Political correctness is the worst form of censorship, Ctd

For too long a climate of fear has installed a culture of passivity and submission and obedience among the moderate and the middle classes in Northern Ireland. It is almost universally accepted that any moderate who speaks out will do so under pain of recrimination, likely intimidation and possible physical attack. 

However when any person, group or entity wields power, there must be a check and constraints, a counter-factual, opposition and adversary. Power must be held accountable whoever wields it. All power should be mediated. 

But all we have seen is the promiscuous, indiscriminate and wilful abuse of power. Year after year. After year. After year. 

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd

@connal99 @LADFLEG It’s a valid point but the problem is the abuse ordinary members of the public get for speaking out. It silences people.
— Lyra McKee (@LyraMcKee) February 9, 2014

Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) looked at Amu Chua's new book, 'The Triple Package', in The Sunday Times here. She explained how Amy Chua has received abuse for speaking out and mentioning topics that are normally left untouched, shielded by the politically correct orthodoxy. Jenni Russell said:

"Amy Chua (@AmyChua) ignited an international firestorm among the chattering classes with her bestselling book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Her new book [The Triple Package]... is already being denounced across the Atlantic because it challenges another liberal tenet: that exploring the cultural differences between groups amounts to racism."

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd

We live in a post-Fatwa, post-Danish-cartoon age. A world where we have freedom of, but no freedom from, religion. A world where pluralism is exploited in the use against that very concept. Where liberals fail to stand up for and defend the principles they purport to live by.

Political correctness is the worst form of censorship, Ctd

Vivia Chen wrote about Amy Chua (@AmyChua), the 'Tiger Mom', in Time Magazine here:

"What's outrageous about some of the criticism against [Amy] Chua is that it essentially censors discussions that might touch a nerve. Labeling the speaker or the topic as exclusionary or racist is a quick way to undermine the legitimacy of the whole conversation. 

All of this speaks volumes about how uncomfortable we are about talking about race, ethnicity, and success in America. And that this discussion is now being propelled by the Tiger Mom makes a lot of people nervous." 

Elsewhere Douglas Murray (@douglaskmurray) noted the false spin in The Times where we were told that an expanding Muslim population in Britain is feeling British. Reassuring for the natives. However, what the story didn't tell was that how the growing young Muslim population has led to a commensurate rise is 'pubs, hospitals, houses and public buildings' being turned into 'Muslim private schools, madrassas, mosques and a Sharia court to satisfy rising demand from families.'

But we can't say anything. As Douglas Murray said:

"And since expressing any worries about the fact is undoubtedly terribly bigoted and nasty, we’ll all just have to nod our heads, keep our fingers crossed, mouth the same platitudes and all put our collective future in the hopes of Sheikh Mogra."

Previous post in the series here and here. My post on civil intolerance here. Post on journalistic self-censorship and prior restraint here. My blog post for Loyalists Against Democracy on self-censorship and the silenced majority, here.

Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship, Ctd

"Labeling a speaker as exclusionary or racist is a quick way to undermine the legitimacy of the whole conversation." http://t.co/BBV0p7XqSf
— Amy Chua (@amychua) February 2, 2014

Political correctness and fear of offending has become a horrendous societal tick. As Newton Emerson said: "Ever since the Good Friday Agreement, [snobbery] seems to be the only crime you can commit in Northern Ireland." Alex Massie spoke in equal terms here; that being offensive has become "the greatest sin imaginable." By these standards Jenni Russell (@jennirsl) has been waving her offence all around the place, breaking with the PC orthodoxy and causing a whole load of trouble. Why? For speaking facts. She has written here and here. And here in particular:

"Middle-class children are having important character traits instilled in them at home, while poorer children are not. A nursery-age child needs to have many qualities already in place when they get to school if they are to succeed. He or she needs confidence; the belief that if they try something it will work. That is the first gulf between the two groups. By the time they start school, research shows that a middle-class child will have heard six times as many words of encouragement as reprimands. A working-class child will have heard only twice as many, while a child on welfare will have been criticised twice for every word of praise."

Amy Chua, The Tiger Mother is like the America version of Jenni Russell. Harvard Professor Amy Chua and her husband have written a book 'The Triple Package'. It's got them called "racist" and "despicable". Any Chua would say she's only presenting facts, speaking plain English. Vivia Chen said in Time Magazine:

Self Censorship, Ctd Political correctness is the worst kind of censorship

Jo Swinson MP, the equalities minister announced that she wants to ban "fat talk", which The Sunday Times covered here. In response to this, India Knight wrote in The Sunday Times of December 22 2013 here:

"The actress [Jennifer Lawrence] is one of an increasingly vocal band of women — the television presenter and former model Tyra Banks being one and the equalities minister Jo Swinson being another — to call for an end to “fat shaming”, that is, to calling people fat. 

At first glance, this is a great idea, and one that clearly comes from a good place. “It should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV,” Lawrence said last week. “Because why is humiliating people funny? . . . If we’re regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat?”

Douglas Murray - Self-censorship is the worst form of censorship

Douglas Murray wrote in The Sepctator Magazine in 2011 here:

"Self-censorship is the most invidious and successful type of censorship – not just because it is self-reinforcing but because once it is people invent reasons to cover for themselves. So the worst thing that any British journal can imagine doing today is to run a cartoon of Muhammad. Not because – as they all say in public – it is insensitive, or provocative or offensive. These are all names and things that journalists rejoice in getting called. It is simply and solely (as they sometimes admit in private) because they know that they will be at some degree of risk if they do."

Nick Cohen wrote that censorship is at its most effective when no one admits it exists here: 

"Censorship is at its most effective when no one admits it exists."

Dominic Cooke said something similar in 2008 in the same magazine here:

"Many liberals, out of a fear of appearing racist, and with shared sympathy for many of the political causes that also motivate those with a fundamentalist agenda turn a blind eye to such intolerance." 

Wilbur Smith is known for saying: "Quite frankly, I think political correctness is the worst form of censorship." Al WeiWei has said also: "Censorship is saying: 'Im the who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine."