Politically Correct (PC)
The concept had been around since the 60s, but the late 80s saw
a resurgence of a codified system of speech and behaviour that was
intended to offend absolutely nobody! Retarded children were now
"special", handicapped people were "physically
challenged", you were supposed to call yourself "African
American" not black, and childhood games of cowboys and
Indians were deemed offensive to "Native Americans".
The movement became extremely widespread, though the majority
of Americans (and certainly Australians) resisted the idea of
making an effort to keep from annoying various groups of people.
Still, PC popped up everywhere, from the immediate phasing out
of the word "chick" to the unspoken outlawing of the
phrase "you people". PC was not simply limited to speech
either; certain beliefs, such as anti-fur and pro-Nelson Mandela
sympathies also fall into the real of the Politically Correct. And
then the Politically Correct Gestapo arrived on the scene and even
'thoughtcrime' finally became a reality!
Because of Political Correctness, we now live in a world where
fat people are "horizontally challenged", short people
are "vertically challenged", clumsy people are
"uniquely coordinated", the unemployed are
"involuntarily leisured", vagrants are
"non-specifically destinationed individuals" and worst
has become "least best".
It won't be long until a serial killer becomes a "person
with difficult-to-meet needs".
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