Posted on 12/09/2004 1:55:25 PM PST by nobs08
The first published use of the term political correctness occurs in Chapter 1 of Senator Robert LaFollette's Autobiography published in 1912. Speaking of his education at the University of Wisconsin, he says "In those days we did not so much get correct political and economic views, for there was then little teaching of sociology or political economy worthy the name".
Sen. La Follette of Wisconsin later ran for President in 1924 on the Progressive Party platform. The University of Wisconsin Madison campus has often been cited as the birthplace of political correctness. Donna Schalala, former Clinton Secretary of Health & Human Services and University of Wisconsin Chancellor has been called the founder of political correctness.
Here is an extended excerpt of the passage:
It is difficult, indeed, to overestimate the part which the university has played in the Wisconsin revolution. For myself, I owe what I am and what I have done largely to the inspiration I received while there. It was not so much the actual courses of study which I pursued; it was rather the spirit of the institution--a high spirit of earnest endeavor, a spirit of fresh interest in new things, and beyond all else a sense that somehow the state and the university were intimately related, and that they should be of mutual service...
I never saw Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I should say that John Bascom was a man of much his type, both in appearance and in character. He was the embodiment of moral force and moral enthusiasm; and he was in advance of his time in feeling the new social forces and in emphasizing the new social responsibilities. His addresses to the students on Sunday afternoons, together with his work in the classroom, were among the most important influences in my early life. It was his teaching, iterated and reiterated, of the obligation of both the university and the students to the mother state that may be said to have originated the Wisconsin idea in education. He was forever telling us what the state was doing for us and urging our return obligation not to use our education wholly for our own selfish benefit, but to return some service to the state...
In those days we did not so much get correct political and economic views, for there was then little teaching of sociology or political economy worthy the name, but what we somehow did get, and largely from Bascom, was a proper attitude toward public affairs. And when all is said, this attitude is more important than any definite views a man may hold.
Reading a bit of history, I think the flak Gen Patton got for "slapping a soldier" is perhaps one of the first big instances of political correctness.
Bill Lind, "The Origins of Political Correctness"
http://www.academia.org/lectures/lind1.html
[PC is the leftist/liberal method to attempt to censor speech and ideas.]
I had heard Neal Boortz say that the phrase politically correct was used by the Russians during the Bolshevic revolution.
When I was at UW-Madison, the city council had a proposal to change "alderman" to "alderperson" to remove gender bias. I wrote them a letter suggetsing "alderthing", to remove species bias as well. It was a natural for them, but they didn't bite.
Don't forget the term 'alderman' is itself politically incorrect, suggest only 'elders' have enough wisdom to lead
I believe that PC was not taken from that source.
It is a fairly modern term, derived from the notion that Politicians stated things in terms couched not to offend their constituency. Also PC came from another idea, Diplomacy.
In both cases, PC was something the Politicians were, not the individual citizens. It became enmeshed with the population when it was seen that by forcing others to some kind of speech regulation (PC), through mention of the term PC in the media, that one could get away with more.
Kind of like the laws in the Quran. One for every deviancy known to man, and some we don't want to know. To enable them to get away with evil. To enable the lawless to rule the unprotected.
Goodspeak? PC? same
bump
Or "men" for that matter. The newspeak replacement term shall be "peruvindeterminateage", Per"SON" being considered double ungood.
Bump!
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