New Seniors

In a never-ending effort to not hurt anyone’s feelings and a desire to be liked by one and all, our communications capabilities have been weakened significantly. We are discouraged from saying what we mean because it may be too harsh. And, if we try to soften what we say, the meaning may not come through.

A recent example of this madness is the new Secretary of Homeland Security delivering a speech on terrorism without using the word “terrorism.” She referred to these acts as “man caused disasters.” Give me a break. Is this how we’re going to remember the attacks on our country back on September 11, 2001? Man caused disasters as a category fits neatly under the umbrella of “acts of God” – no one’s to blame. What about the more than three thousand people who perished as a result of a group of terrorists declaring war on the United States? If it’s a man caused disaster, then we are no longer at war with the those who are still at war with us. Think that’ll make them stop? I’m not sure if the secretary even considers these murderers “foreign combatants.” None of this makes sense, but by our silence, we demonstrate our acceptance, and thus weaken the voice of America around the world.

Although the immigration issue has been relatively quiet, since the new administration took office, primarily because of the employment situation here. It wasn’t all that long ago when those here illegally where “illegal aliens,” then they were given the new title of “undocumented workers,” and today “worker” would be the PC way of referring to them. This sounds as if they did nothing wrong by breaking the law and coming or staying here illegally. We wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings, would we? They knew they broke the law, but if we call them something that sounds as if they had no part in the crime everything will work out. And, we fall for this kind of double-talk, space-think because we don’t want to be labeled a “racist” or a “xenophobe.” In other words, go along with the PC way or we are the bad guys.

We are discouraged from saying someone is “fat” or “skinny.” “Tall” seems to be acceptable, but “short” is not. “Bald” is derogatory, yet having “long hair” is okay as long as no one makes fun of it. “Young” is an advantage; however, saying “I’m old,” which I am, is discriminatory. Go figure.

Not all the PC standards influence our lives negatively, but be careful. More and more these standards are becoming the rule rather than the exception. We need to stop people from telling us what we can or cannot say. This is America; and last time I checked it out, we still have freedom of speech. Pre-boomers ought to demonstrate to others that instead of being more politically correct, maybe people can simply be more polite.

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