The great thing about emotions is that they are always rational and firmly based on facts and careful considerations. Everyone is in complete control of their own emotions and only weak people lose control of them.

So back to the real world, it’s understandable why homosexuals get angry when people call bad stuff gay, or how Native Americans don’t like the term “redskin” or when decent people dislike Donald Trump calling opponents fat, ugly, disgusting, gross… Wait where was I?

Oh yeah, I’ve never understood the weird entitlement that some people feel to knowingly say disrespectful or blatantly crude comments. Donald Trump will say something ludicrously racist or even just crude and then people applaud him for not being politically correct.

He isn’t some inspirational revolutionary. He’s just a jerk.

The hatred of political correctness is so entrenched that even comments which everyone agrees are insanely hateful or ignorant get applauded simply because “they aren’t politically correct.” Political correctness is not fascist control over free speech, and you are not brave or inspirational for knowingly disrespecting someone or a group of people.

Political correctness is just a term for the guidelines of acceptable public speech and actions. Everyone is well within their right to say hateful things, but getting angry at those who condemn such speech is laughable.

The perfect example is the insane ire that some Christians feel towards the saying “Happy Holidays.” For some reason, people feel that saying Happy Holidays as opposed to Merry Christmas is a bizarre secular, liberal plot to discredit Christmas and slowly destroy Christianity.

It’s just a more inclusive saying to use if you are not sure whether the person you are speaking to is Christian or not, and if they are, no one is restricting you from saying Merry Christmas. As in all of the situations when political correctness is being attacked, simply consider being the party who could be offended by whatever is being said. Imagine being a Jew and being told Merry Christmas. It’s not that it would be some horrible offense or even remotely hurtful, but there is no reason not to try and be inclusive, especially around the holidays.

That is the crux of every political correctness argument. If you know that what you are going to say is offensive and there is an obvious way to avoid offending someone, why would you intentionally be disrespectful? Political correctness opponents are fond of saying “I’m not politically correct so get over it.”

Guess what? You don’t get to be hateful without causing anger, so get over it.

The only true logic to being worried about the rise of political correctness is that it could make public figures squeamish about addressing real issues. When politicians are scared of speaking about hard topics, they may avoid them in favor of feel-good issues.

Although it could be a problem, the point of political correctness is that it creates an inclusive society. Politicians who are genuinely trying to solve problems in a respectful manner should have little to fear from a movement which is in and of itself dealing with problems.

Respect and inclusivity are the cornerstones of productive dialogue on which democratic societies are built. Without effective communication, gridlock and partisanship shut down any progress which can be made. Emotions tangle dialogue and create divides, while political correctness allows logical solutions to be debated and agreed upon.
Will Bolton is the Perspectives Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.