, designed to
short-circuit thought, inquiry, self-expression, dialogue -- all the
things that make democracy work, and all of which are sadly lacking in
our totalitarian, consumerist world. Several slogans seem particularly
evident, and working on different levels.
ZERO TOLERANCE
At the administrative level, you have zero tolerance (ZT). This
has become the slogan of the hour as administrators, whether in schools
or the workplace, seek to establish their authority in a dictatorial
manner -- ZT becomes the justification for anything the
administrator does. It becomes chanted, like a mantra -- "we have a zero
tolerance policy in effect, here" -- as if this has any meaning. America
itself seems to have a ZT policy toward freethinkers.
What ZT does is it frees up administration to do whatever the hell they
want, and offers blanket protection for them. ZT is a big stone wall
that
you can't surmount, it's a mental dead end, which makes you realize why
adminstrators like it so much -- it makes their job easier, because it
allows them to act without thought or reflection, relying instead on
fear
and knee-jerk ideology. It's like a magic bullet, this ZT, which is
fitting, since I believe the Army first coined the term!
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
This is taken to be common knowledge, the province of the inclusive "us"
versus the subversive "them" -- CW is used by pundits and politicos to
characterize "right-think" (invoking Orwell, from 1984). Ideas
that are considered acceptable to the status quo. This one isn't
typically used by everyday people, because it's a bit wonkish, but it
does get used in the Massive Media, so I include it here.
It still serves the same purpose -- shoehorning complex thoughts into
extraordinarily narrow confines. CW is as meaningless as the other
slogans, but it creates the illusion that something thoughtful and
meaningful has been said.
CONSPIRACY THEORY
On a political level, there's the mighty conspiracy theory (CT).
This has come to be used to describe anybody and anything that doesn't
gel with the corporate press and/or government's view of things. It
becomes a handy pigeonhole for unpleasant thoughts, a way of dismissing
them without having to reflect on them. A CT is intrinsically without
merit, and pins suspicion and doubt on the speaker of it. CT creates the
illusion that the person who says that is calm, ordered, reasonable,
sensible -- and the person(s) they accuse of CT are, of course,
hysterical, insane, paranoid, etc.
What's so interesting about CT is that the uninformed are able to feel
informed by invoking it -- and what's useful about CT is that
anything can be considered CT. If you ask too many questions
about
something, then people will say you're paranoid, or that you believe in
CT.
End of discussion, end of story. Thought successfully derailed. That's
not saying there aren't true CTs out there; there are plenty, and you
typically know them when you see them, because they follow a very
definite pattern (all-powerful, hidden group of bad guys out to get you,
untouchable, they are behind everything). True CTs are disempowering and
paralyze their proponents with fear (or impel them to reckless,
pointless
acts of violence).
However, use of CT has broadened to encompass a much larger range of
thoughts and ideas -- anything that isn't from an official source,
anything that asks questions, can be branded a CT. The user of CT can
return to regularly schedule programming without pesky thought and
reflection.
POLITICALLY CORRECT (PC)
Which brings me to the granddaddy, or should I say, "grandperson" of
thought-derailers, the mighty PC. This one was drafted and coined by
right-wing think tankers to characterize the so-called "tenured
radicals"
of academe, and to give everyday people another magic bullet in their
arsenal of thoughtlessness to sling at ideas they didn't like. It's been
explored so much that I needn't elaborate much on it, here.
PC applies to any left-leaning idea that, again, doesn't gel with the
agendas of the dominant elites in our society. It provides a way to
dismiss the ideas out of hand, without discussion, a way of saying
nothing while seeming to say something. It pads the ego of speaker of it
while really advertising their ignorance.
"Oh, you're just being PC..." what the hell does that mean, anyway? It
means nothing. That's the dirty reality of it all, but it does
serve to stop conversation in its tracks.
THE WAR ON THOUGHT
What I think these slogans (and probably others) do is wage war on
thought and discourse, on reflection, on understanding, and, ultimately,
on democracy. They create an atmosphere where the ignorant and
uninformed
can dismiss "wrongthink" (a brilliant term Orwell coined in 1984)
and continue to live ignorant, uninformed lives. Best of all, these
slogans can be used again and again, because there really is no answer
to
them, because they pin blame and suspicion on others -- so anything you
say has already been used against you in the court of popular
opinion.
I believe these slogans are used because, in a society like ours, you
have to keep people from talking to one another, because if people begin
asking questions, there's no end to trouble. So, instead, keep people
quiet and fearful and alone, and pin fear and suspicion on people who
dare to make inquiries.
This isn't how a free society operates; but we don't have a free
society,
although this kind of politically correct, conspiracy theory drivel goes
against the conventional wisdom, of course, and I know you have zero
tolerance for that.
a4a
5/11/01
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