This year has seen the United States descend into chaos and anarchy. All because people are afraid to speak out. The past several decades have led to an atmosphere of apprehension on many political fronts. In particular, when it comes to conversation and writing. Today everyone is concerned with being "politically correct." We prefer to keep silent rather than expose ourselves to disagreement, ridicule, scorn, ire, and in general vulnerability. Herein lies a big problem. How can we have any discourse or debate relevant to ideas, political or otherwise, if we are afraid to voice our opinions? What happens to creativity in such an environment?
Much of what has happened, I attribute to "political correctness." We have seen how opponents ridicule opposing ideas. Those espousing these ideas are also subject to ridicule and scorn. Rather than find ourselves in this situation, we prefer to remain silent, acquiesce, and allow our silence to become our voice. We prefer to avoid any confrontation.
Over the weekend, I watched a movie set in a fantasy medieval world. At one point, the villainess of the story said, "there is only one thing humans crave more than their freedom that is order." I was immediately struck by the phrase, finding it to be true even in this real world. We have surrendered many of our freedoms, livelihoods, mobility, social interaction, and decision-making power to a few individuals. All this in favor of a sense of order amid the chaos created by the threat of COVID-19. Who is truly to blame?
We continue to live in an ever more chaotic world, as anarchists take to the streets bullying, battering, looting, and destroying businesses, homes, cars, and personal property all in the name of "political correctness." All the while, we allow this to happen because we believe we have no voice or prefer to avoid making our voices heard. This holds true for all of the politicians who have sided with the anarchists. There is one way, however, we can make our voices heard. We can vote our conscience in the upcoming election. We can remove from office all of those trampling upon our freedoms, rights, and liberties.
