Political correctness must die -- II

The way is up along the road, the air is growing thin
Too many friends who tried,
Blown off this mountain with the wind

Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I'm going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we're going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again

—Richard Thompson, "Meet on the Ledge"

Now comes the tough part.

In the previous posting, I tried -- not very well, I think -- to briefly encapsulate the meaning of political correctness and the grip it has on our lives. The far more important issue is, what are we to do about it?

What are we to do about it? I can't emphasize that enough. Of calling attention, complaining, sharing our misery, there is no end. Not a day goes by when I don't read somebody's viewing with alarm the Mexican Invasion, the continued immigration of Muslims into Europe and the United States, the government finger on the scales tilting them in favor of "minority" groups (which, collectively, are scheduled to soon be a majority). Take VDare -- please. I used to respect the site, until I finally got my head around its unwillingness to prescribe any antidote to the poison of virtually unlimited Third World immigration. It exists to cry, Woe is me. Send money so it can carry on crying, Woe is me.

To hell with that.

And to hell with all griping. You are wasting your élan vital. The system of political correctness that rewards and punishes us has a safety valve. Except in the most extreme cases, like the New York Times, you are allowed to say "ouch." Your complaint might even be published, to keep up the semblance of a free society. Won't you be proud to see your letter to the editor in print? Yes, right, that's going to overcome an editorial policy and day after day of slanted "news." Your ego, in this as in so many situations, is your enemy. It is the bait that traps you.

So we'll start by taking a frighteningly honest look at the big picture. If you'd rather not, stop here and go write a letter to the editor or VDare. You'll feel better for it. I'm not here to make you feel better. I'm here to arm you psychologically for the fight.

Let's kiss off some ideas you have to let go of if you're serious about overcoming political correctness.

"Tom Tancredo." I have the greatest respect for Mr. Tancredo. He is a brave and principled man. His chance of being elected president is less than his opportunity for selling snowshoes in Brazil. The same applies to all political candidates right now (maybe it will not be so in the future, but we have to start with the status quo). The political correctness/multi-culturalist/globalist Establishment has the electoral system wired.

"We'll overcome them in the Culture War." Get real. The Culture War is over. We've lost.

"Once the Sixties generation retires, young people who don't have all that baggage will be in charge, and they'll loosen up." I've toyed with this idea myself, even wrote a blog piece called I'll feel better when my generation is dead. But that was desperation set to music. Younger generations than mine have been brainwashed by the Sixties undead who shape their educational itinerary.

"If things get too bad, really bad, the military will step in and put an end to it." The consequences of a military coup should give anyone profound misgivings. But putting that aside, consider this.

The other day I received an e-mail press release at my office from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (why I am on their distribution list, I have no idea). Headed USCIS TO HOLD ALL-MILITARY CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY AT FT MCHENRY NATIONAL MONUMENT AND HISTORIC SHRINE, it read in part:

The 18 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, Reservists, National Guardsmen and a military spouse who will take the Oath of Allegiance and become American citizens are from the following nations: following countries: Cameroon, Czechoslovakia, Federated States Of Micronesia, Germany, India, Jamaica, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Lucia.

The Establishment is one step ahead of you. It's filling our military ranks with non-Americans (and awarding them citizenship into the bargain). I have little doubt that one motivation is to ensure that in a crisis, the military will be loyal to the PC Establishment, not the indigenous U.S. citizens.

I know this sounds harsh, but the reality is harsh. If you're serious about defending your America or Western civilization, you have to start by acknowledging the situation. You are living in occupied territory. You must think like a guerilla. (Metaphorically, of course; tying a bandanna around your head and skulking in caves and mountains is off the menu.)

Another reason for recognizing that you are in occupied territory is that it will discourage you from wasting your energy on trivia that won't make any difference. A law making English our official national language might be symbolically satisfying, but it's part of the assimilationist package that no longer counts. Assimilation is feasible in a climate of controlled and selective immigration, but when a country is undergoing colonization by foreigners, the language issue becomes irrelevant. If Latin Americans become a majority in all our cities in the next 30 years, I don't doubt that they will become bi-lingual and speak a kind of basic English when they have to deal with gringos. That's the plotline in New York today.

Yet another reason is so you understand the risk you will be taking. You can't kid yourself. Right now the PC Establishment is fat and happy, savoring their dominance. They can afford to allow some criticism — a safety valve, as I said before. But if they start feeling insecure because they are losing some of their hold over minds and hearts, it will be a different story and no mistake. Posts like this, or opposition to immigration, may become illegal under "hate speech" laws. When you challenge the PC industry, you have to remember you've got a 'gator by the tail.

Very well then. We know the stakes and the risks. Now it's time to plan.

I'm listening.

Excuse me? You thought I was going to tell you how to overthrow the PC politburo? Look: you are still not getting it. There isn't any Master Plan. No manifesto for a Movement. No inspirational leader, which is just as well; inspirational leaders get too full of themselves and are dangerous.

You are in charge, if you want to accept the mission. When the time comes, you will know what needs to be done without anyone issuing instructions. Far harder than knowing the right thing will be to do it, when we can easily visualize the bill to be paid. I'm not sure if I'll be up to it. It might take people who are younger and braver. But you won't be alone. You'll be with others, even if they're invisible at the moment; some perhaps known to you, many others not, some who lived before you were born. We're going to meet on the ledge.

I heard a radio interview with a Washington Post reporter who's written a series about IEDs in Iraq. What I found most interesting was when he described how our soldiers improvised their own anti-IED devices. They were sometimes as outlandish as mounting a hair dryer on a pole in front of their vehicle to mislead heat-seeking warheads from IEDs. The point is, they took responsibility for their own lives, which perhaps some had not often done before. They didn't wait for a general in the Pentagon to issue orders about IEDs. They didn't wait for the next edition of the counterinsurgency manual with a new chapter about dodging IEDs.

If there's one thing we Americans are good at, it's improvising.

I do have one suggestion. To help preserve what's best in the traditions of Western civilization, be part of it. Read a classic book you've been putting off. Listen to a Schubert symphony. Visit a museum or gallery with real art, not commercial cutesy-poo junk. Get to know our country's founders, who weren't demigods, who argued and compromised, but nonetheless produced a Constitution that has stood the test of time remarkably. (If I had another lifetime — which I expect to, but I don't know when — I'd spend a couple of years reading James Madison's Federalist Papers.) And if you have young children, introduce them to the best of our heritage. Nothing could be more subversive to the present order.

Each in our way, subversives is what we are.

Political correctness must die.