Thank You
{snipped, because we both like to be wordy...hehe}
imh Roseann
Roseann, I appreciate you, and you debate from a place of civility for the most part, if a little condescension is thrown in...that's ok, we all have our styles, I don't take it personally. But I'm afraid there is little to debate here, as a lot of what you're saying is obsolete. Your hopes that society's efforts to become better will be undermined are in vain...if nothing else, time will take care of those who wish, for whatever reason, to resist it. It's a shrinking demographic. Don't take that personally, I'm well aware that someone will soon be saying that about me.
Like it or not, humans are pack animals, and society is driven by conformity - shifting conformity, but conformity nonetheless. It's why we have laws and respect government authority. It's why everyone knows what side of the road to drive on. It's why we say please and thank you. And it's why people who do NOT conform earn outsider or pariah status. Or end up in jail.
The only thing new here is that we are entering a slightly different societal norm, a process that has happened countless times during our tenure on this planet.
We could debate the merits of these changes all day, and I doubt we'd reach consensus. But I can certainly demonstrate societal change over history, and that there has always been an element that has resisted it, and, subsequently, got left behind. The input of parents is important, but most important is preparing children to take up the mantle of responsibility for this world they will inherit, irrespective of parental input. If parents are unwilling to do their part in that regard, either out of hatred or ego or stubbornness or just plain laziness, then I think the child's best interests are served by preparing them for the world regardless, through a public school system.
PC is a way to talk, not a way to think, which is why I reject the whole notion of "Borg collectives" and "smiling fascism". It's nonsense. Most people have situationally dependent vocabularies - I don't talk to my mother the same way I talk to my buddies, which is totally different in both cases from how I talk to my boss or my clients... This is just another shade of that, and one that is important, given the fact that the world isn't exactly getting less diverse. With our growing population, changing migration patterns, and environmental concerns, being able to get along will be critical to our survival. Communication is a huge part of that. Kids should be learning how...which I don't see as being any different from the business communication classes I took in high school, which was too long ago to think about.