The downfall of political correctness

From a report in The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday. JOHN Howard, who is reading Keith Windschuttle's controversial The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, takes satisfaction that he has contributed to a changed Australia, has reversed "the tide of political correctness". He says: "Australia is more self-confident, it doesn't feel the need to explain itself, we don't have perpetual self-identity seminars any more."

Howard recalls reading Samuel Huntington's The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order which lists Australia as a "torn country" for its debate during the Keating years on whether it was part of Asia or part of Europe, although the author says it does not have the characteristics of other torn countries such as Mexico and Turkey. Howard says he read it some years after he became Prime Minister and was outraged. "When you think about that, it is ludicrous," he says.

He likens it to the debate about how to celebrate Christmas and dismisses it as political correctness gone mad. "I've never had a Jew or a Muslim say to me I find that [celebrating Christmas] offensive, in the same way that the countries we interact with in the region don't expect us to pretend to be other than who we are." Howard identifies the rejection of much political correctness by ordinary people showing self-confidence as the single biggest change to Australia during his years as Prime Minister and predicts "it is a lasting confidence".

As much as I wish political correctness was dead, it's not. However I have noticed that there has been a real shift in the wider Aussie community away from political correctness and other banners of the left and towards more conservative ideas and outlook.

It's a quiet shift, nothing that smacks you in the face, but there has definately been a shift. It's a bunch of little things that when you add it up amounts to something big going on.

The re-election of John Howard to his forth term with an increased majority (unheard of in Australian politics) is the most visible sign of the shift. Then there's the growth of conservitive Christianity (mostly evangelical). I talk to a lot of people and I'm increasingly detecting a more conservative outlook, a willingness to seriously listen to conservative ideas to solve problems that the left previously had a stranglehold on.

Does this mean that Australia is a conservative paradise? Hell no (although compared to Europe we are), we still have alot of left wing strongholds and the decades of damage and brainwashing done by the left will take a long time to repair.

We haven't won the war, but I think we've largely stopped their advance, and in some areas we've got them on the run.

Maybe, just maybe, there's hope for us Aussies yet.

PC will continue to thrive, because it is the liberals' method of censorship. PC is designed to frame and limit debate by making specific issues/concepts/ideas 'distasteful and not open to discussion' and trying to keep them off the main screen.

Notice, however, how PC continues to move the line in the sand. What was acceptable yesterday, may not be today. The purveyors of PC are neither consistent nor constant.

The one PC that continues to fascinate me is this:

Early 1900s reference to colored
Mid 1900s colored changed to Negro
Late 1960s Negro changes to Black
Early 1970s Black changes to Afro-American
Early 1980s Afro-American is changed to African-American
1990s Black is sort of back in; sort of out; African-American is sort of in; sort of out
Early 2000s Black/African-American is replaced by .... People of Color [see Early 1900s reference]

Almost full circle.

The point is, PC doesn't remain consistent nor constant. It has to keep changes, basically to keep people off guard. But, make no mistake, PC is not just harmless changes. PC is intended to be divisive and to instigate problems/issues. It has a long term political agenda right out of the socialist play-book. It is a method of bending society and changing the fabric of our culture. PC makes issues when none existed beforehand.

I think about this a lot because I read so much history.

How far back does this go? Humanity has developed and populated the earth over time and this has taken place, invariably, at the expense of less developed and less populace cultures. Even in cases where numerically inferior 'invaders' clash with larger groups, the more technologically advanced group wins over. This is not to say that one group has a right to exist over and above another, but NO ONE and NO THING is altogether responsible for the momentum of human development on earth. Cultural sensitivity is necessary but nothing will EVER stop the perpetual development of human events and the movement of populations and ideas...absolutely NOTHING. So, stop agonizing over it. It just IS that way.

I wish it(PC) were deader than Kelsey's nuts. I am outraged by damage done to history by the PC Nazis.

e.g. Senator/General James J. Shields was an Irish immigrant from Dungannon, Co.Tyrone. His uncle had served in the American Revolution and visited home before returning to Ohio. It was here that young Shields learned of America's greatness and decided to grow up with this new country. After serving as a merchant seaman and being shipwrecked on at least two occasions, Shields made his way to Illinois in 1830's.

Educated in Irish hedge schools because he was Catholic, Shields was at home in Irish, English, Latin, & French. He taught school and studied for the bar. He took part in the Blackhawk Wars and was later appointed to the post of Auditor General and save the State from bankruptcy. He was then appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court.

A lifelong Democrat, Shields incurred the enmity of Whig Abraham Lincoln, who lampooned Shields in letters to the Sangamo Journal. Lincoln for all of his wit and humanity went too far - Shields challenged him to a duel in 1842. Lincoln backed down and the occasion remained a source of embarssement for the Future President.

When War was declared with Mexico, Shields was appointed brigadier general of Volunteers. At Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec, and Mexico City ( where Shields was first to raise the American Flag) he was cited for gallantry and brevetted Major General. At Cerro Gordo, Shields was shot through the lungs and was saved by a captured Mexican surgeon who passed a silk scarf through his wounds.

After the War Polk appointed Shields Governor General of Oregon, but resigned to accept the nomination and election as Senator for Illinois. Shields was prominent in the Compromise of 1850 and was instrumental in bringing California in to the Union. Lincoln engineered Shields' defeat by throwing his support behind Lyman Trumbull, in order to block Sen. Stephan Douglas. Shields moved to Minnesota where he founded several settlements and was elected Senator of that State.
Shields later travelled to California and operated a mining company. He was in New Mexico when the Civil war broke out and immediately returned to Illinois. Lincoln appointed Shields Brigadier General and in the Shenandoah Campaign defeated Stonewall Jackson at Kernstown - he was the only Union General to earn this honor. Shields resigned his commission on a point of honor - when Lincoln sent in his name for appointment to Major General, the arch-Republican Stanton and Halleck halted the process - too many Catholic Democrats were already generals in their army.
Shields was elected Senator for Missouri and died in 1879.
James J. Shields three time general of volunteers, three time Senator for three different States. Hero in three Wars, businessman, legislator, judge, teacher, lawyer, husband, father, and settler is known but slightly to Americans. Compare his exploits to the PC heroes and heroines in today's textbooks. It is monstrous.

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