Political Correctness

I read Dana’s little piece on what he’d do if presented with a child from a prostitute, and I agreed with virtually everything he said. Since then we’ve had several submissions attacking Dana's stand as somehow being immoral,
and even implying that poor old Dana might be evil. Besides his obvious misogyny I would be prepared to bet that Dana is in fact a fairly moral person. He probably doesn’t eat puppies, he probably doesn’t kill tigers for their penises,
and we know from his previous submissions that he supports underprivileged kids.

No, while all his detractors use words like morality, what they are really talking about is political correctness. And one thing that Dana definitely is not is Politically Correct; that’s one of the things I love about his submissions.

The almost total absence of any form of political correctness in Thailand is THE single most important attribute that attracts me to this country. The absence of PC provides a freshness and spontaneity that is far removed from current western
culture. I’ve lived in Australia for 20 years and have experienced increasing levels of PC, such that today it permeates all levels of society. Even the Kiwis’ (and I’m originally a Kiwi) legendary ability to cut through bullshit
has been steadily degraded by the insidious rise in political correctness.

We even had one submission from “Virgin Territories” who declared he wasn’t politically correct, and then went on to present a very PC line. Political correctness is like a hole. There’s no such thing as half a
hole – it’s still a hole. Same same with Political Correctness. You can’t have half PC – it’s still PC.

In America they have this funny situation where they seem to think that all men are created equal – and they continue with this delusional belief even in the face of a real world that demonstrates the emptiness of the sentiment every
day. No such nonsense in Thailand. Here a very hierarchical society works to reinforce the differences, to keep the farmers on the farms and the farmers' daughters in the bars.

While nearly everyone in western culture is busy minding everyone else’s business, in Thailand there is a very strong imperative to let things be, to let people get on with finding their own way through life. As a consequence the Thais are a lot
more accepting of differences within society. There isn’t the need to force conformity onto everyone; to have everyone accept a “moral” code; to unleash the thought police on Dana.

One of the non-PC things that most rankles westerners about Thailand, and Stick has commented on this before, is the Thai’s racism. They generally don’t like black or dark people. Not a problem. Their racism doesn’t seem
to extend to the outright discrimination as seen in the west. Instead the classic Thai mai pen rai and general acceptance of everything prevails.

I had a lovely experience of the totally non political correctness of society about a month ago. We were visiting a temple fair and a comedy troupe were presenting a show on stage. While the “joker” was talking a really fat
kid walked across in front of the stage. The joker leaned out and shouts “Hey kid. Haven’t you ever had a shit?” A really funny comment that was greeted with gales of laughter. And I think that all next week every fat kid
in the village was being asked if he’d ever had a shit. But a comment that you just wouldn’t hear in the west. That’s the great harm that political correctness does; it stifles language and ideas.

I hope Thailand never succumbs to the rise in political correctness, and I also hope that Dana continues to give the thought police the slip.

Stickman's thoughts:

Dana won't give in, don't worry!