As Moore’s Law predicts that processing power and data storage in integrated circuit technology will reach a finite capacity due to technological constraints, the nation is battling a similar logistical quandary as the logarithmic growth and layering of political correctness is threatening the base construct of language.
Even the exploits of world renowned linguist Steven Pinker may prove futile in preventing the foregone conclusion that conversation is doomed to a future of text abbreviations and watered down verbs thanks to the justifiable fear of offending another individual and the associated consequences.
The recent fate of polarizing and ultra-liberal comedian Amy Schumer (of course she is related to the pleasant Chuck Schumer) is a red flag that society has reached the next threshold of complete censorship. Schumer was lambasted by various minor public figures for performing in a video tribute/parody sketch of a Beyoncé’s tune “Formation”. Users throughout the digital hemisphere referred to Schumer’s performance as “racist” and “insensitive”. Globally, men found the images horrific due to the footage of Schumer and an aged Goldie Hawn. Ironically, the video was distributed by a production company owned by Beyoncé’s husband.
While the attacks on a true liberal icon are entertaining from the standpoint of witnessing true and raw idealistic cannibalism, the disturbing vein to this story is how far the implied “public” rights of the First Amendment are compromised. If a mega-liberal can publically malign an ultra-liberal, what fate does this example bestow on conservative viewpoints?
Revisiting Moore’s Law and the reality of a limit to capacity in circuits, the idea can be easily transferred and applied to the world of linguistics. As the modern English language is naturally limited and constrained in a public forum due to concessions made for ease of communication and time considerations, when is the threshold reached by the actions of incessant political correctness and the entire base of the spoken and written word becomes “offensive”? Mathematically, the idea is possible due to the attenuated combinations and permutations of words currently utilized combined with the recognition by governing bodies of cultural nuances. Orwell of course originally visited the idea of the degradation of language and facilitated by a modern police state in the dystopian masterpiece of “1984”. Already, bureaucracies in the civic and the higher educational realm have severely minimized collective vocabularies in public documents in an attempt to not to offend. Within the corporate world, the idea of governance has spawned voluminous expanses in training employees to use the utmost care and sensitivity during office interactions. Most recently, the actions of school districts in completely eliminating gender titles, has cast a disturbing precedent as to the future of language.
As the First Amendment has already been allowed to be compromised by the passive and ineffectual attempts of individuals of leaderships, the attacks of liberals on Amy Schumer should toll the faint warning bells of a pending tragedy that could ultimately erase a society’s identity and purpose. Rather than wasting valuable time and energy on self-policing individual viewpoints guaranteed by the Constitution, a more logical and elegant solution exists in utilizing the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the document in fostering and promoting individual expression and prosperity.
Read the full Seattle Times article here.
VIDEO: The “Offensive” Culprit Of A Parody