.
We can see
that the Left is changing because of the effects of the (left leaning) word
policing as described in the first paragraphs of this column. There was a time
not so long ago when only the right wing was crazy over censorship. In the 50s,
60s and 70s, it was conservatives who banned books and movies and even speakers
(Communists, etc.) from college campuses. Today it is the Left. That’s why the
term regressive left has come into
vogue. A regressive leftist can be described as someone who has an inability to
listen to contrary, uncomfortable viewpoints without throwing out accusations
of bigotry, racism and white supremacy. All too frequently these words—racism,
bigot-- are thrown out without any accompanying dialogue. Use of the word alone
is supposed to shut down all debate. It’s what philosophy professor Christina Hoff
means when she says, “In their war against intolerance, they take on the
extremes of intolerance.”
Hoff also
adds, “It’s going to be hard for future historians to understand what happened
on American campuses in this decade.” This is true because freedom of
expression on campus is being replaced by the right to feel comfortable.
It is
true that sometimes Milo ’s narcissism and showmanship can be off putting. It
also doesn’t help that he is not always a nice person. He’s unnecessarily hard
on fat people but he makes sense when he comes out against the body positivity
movement. The body positivity movement teaches that you should love your body
type no matter what size it is. Yes, being 300 pounds is beautiful and you
don’t have to change a thing, even if weight that high puts you at risk of
death.
He views Islam as the greatest threat to
Western civilization and says that as a gay man he cannot live in any
“moderate” Islamic country because he would be subject to the death penalty.
It’s my
belief that Black Lives Matter would be greatly improved if they had a change
in leadership.
Overall, Milo
isn’t the issue here, it’s the contagion known as political correctness. The
chronic emphasis on political correctness in society has helped create Milo ,
just as it has propelled so many people to support Donald Trump. The fact is, people
do not want to be told what to think or what they can and cannot say.
Take the word racist, for instance. ‘Racist’
is so overused that it is beginning to lose its effectiveness. The word should
be reserved for true racists, not for polite women speakers who talk about
being the black sheep of the family.