What's PC.
No not Personal Computer
" Political Correctness"
Some new terms have very little impact on our daily lives, at times they bring a bit of lighthearted humor, which we could certainly do with from time to time, especially when the reports of death and destruction get a bit overbearing.
Political correctness definitely does not fall into this category.
It gives me a lot of satisfaction, to have lived in times, when political correctness never existed.
It provides me with a counter balance to offset the absurdity of it all.
Yes, you could insult anyone, without the threat of a lawsuit and all of its implications. Just the counter insult, from the other party, venting their own feelings.
Both parties got things off their chests and moved on How sweet it was.
Nowadays, especially in the Political arena, work places, TV, and Press, to name a few, everyone seems to be walking on eggshells, their interactions getting more and more introverted as the years roll on.
So where will it all end?
Well, having arrived myself I can vouch for the fact that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s called old age.
When you get into your eighties and nineties you can dump PC and call it BS.
It won’t get you anywhere towards eliminating PC, but it feels great to be able to exercise your right as a human being, and let off a bit of steam.
Will PC ever diminish or disappear? I don’t think so. A vibrant legal structure has already been developed around it, which will hold it together for a good many years to come. Even the mildest ethnic slur ignites a legal response.
Is all this advancing us towards a better way of life? The answer is an emphatic no.
Legal remedies only create greater divisions. I do not include genuine laws protecting life, limb, property or even slander and hate Just those involving word games.
I have experienced, first hand the complete opposite to political correctness.
Its outcome would be unbelievable in this complex and confused world of today but could serve as an example to us all.
My wife and I as a newly married couple arrived in Australia immediately after World War 2 as did many thousands of other immigrants from Europe looking for a better life in a country not affected by the aftermath of war.
Just imagine the existing communities across the cities and towns of Australia suddenly inundated with people from England, France, Holland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Russia, to name a few.
The cultural shock to find these foreigners flooding into areas that had been their quiet domain must have been traumatic to say the least.
I had visited Australia a couple of times whilst I was serving at sea during world war 2 and was invited into the homes of families there.
Their way of life was therefore not new to me, and I accepted it for what it was. They said it as they saw it with no holds barred.
No room for political correctness here.
Consequently, after the war when all these intruders appeared on the scene, some resentment was bound to spill over and it quickly surfaced in every day life.
The dinky di Aussie (those born in Australia) would often use cutting remarks which were at times… downright ethnic slurs. It initially manifested itself in the workplace and here is a mild example.
Australian “What’s your name Cobber”?
European “Miroslovic Zrubrakova “
Australian “Bloody hell mate, how do you expect me to remember that. I’ll call you George”
So, there you have it lots of Europeans with names like Fred, Harry, Bill, Jim, and so on.
Sounds crazy doesn’t it but it actually happened and believe it or not those names were kept for many years.
In fact, a very good friend of mine from Czechoslovakia who lived in Australia from 1949 until his death in 2007 had his name changed by deed poll, not because he had succumbed to any earlier ethnic offensive experiences, but because he now had so many Australian friends, he felt more comfortable… with the name that everyone was now accustomed to using.
What about those ethnic slurs?
As mentioned, the immense influx of immigrants into Australia in such a short period of time can hardly be compared by sheer weight of numbers to any other country. Consequently, the effect on the existing Australian population. and their reaction has to be viewed in that context. So, to vent their feelings which was a perfectly natural reaction, they would use the only tool in their arsenal. An outgoing attitude.
Australian “where do you come from mate?
Will Bonner “England “
Australian “so you’re a bloody Pommie then”
And suitable names were attached to all immigrant nationalities.
Italians… “Ities” or Wops.
Greeks…” Greasy Greeks”.
French…” Frogs”, and so on across the board.
When things got heavy going in the workplace…. with respect to social interaction, you could get confronted with the following.
“You bloody Poms come here and think you can take over the place”
or,
“Why don’t you bugger off back to Pommieland where you belong”
All the above is a mild interpretation of an atmosphere that prevailed during those early days. So how did things get resolved?
Well, if you walked away and whined, leaving things up in the air so to speak, allowing your sensibility to be damaged, you could expect the insults from some quarters to keep coming thick and fast.
On the other hand, if you adopted a method of firing back a suitable volley, in a typical Australian style, eventually, over time the rhetoric subsided into a jocular exchange, and your ethnic handle into an introductory form of endearment,
Australian “I’d like you to meet my Pommie friend”
By that time, you discovered that you had a new friend. This happened to me many, many, times during those early years, and also experienced by my friends of other nationalities It turned out to be an instinctive way forward, in a melting pot of diverse cultures, and you looked forward to the day. when he would drop the word “Pommie”.
So, what was absent during those times that allowed this natural phenomenon to happen?
Human Rights Commissions and their lawyers were thankfully non-existent.
Once you get into the courts invariably someone wins, and someone loses, and the conflict between the parties continues afterwards because their basic instincts have not been satisfied.
My Australian experience taught me that with plenty of work available ordinary folks are fully engaged in cementing a future for their families and when confronted with problems of an ethnic nature or otherwise, they are perfectly capable of sorting things out for themselves.
Today’s complex and troubled world seems to have lost that basic approach, and now turn to organizations and government entities to find solutions to their problems.
Bad news, Bad news ,Very bad news!!!!!!!
People can live together even if they insult each other; it’s a human failing, not solvable by government.
Let’s learn to absorb and not turn everything into a legal saga.
My 20 years living in Australia during the 1950’s and 60’s were very colorful ones which I look forward to writing about in future articles.
My best wishes to you all