On the other hand, maybe we should listen to Honest Abe on this...
Posted on 06/28/2023 4:27:22 AM PDT by Redleg Duke
So, what is meant by the modern term referred to as 'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS'?
The definition is found in 4 telegrams at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. The following are copies of four telegrams between President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur on the day before the actual signing of the WWII Surrender Agreement in September 1945. The contents of those four telegrams below are exactly as received at the end of the war - not a word has been added, edited or deleted!
(1) Tokyo, Japan 0800-September 1,1945 To: President Harry S Truman From: General D A MacArthur Tomorrow we meet with those yellow-bellied bastards and sign the Surrender Documents, any last-minute instructions?
(2) Washington, DC 1300-September 1, 1945 To: D A MacArthur From: H S Truman Congratulations, job well done, but you must tone down your obvious dislike of the Japanese when discussing the terms of the surrender with the press, because some of your remarks are fundamentally not politically correct!
(3) Tokyo, Japan - 1630-September1, 1945 To: H S Truman From: D A MacArthur and C H Nimitz Wilco Sir, but both Chester and I are somewhat confused, exactly what does the term "politically correct" mean?
(4) Washington, D C - 2120-September 1, 1945 To: D A MacArthur/C H Nimitz From: H S Truman Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end!
Now, with special thanks to the Truman Museum and Harry himself, you and I finally have a full understanding of what 'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS' really means....
This comes under the heading of something you have to see to believe.
I Knew the quote, “Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end!” was from President Truman. But I did not know it came from a telegraphic conversation with General MacArthur & Admiral Nimitz.
God knows there are so many things, I like & admire about President Truman.
I’d really have to see the telegrams myself to believe this is true. Mainstream Media and Political Correctness don’t sound like terms that would be used in 1945.
The term was invented by Mao Zedong. It’s hard for me to believe that the term was in use in American English in 1945.
I had always believed the term ‘political correctness’ came from the Soviet term ‘Party Line’, where Disagreements with the party line were treated as a political crime: anti-Soviet agitation.
Political correctness is the use of language to transform and dominate society.
People fear being ostracized for being politically incorrect more than they value their freedom of speech.
I’d have to see images of the cables to believe it. “Mainstream media” was not a term in use in 1945. It was coined 50 years later when Internet “alternative media” rose in popularity.
PC in late 18th century United States, a toast made to “the United States” might have had more positive if made to “the freedom/ the people of the United States!” or similar.
The World War 2 example demonstrates “politically correct” in a similar context, i.e. meaning “diplomatically prudent” or “discretion is the better part of valor”.
The opposite of PC in that sense is “faux pas” or “diplomatic gaffe”.
I’d have to see images of the cables to believe it. “Mainstream media” was not a term in use in 1945. It was coined 50 years later when Internet “alternative media” rose in popularity.
Also, you have MacArthur referring to the Japanese as “yellow bellied”, which implies cowardice. While their skin was yellow, I don’t think anyone (especially someone like MacArthur) could have mistaken them for cowards.
At its most basic, “political correctness” is an oppressive form of “etiquette”. In fact it has pretty much replaced the word “etiquette” - you hardly ever see that used much any more.
Etiquette was basically a set of unwritten rules for social engagement and acceptable language developed over time that aided in a more harmonious coexistence. They were not enforced by laws but by peer pressure. If you constantly broke those rules you would be shunned by polite society.
PC also defines what is permissible in polite society, but the rules are not set by the broad society over time, instead they are defined by “activists” and their propaganda organs (the media) and more often than not are made into laws that carry some type of legal punishment.
A toast made in the 18th century would have been to "these United States"; the idea of "the United States" as a singular unit comes out of the Civil War, I believe.
Mao picked that up from the International Communist movement. The phrase was in use among American Communists, but it does sound strange fot Truman to use it in the same way people use it now.
US leftists used the phrase in the 70s, many influenced by Mao, others by their own leftist parents’ use of the phrase. Some used it seriously, others ironically.
On the other hand, maybe we should listen to Honest Abe on this...
The idea that the term “mainstream media” would have been used in 1945 is preposterous, laughable.
This is the equivalent of the fake letter from George Bush’s commander Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, in which the font was obviously not available on typewriters of the time it was purportedly generated, and matched perfectly a letter produced by Microsoft Word.
Equally silly.
A variation on this theme is the Overton Window.
My definition of the Overton Window is any political view that is permitted in Wikipedia.
Another definition might be any view of any topic that is permitted at elite cocktail parties.
True status seekers and social climbers are very careful never to voice an opinion on any topic outside of the window.
That makes them useless drones for the Cabal who seeks to control speech and thought of the masses.
The “F” bomb has been apppearing recently too. We Freepers used to have more class.
That first taste of PC introduced seeds of general anti-Americanism. It was still considered an oddity while Clinton was in office; was temporarily vanquished during the early part of the 9/11 era; during the Obama regime, all kinds of wokeness abounded. Today, all Western institutions are strongly questioned, if not ridiculed.
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