correctness” is light years beyond false advertisement or mislabeling, rather it actually IS the “Newspeak” Orwell predicts, i.e. a deliberate policy to CONTROL behavior BY controlling language, and thus thought. The radical left want’s to IMPOSE controls on the opposition with FALSE labels in order to marginalize those who disagree.
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