General Discussion

nadinbrzezinski

(154,021 posts)

32. This last paragraph

Sun May 27, 2012, 10:03 AM

May 2012

Actually, this reminds me of an essay I read a long time ago about Soviet science fiction. The author — if anyone remembers where this came from — noted that most science fiction is about one of two thoughts: “if only”, or “if this goes on”. Both were subversive, from the Soviet point of view: the first implied that things could be better, the second that there was something wrong with the way things are. So stories had to be written about “if only this goes on”, extolling the wonders of being wonderful Soviets.

And now that’s happening in America.

Not recent, this started oh about fifteen years ago. It has to do with media concentration and who owns it. No, Harry Potter would not see the light of day in the US, and Heinlein's today would not be published either.

But some of what is published is exactly that. Thanks Paul for noticing.

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Highlight:

Paul Krugman- The New Political Correctness (Newspeak) [View all] n2doc May 2012 OP

K&R Odin2005 May 2012 #1

Man, Krugman is a rockstar lately. napoleon_in_rags May 2012 #2

Semantical Sycophancy ,is a form of lying . orpupilofnature57 May 2012 #3

Huh? I have no idea what you just said. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2012 #53

And that's OK orpupilofnature57 Jun 2012 #54

It's no coincidence that many on the far right were once on the far left nxylas May 2012 #4

Well don't you think that applies to DU? tcaudilllg May 2012 #5

Huh? agent46 Jun 2012 #52

A lot of the neocons were former Trotskyites nxylas Jun 2012 #57

This message was self-deleted by its author agent46 Jun 2012 #58

They're not job creators. They're money hoarders. Baitball Blogger May 2012 #6

... and far worse. nt ladjf May 2012 #17

It's not class warfare, which is bad; it's class competition, which is good. FarCenter May 2012 #7

class warfare kardonb May 2012 #12

Others include Global Warming/Climate change, Al Gore, evolution etc. ErikJ May 2012 #8

LOL "Al Gore" is a slur? Quantess Jun 2012 #56

Wow! I was just thinking this last night. (Well before reading the Krugman piece.) hedda_foil May 2012 #9

I wonder where DU'S version of the word banners are in this thread? RC May 2012 #16

the ultimate irony of the "problem of political correctness" zbdent May 2012 #10

The difference is fruitsmoothie45 May 2012 #36

but they kept saying how smart Bush43 really was ... zbdent May 2012 #37

Case in point - "A Patriot's History of the United States" IDemo May 2012 #11

Took three of them to 'refudiate' Zinn. Mc Mike May 2012 #25

Conservatives can't unscrew anything. They only screw them up. tclambert May 2012 #40

Well played, tc. NT. Mc Mike May 2012 #44

K&R. n/t DLevine May 2012 #13

DU Rec. nt woo me with science May 2012 #14

This has been true for at least 25 years Doctor_J May 2012 #15

Speaking as someone with a history degree who attended college liberalhistorian May 2012 #18

I think the elephant in the room is multiculturalism starroute May 2012 #19

Their crowd is doing some overtime double think Mc Mike May 2012 #26

For me, history chervilant May 2012 #35

My high school history text was relatively de-sanitized -- but still fit the prevailing narrative starroute May 2012 #39

One of my own favourites... LeftishBrit May 2012 #20

These are great. Identifying the "speak" is a very important part of exposing the conservative. Gregorian May 2012 #21

airport pat-downs = airport feel-ups AnotherMcIntosh May 2012 #23

You can really see that the Yanks and the Brits are colluding from that list. Exactly the same HiPointDem May 2012 #45

Wonder who all was involved kitt6 May 2012 #22

Sourcewatch offers some suspects, k. Mc Mike May 2012 #27

k+r nt limpyhobbler May 2012 #24

I believe in the Nancy Reagan remedy to this... just say 'no'. Waiting For Everyman May 2012 #28

bigest PC and censor-by-threat cop the last 20 years is the coordinated talk radio monopoly that certainot May 2012 #29

PS "Political correctness is a straw man that blowhard reactionaries attack in lieu of certainot May 2012 #30

"Political correctness" is the replacement for "on orders from Moscow"... JHB May 2012 #48

This is the darkside of ... GeorgeGist May 2012 #31

This last paragraph nadinbrzezinski May 2012 #32

The first Harry potter book was published in the US 14 years ago, in 1998. The last was published HiPointDem May 2012 #46

George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," 1946 zeemike May 2012 #33

K&R nt raouldukelives May 2012 #34

I have no problem calling the rich, "Job Creators"... jmondine May 2012 #38

Political correctness on the left is over-politeness. Political correctness on the right is chilling ck4829 May 2012 #41

I am a little disappointed with the premise of Krugman's argument. ballaratocker May 2012 #42

Actually politically correct has always been conservative jade3000 May 2012 #43

Liberals always side with the oppressed? I don't think that's true. Maybe in theory, but not HiPointDem May 2012 #47

Fair enough jade3000 May 2012 #49

And we must never ever ever utter the words social justice. LiberalAndProud May 2012 #50

In British Tory political-correct-speak, social justice is used to mean 'punishing the poor' LeftishBrit Jun 2012 #51

That is really interesting. LiberalAndProud Jun 2012 #55