All-Or-Nothing Rhetoric, and Why I Dislike It

PC enthusiasts are a danger to society.  Let me explain.

As we have all seen, Homosexuals and Bisexuals fought long and hard to earn a few important rights for decades, and won those rights, which we call LGB rights.

Soon, the media and minority rights proponents insisted that those same rights should be extended to Transsexuals, Queers, and other members of the alphabet soup, and today, LGB has been replaced by LGBTQI....  This tendency to piggyback these issues on top of issues that were decided favorably is something I deplore.  This is not the time to examine the cases for extending whatever rights were given to LGB individuals to Transsexuals; I personally feel that the jury is yet out on those questions.  But there's no doubt that there is a tendency to go from zero to 100% in these matters, which unscrupulous politicians and lobbyists exploit, to their detriment. 

Consider the current uproar over the lack of condemnation of NAZIs from the White House.  What I'm hearing in the media seems to carry the subtext that the NAZIs are guilty whatever they're accused of.  Those of us who are reasonable know that this is not the case.  But the rhetoric certainly seems to suggest that.

What do we mean when we call someone a NAZI?  Obviously, if they call themselves NAZIs, we're allowed to do the same.  To be definite, they may want to eradicate all non-whites from a particular geographic region.  They may want to destroy all non-whites from a region.  They may want to deport all non-whites from a region.  They may want to incarcerate all non-whites.  They may want to reduce all non-whites to a second-class citizen status.

Unfortunately we seem to have given over all our important thinking to a few uneducated morons, who will conveniently lump all those groups into one.  "You know what?  Anyone who wants to reduce non-whites to second-class status is a Nazi!"  Clearly, though, while certain sectors of the population, such as the KKK and other bloodthirsty murderers may want to purify the nation by any means necessary, others merely deplore the erosion of the privileges they enjoyed when whites were the absolute majority, and all others were here on sufferance.  I mean, there are those who even resent women being permitted the vote.  It is misleading to call these people NAZIS.  It is propaganda.

Painting everyone by the same brush, though convenient, is wrong.  Just as we should not grant all privileges to everyone thoughtlessly, so must we not condemn everyone who does not want illegal immigrants to have all rights that citizens have.  This is why there is so much resentment against liberals among the members of the population whom the Alt-Right seeks to provide leadership for: Liberals have for decades run headlong into sociological china shops.

Someday, I am sure, all this LGBTQIJZ nonsense will become irrelevant, just as genetically modified corn will be accepted.  But that day is not today; there are issues that need to be ironed out.  Similarly, it is by no means obvious that illegal immigrants deserve all rights that citizens deserve--anyone who asserts this is not thinking clearly, and may not actually mean what they say--but we can agree on some aspects of that extreme position: for instance, we could agree that immigrant children, have many more rights than adult immigrants.  The case of immigrants is strengthened by the fact that American industries enjoy the lower wages paid in Mexico, which is what drives Mexicans across the border in the first place.  We can't have it both ways.  We cannot exploit the depressed economy of Mexico, and at the same time morally impose draconian measures against illegal immigrants.

Having said all that, I suspect that Trump may have set out to appease die-hard white chauvinists with a few anti-immigrant sops.  He has quickly found out that being president is not as easy as declaring a casino bankrupt.  He probably doesn't quite understand the seriousness of his position, but he certainly knows that it is humiliating.  Unfortunately, the humiliation initiative is overshadowing serious steps that need to be taken to halt the chaos that is slowly overtaking the nation.  Liberals and Democrats are too easily satisfied with ridiculing the president.  Ridiculing Trump is no great achievement.

Let me finish with a plea for (1) careful use of language, (2) careful adherence to law and logic, and (3) a focused, responsible, patient approach to politics and leadership.  The Democratic party was on autopilot this last election, and now it's time for actual thinking.

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