The scourge of political correctness

INTOLERANCE towards the opinions of others is not something the human race can be proud of. 

It is the last refuge of those who, unable to debate, resort to sanctimonious posturing, undermining or twisting the opinions of their adversaries. 

Newspaper columnists enjoy greater freedom than do journalists. Simon Heffer: “This is, in theory, still a free country, but our politically correct, censorious times are such that many of us tremble to give vent to perfectly acceptable views for fear of condemnation.  Freedom of speech is thereby imperilled, big questions go undebated, and great lies become accepted, unequivocally as great truths.”

Disagreement is an agreeable part of human dialogue; it is essential to human progress and understanding.  If open debate is ever jackbooted then the candles of liberty will be doused throughout Europe.  

Freedom to express an opinion is meaningless unless an alternative persuasion is encouraged, listened to and accepted for what it is; a belief.  There is no more effective intimidatory sanction that the self-righteous finger-wagging of the politically correct lobby.  Censorship, denial of opinion or deliberate misinterpretation and news spin makes us no better than were the Soviets.  

“It is not exactly forbidden to say this or that or the other, but it is ‘not done’.

Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in highbrow periodicals.”

Peter Hitchens said much the same as did George Orwell:  “Is there any point in public debate in a society where hardly anyone has been taught how to think, while millions have been taught what to think?”

There is nothing more liberating, educational and inspiring than to listen to informed opinion without it being ridiculed or denied.  If zealots fail to control our interpretation of world events they then resort to gagging or sneering at dissident opinion.  

Have we then entered an information Dark Ages?  Is conventionally published news of world events without value because it is first spun to shape readers opinions?  On the contrary, I think we are entering a period of enlightenment thanks to the freer flow of broader opinion via the internet.

It is possible for me, a world watcher and geopolitical enthusiast, when scanning newspaper readers comments, to separate those reliant on mainstream media from the better informed.  

Had the internet been invented earlier, I think WW2 would have been avoided as war with modern Russia will.  Why, people today are rightfully more cynical of their country’s warmongering propaganda and territorial ambitions.

Many true idealists, free-thinkers have migrated to the internet. They are not looking at world events through the narrow aperture of the media’s periscope.   As whistle-blower Julian Assange says: “This generation is burning the mass media to the ground. We are reclaiming our rights to world history.”