Nothing is as it seems these days (Juan Gris, Still Life with a Bordeaux Bottle, 1919; Wikimedia, PD-Old-70)
The sources of euphemism and political correctness are too close to be seen.
The Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski spent the better part of the 50s and 60s attempting to create a (Soviet Communist-) Socialism with a Human Face.Some of his more important attempts are collected in Toward a Marxist Humanism: Essays on the Left Today.The failure to square the circlewas one of the things that forcedKolakowski into exile in the West. His success in documenting the failure of real-existing socialismin his magisterial three-volume The Main Currents of Marxism made him a short-term pariah among Western Cultural Marxist intellectualswhen such a thing actually still existed.His book, along with Solzhenitsyns The Gulag Archipelago (Im surprised and disappointed to see it out of print) and The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, put the final nails in the Western Marxist economic tradition. It hasnt recovered from the defeat, but those who keep on harping about the omnipresence of Cultural Marxism seem content with chasing a ghost, rather than dealing with the present. Im happy to let them chase their specters of Marx.
The collapse of Real-Existing Socialism (Soviet Communism witha Human Face) made it look like there was no alternative after 1989. It took less than 20 years for the world to realize that there is a problem with capitalism. 2008 was a watershed moment that made many realize that a project to create Capitalism with a Human Face is all thats left to us. That is,if we refuse to countenance other working solutions, what are called the Third Ways(between capitalism and communism). Mark Fishers little manifesto,Capitalist Realism: IsThere No Alternative?,is a kind of interim report card on how the human face refuses to stick to capitalism as it refused to stick to communist-socialism:
Really Existing Capitalism is marked by the same division which characterized Really Existing Socialism, between, on the one hand, an official culture in which capitalist enterprises are presented as socially responsible and caring, and, on the other, a widespread awareness that companies are actually corrupt, ruthless, etc. In other words, capitalist postmodernity is not quite as incredulous as it would appear to be, as the jeweler Gerald Ratner famously found to his cost.
Side Note: Gerald Ratner is famous for admitting during anInstitute of Directors annual conference at The Royal Albert Hall that some of his products are crap:
We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for 4.95. People say, How can you sell this for such a low price?, I say, because its total crap.
He became a laughingstock for hishonesty and lost hisfortunein the process, only to win it back.His is an unusual case of demaskingCapitalism with a Human Face?
99.9% of the time the mask stays on? What keeps it glued to the face of capitalism? Euphemism and political correctness.Polish philosopherTadeusz Gadacz, aformer pupil of Fr.Jozef Tischner (the Chaplain of Solidarity), explains in a Gazeta Wyborcza (only my Polish readers will understand the irony of this)editorial the gluing process using the categoryof thestructural lieas developed by his master.
[I would like to describe our situation of using euphemisms for everything] by referring to a very concrete concept, which Fr. Jzef Tischner, my master, called the structural lie. We live in a structural lie. In the past it was fascism, communism, today it is the neoliberal market. It is no longer the lie of a single person who is concealing the truth. This lie applies to whole structures of life: political, social, economical, medial, and also educational. We participate in it and we make our peace with it. We do not really believe that we are able to radically change the world, so we take part in it. After all, who can presently change the principles of the neoliberal market? Nobody? And so we say there is no exploitation, theres outsourcing and economizing, there are no murders, there is ethnic cleansing. It makes it easier for us to swallow our dinner.
As my friend likes to say, We no longer have garbage men, we have sanitation experts.' We cover upour economic garbagewith euphemism and political correctness, because we do not want to admit our complicity in the structural lie. That element of self-criticism was something that was sorely missing in the Occupy Wall Street critique of the 1%. The 1% would not exist if not for the complicity of the 99%.
Whos going to write The Black Book of Capitalism: Crimes, Terror, Repression?
Capitalist Realism: IsThere No Alternative? is a pretty good place to start for now.
Bon apptit!
For more on Fr. Tischner see: Solidarity Means Carrying One Anothers Burden.
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What is the Source of Our Culture of Euphemism and Political Correctness? - Patheos (blog)
- The Phony Debate About Political Correctness ThinkProgress - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Political Correctness Watch - December 12th, 2016 [December 12th, 2016]
- The Origins of Political Correctness - academia.org - January 13th, 2017 [January 13th, 2017]
- Spicer says 'political correctness' infringes on 'freedom of religion' - Washington Post - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Political correctness exists to build respect for the oppressed - Kenyon Collegian - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Letter: Political correctness has gone too far - The Herald-News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Boy Scouts ruined by political correctness: Your Say - USA TODAY - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
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- Lawrence Modisett: Need for political correctness still holds true - The Providence Journal - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Trump's right-wing political correctness makes us less safe - Daily Kos - Daily Kos - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Authoritarian political correctness - Dailyuw - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Fixing political correctness - The Stanford Daily - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The Politically Correct Presidency of Donald Trump - The Atlantic - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Letter: Political correctness is akin to golden rule - The Buffalo News - Buffalo News - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
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- Slamming 'political correctness,' Casper scraps recycling program ... - Casper Star-Tribune Online - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
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- Foregoing Political Correctness, The Senate Should Have Let Warren Speak - Daily Caller - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
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- Political correctness | The Economist - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
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- Editorial: Brown puts political correctness above jobs - Daily Astorian - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
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- Letter: Political correctness has endangered our safety | INFORUM - INFORUM - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Letter to the editor: Political correctness has influenced minds - Post Register - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Is An Absolute Must | Time.com - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Political Correctness Propagates Radical Liberalism and Undermines The Truth - Accuracy In Media (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
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- Populist correctness: the new PC culture of Trump's America and Brexit Britain - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Trevor Phillips: political correctness ushered in the populist wave - The Guardian - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
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- Publishers Pen - Political Correctness and Lawlessness: A Rant - Up & Coming Weekly - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Fed up with political correctness - The Rushville Republican - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Thursday's best TV: Born Too White; Has Political Correctness Gone Mad? - The Guardian - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Political correctness is to blame for terrorist payout, says Leo McKinstry - Express.co.uk - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Jones: It's not political correctness, just common decency - Philly.com - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Is There Space For Political Correctness In Fashion? Gucci Says Maybe Not - Refinery29 - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- The Dark State of Political Correctness - American Spectator - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Thursday February 23, 2017 - Israel Hayom - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Jim Bailey column: Caught up in political correctness - The Herald Bulletin - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Op-ed: He's just saying what we're all thinking: How political correctness fails us in the age of Trump - The Eagle - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
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- CPAC inadvertently shows logic behind political correctness - UT The Daily Texan - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
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- EDITORIAL: Political correctness ... and more absurdities | The ... - The Daily Progress - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
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- The Bus Campaign That's Giving UK Political Correctness a Run for Its Money - CBN News - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Fox News' Tucker Carlson says 'Moonlight' only won Best Picture because of political correctness - ThinkProgress - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- O'Reilly: 'Americans Are Tired of Political Correctness & Left-Wing Totalitarianism' - Fox News Insider - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
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- Editorial: freedom of speech in an era of political-correctness, part two - Daily Sundial - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- When Republicans defend Republicans' bad behavior, we justify 'political correctness' - Mooresville Tribune - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Marvel V.P. Admits Political Correctness Killed Comic Sales ... - FrontPage Magazine - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]