Dear Friends,
It seems to me, many of us would rather imagine what a thing is, than examine it’s reality. There are all sorts of things that captivate our imaginations, movies, books and music, but when we use our imaginations to “believe” some aspect of a thing, be it religion, philosophy, a politician or a political system, we are doing ourselves and the world a great disservice. That is because our imaginations never actually capture the reality, the essence of a thing, our imaginations project an idea that may be in direct contravention of that thing, imbuing it with virtue or villainy that is simply not there. Not only do people do this about a myriad of things but once we have done it, many will fight to the mat that their imagined qualities are true, further harming our societies, economies and cultures. Political correctness is the legitimization of this very tendency.
To argue about the qualities of a thing is human nature. Three blind men approach an elephant, one grasps it’s trunk, another the tusk and the third the tail. Afterwards, they argue over what an elephant is… but at least they had some first hand knowledge about an elephant, each had only a portion of the truth but each had a portion. How much worse when one or more of the participants in a discussion have no real knowledge but only their imaginations to go on? How do you argue logic and truth with someone who holds his or her imagination above empirical reality? You cannot. Those who have imagined the qualities of a thing are the hardest to persuade, they refuse to look at evidence, they obstinately talk over you and hold you and your empirical evidence in contempt.
When Obama ran for office he ran on Hope and Change. He didn’t outline a plan for that hope and change, he didn’t qualify what it was nor did he allow any personal information, about him and his past to leak out. When some did the media that calls itself unbiased went to great lengths to obfuscate it. As a result people projected whatever they wanted on him. To a capitalist he would restore laissez faire, to a communist he would be the second coming of Mao, to the poor he would make them rich and to the rich he would protect them from the huddled masses. He was everything to everyone. People imagined what and who Obama was and voted based on their imaginations.
Many people imagine socialism as being more fair, more just and more humane than capitalism. They dream about how everyone will get along and work hard for the collective. To those who imagine a better world through despotism, any argument about history, reality or economics falls on deaf ears, they have made up their minds based on their imaginations. The further people get from real Marxism and , the easier it is to imagine what it is, rather than look at the reality of what it is. Reagan’s policies dealt a blow to communism, but without that example of a very real and undeniable socialist nation, where people fled at the risk to their very lives and their children to escape, has allowed people to imagine what socialism is.
Many who have never studied Islam claim to understand what it is far far better than Islamic scholars. In the face of the reality of Islam, after a mass beheading for example, they rush to the news programs and claim such acts are a violation of Islam, even as Islamic scholars claim otherwise. We are to believe the atheist, who imagines Islam as a light in a dark world, over those who have spent their entire lives studying the words of Mohamed. To do so is absurd. Do you believe that a witch doctor or faith healer can set a broken bone better than someone who has spent their entire life learning and working in medicine? To believe he who imagines what a thing is in that case would lead to a badly set leg, a limp for life and perhaps even death, how much worse to believe a politician is everything to everyone, socialism isn’t despotism or the realities of Sharia and Jihad?
Political correctness is the imagining what a thing is and forcing others to follow what is imagined not what is real. The market system teaches those raised in it to be pragmatic, look at the reality of a thing and measure profit against loss, not just in business but in our daily lives. Political correctness seeks to change that paradigm of the lesson of the market system. Political correctness will not broach the reality of a thing to enter the conversation, it demands blind faith in the imaginations of another. Arguments about reality can be derailed by mere ad homonym attacks to protect the imagined reality of the politically correct person. The market system , is a force for pragmatism, examining reality and weighing the profit versus the loss of an action or philosophy. Political correctness is the polar opposite of the lessons of the market system and as such will always be in contention with it. So what do you believe? Your imagination, or reality, you cannot believe both.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
