There are many things that cause me to bow my head and close my eyes in disgust but one of the most destructive trends of the past 20-30 years is the desire of Americans to sugar coat any and everything they can in order to not potentially offend someone. This trait is called "Political Correctness."
On the surface being "PC" (as in Politically Correct) seems innocent enough. We don't want to hurt someone by being mean or offensive. Our country has been weighed down by the pretext that everything we say must be toned down in order to make it acceptable to everyone. Or to be more accurate we try to be politically correct because the majority of Americans (and people worldwide for that matter) don't have the common sense or the desire to understand that some things, like using the word "man" is not sexist or derogatory but rather inclusive of all mankind - men AND women. Likewise people today have lost the ability to let words just roll off their back. Instead we CHOOSE to be offended, to give those who use offending words credibility. That's right, by being offended we give power to those who offend. Thus by being PC you encourage those who use offending words and stereotypes to continue doing so.
I can only think of a very few instances where something is so heinous that it should be banned (except in use in intellectual discussions such as this). Words such as "nigger" and "faggot" are filled with extreme hatred and have absolutely no place in any society.
As Americans we have the right to say what we want. As human beings we have the responsibility of choosing our words so as not to hurt others but we should also have the maturity to know and understand that we share a responsibility to not let the words and actions of others offend us.
To sum it up my motto is "Screw Political Correctness... But be nice about it."
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