Private or Social Approval? With social approval comes conformity and loss of individuality. Social approval means loss of self in exchange for group approval. This is the basis for socialism and communism, conformity to a dictatorial system.
The Government in our democracy can avoid the appearance of being heavy handed and dictatorial by letting the conformist, brainwashed, fear driven masses themselves enforce the latest far left “standards” of acceptable behavior upon any non-conformists, recalcitrant upstarts, or anyone thinking outside the box by using a form of indirect coercion on hapless victims via a nudging type of soft shaming, dirty looks, avoidance, or non-acceptance. This is a total totalitarianism where one is afraid to say certain things, but more importantly, is required or forced to say other things that they don’t agree with or believe. Shame is used shamelessly as a control weapon by those who have no shame.
Being obligated to deny what we believe in or know as fact, and assenting to what we don’t believe in is a form of ultimate tyranny, and there is no better way to deaden or destroy the human personality and the desire for personal growth. The result is that people become morbid, cynical, uncaring, and self-absorbed–and make lame excuses for not making a difference or fighting evil. Once people start saying things merely for social approval or for the sake of their careers, they lose their self-respect and probity. They become easy to manipulate and control.
Once people start saying things merely for social approval or for the sake of their careers, they lose their self-respect and probity. They become easy to manipulate and control.
This is the purpose, essence, and methodology of political correctness, aka Cultural Communism. Truth becomes a moving target, yet conformity to whatever is truth or “in” at the moment is required. Real truth then loses all validity and value and is even scorned, which makes it easy for the elites to continuously and flawlessly exercise full powers over the masses without fear of engendering enough blowback to stir a mass uprising.
The universities churn out indoctrinated and deluded graduates somewhat steeped in their specialty but little else, who have no sense of tradition or history, who usually have no practical experience in their field of endeavor.
The think tanks are inhabited by the thoughtless who are given marching orders by moneyed sponsors who pay for stilted research so the politically correct conclusions can be drawn. The thoughtless fashion the fashions and obsessions that are politically correct or change frequently enough so that no tradition can take hold. They rely on the monolithic and mediocre mainstream media and entertainment idols to repeat ad nauseum the same propaganda points and memes. Current manias are maintained by endlessly ranting about them to the exclusion of issues that are more important so that sponsors are satisfied, excitement and buzz can go on continuously, and the memes can be memorized and internalized for instant use in social situations.
When asked about their opinion on an issue in discussion or focus groups, social settings, or in response to surveys, people merely parrot what they’ve already been programmed to propound or pout about in the form of bromides and the aforesaid memes.
The University of South Carolina announced in February that Julian R. Williams will serve as Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at a Board of Trustees meeting on that date. The position requires the director to seek ways to diversify the University setting to include more racial and gender profiles among professors, students and course offerings, such as critical race theory, “queer or color critique”, ethnic studies. Williams will serve on the USC President’s Executive Council, spokesman for USC diversity and will collaborate to lobby the SC legislature for more funding for diversity. These lofty positions typically garner salaries of $100K plus to “diversify” taxpayer funded schools.
The politicians merely parrot back the memes of the moment to assure their audiences they are all on the same wavelength and meme team. A pitiful handful have the intellect, courage, and stamina to stay the course with alternative viewpoints and rational solutions. Politicians just have an extra bit of charisma or chutzpah and special gift of glib gab that can wow or sway but when analyzed in the light of the next day there’s nothing there worthy of taking away. Mastering the art of the quip or giving quick lip to a meme is essential for political viability. Promising to reduce taxes or cottoning to favored groups offering them special favors is essential for political survival. Surrendering to majority opinion is the way to go and always the default position to take.
Applying for a position in academia or the corporate world is now a kind of obstacle course for the person that does not share in the oppressive obsession with race and sexual proclivities to the exclusion of other matters that really matter. An applicant must fill out forms eliciting his or her attitude towards diversity––there being no permissible diversity in attitudes towards diversity. Applicants sometimes have to fill out a “personal diversity statement” constituting an essay similar to one required on a college final examination to determine whether the applicant passes or fails the job hiring test. A preamble for the test question such as the following may be employed: “The purpose of this statement is to identify candidates who have the professional skills, experience, and willingness to engage in activities that would enhance campus/corporate diversity and equity efforts”.
This requires the candidate to “suck it up” and fully commit to the inane/insane ideology of diversity or be able to act consistently as if he adhered to it. The applicant must state he will strive to “make a difference”, i.e., reform society to make it totally totalitarian, and be so consumed with proper virtue signalling that any failure to engage in it properly could mean instant termination. The applicant should become a sort of walking Wikipedia on one or more of the “isms” such as racism, sexism, etc. and be fully prepared at all times to expound upon it. The candidate must be prepared to fire up his false sense of indignation against manufactured maladies and injustices, and somehow keep that spirit continuously burning once the job is obtained in order to keep it. .
You might have thought that there was no opportunity for the diversity diversion/delusion/illusion to rear its ugly head in disciplines such as the physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering–but you would be wrong. The applicant has to promise to promote racial, sexual, and class diversity in the science lab even though this would very probably mean discriminating against people with the best research records or backgrounds, results be damned.
Here is the recommended model for an opening diversity statement for those applying for a post in a university department of science or engineering: “I am well aware that being a scientist or researcher does not mean just being successful in one’s research efforts. One should also be excellent in his/her interactions with the community in order to be a leader in transforming the community”. Einstein and Tesla would not have been accepted because they were notably loners not interested in making marks on the social scene, nor were their scientific theories likely to “awoken” their communities.
The following is an excerpt from an ad for academic positions in the Humanities: “We specifically welcome candidates with interdisciplinary teaching expertise in one or more of the following areas: postcolonial studies, “decoloniality”, critical race theory, “queer or color critique”, ethnic studies, indigenous or settler colonial studies, disability studies, feminist theories, gender or sexuality studies, transnational studies, or composition and rhetoric with a specialization in any of the above areas. As we strive to create the most intellectually diverse, equitable, and inclusive institution that we can, we especially encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply”. Rational comment on this ridiculous statement would be ludicrous if not impossible.
Rational comment on the state of the academic world in the West would be lost on those who could use it most.
Sidney Secular is a voice over actor, writer, fundraiser, business consultant, newspaper editor, procurement analyst, and contracting officer. He may be reached at success_express@yahoo.com.
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