The era of political correctness has made it difficult or impossible to fix our national problems. The reason is we can’t call our problems what they really are. Problems are therefore ignored when they first emerge – and would be easiest to deal with.
If the emerging problem doesn’t fix itself – and few do – people begin to talk around the problem. This leaves hearers to guess about the real problem, based on their own backgrounds and experience. Since we all bring different backgrounds and experience to the discussion, without knowing the specific problem, each of us is left to define the problem “as I see it.”
The result of “talking around the problem” and counting on listeners to “pin the tail on the donkey” is that we end up with a gaggle of different problems that more resemble a herd of cats, running in every direction. So the real problem, the one our listeners could only guess at, is left to fester. It does, becoming bigger, meaner and just downright ugly while the rest of us ignore it.
When the problem finally becomes too big to ignore, the proposed “solutions” begin to be talked about in the wider population. These people don’t know what the real problem is; they just like the sound of one or more of the “solutions” that have been bandied about. Like-minded people form themselves into special-interest groups around the various “solutions.” These special-interest groups exist not to solve the problem, but to push their pre-existing agenda, now framed as a “solution.”
Remember: No one has identified or discussed the actual problem. To do so would violate PC ethics (certainly one of the world’s great oxymorons). And the “solutions” share just one common element: They require more taxpayer money to implement (which is another way of saying they don’t cost anybody anything). Thus the “solutions” pushed by various special-interest groups have become nothing more than an excuse to promote their pre-existing special agendas.
Let’s look at it on a more personal level. A patient consults a doctor over abdominal pain. Based on the doctor’s questions and the patient’s responses, the doctor tells the patient, “Well, I think your gall bladder has got to come out.”
The patient, believing the gall bladder to have magical sexual powers, says, “Oh, no, Doctor. I’ve already had that out.”
“Well then,” says the doctor. “Can’t be that. How bad does it hurt?”
“Not bad, Doctor,” says the patient.
“Well, perhaps it is a bad bout of indigestion or food poisoning. Let’s wait a bit and see if it goes away on its own,” the doctor says.
The patient goes home to celebrate and has a nice, big, fat, juicy steak. The emergency room physician removes the patient’s gall bladder, the ambulance-chaser sues the original doctor for causing his newfound best friend grievous harm. The emergency-room doctor files a complaint alleging incompetence and breach of medical ethics against the original doctor. The insurer pays out money to the victims, and insurance rates for all doctors rise.
Since the patient has no money or insurance, the taxpayer pays the bill. A hue and cry among the population results over the attendant news stories of medical malpractice. Congressmen are alerted and line up in front of the TV cameras for their 15 minutes of fame. Presidential cabinet officials are dispatched to the morning talk shows with smartphone teleprompter apps pre-loaded with the administration’s talking points.
New laws are passed making it a criminal offense to misdiagnose the state of one’s gall bladder. And for good measure, the entire nation’s health-care system is socialized, so that everyone will have insurance and “this will never happen again.”
The real problem – that the patient lied to the original doctor about having his gall bladder removed – is never addressed. Why? Because it isn’t politically correct to point out that the witch doctor in the culture the patient came from had misinformed the patient on the function of the gall bladder.
And the final result? Well, certainly you know! High political drama about the “fiscal cliff” mesmerizes the nation, and the bureaucracy lives happily ever after.
