If it ain't broke...
“The world has gone soft!”
“We never used to worry about things like that!”
“Political correctness is ruining this country!”
Ever heard statements like these? I seem to hear them periodically both in person and following public discourse. Every now and then a post even comes across my Facebook news feed that points out how much has changed from when I was growing up in the 80s, playing to a commonly-voiced complaint that society is becoming overly sensitive (or ‘wowserish’ as David Leyjonhelm likes to complain) and how everyone was happier when we were less politically correct and safety conscious.
Like many adults, I can’t help but reminisce about a lovely childhood, so this meme can be seductive. But when I think about it more, I have to reject the central premise. The evolution of societal expectations and attitudes in the last three decades is not because we are in anyway weaker or ‘going soft’. Most of the changes have been beneficial and in some cases necessitated by modernity; or have been required in response to increased antisocial behaviours. Moreover, this halcyon past that people (mainly white middle-class ones) like to remember so fondly is a myth remembered through rose-tinted glasses and many (obviously not Tony Abbott) have been able to put down the glasses and see it for what it is.
Were we happier without so many rules?
Obviously certain laws and bureaucratic procedures have grown to become unwieldy and complex, especially in the areas of WHS and child safety. And not all of this has been strictly necessary, but only looking at these changes is cherry-picking from history. Other laws made to improve our health and safety have been fantastic! For example, I am no longer forced to inhale second hand smoke when I sit down in a restaurant or get on a plane. I certainly was not better off without this law, and can say without hesitation it outweighs any objection I have to excessive safety laws.
We are also discovering that our more laissez-faire attitude towards child safety was perhaps not something we should be so proud of. In the wake of recent revelations of systemic sexual abuse and bullying in major institutions such as the Catholic Church and the Australian Defence Force, it is reasonable to conclude these abuses would have been much less likely with stricter guidelines around child safety and without a cultural idiom that lionised stoicism and alienated those who complain or speak out.
Were we happier without political correctness?
It may have seemed nice that we worried less about offending people with our words, unless you were the target of those words. Disparaging remarks said in jest can hurt just as much, although the victims of such jokes may not show it. Just because there was less backlash to racist and sexist jokes, doesn’t mean they caused any less hurt. This type of humour (which was a lot more prevalent) went hand in hand with poorer treatment of these minorities too.
As a society, we are now far less accepting of workplace bullying or sexual harassment and this is definitely not a bad thing. But, this is tied directly to our recognition that words alone can be highly damaging to mental health. The word ‘precious’ is a very good adjective for describing people, but it shouldn’t carry negative connotations. Our awareness of this is leading to better treatment and de-stigmatisation of mental health and suicide.
If you remember the world fondly when there was less emphasis on political correctness, you were probably in a position of privilege and power, so most jokes weren’t at your expense. If you really want to see what life would be like without it, spend a few days reading through the disgusting comments posted below youtube videos or consider the UK after the Brexit referendum. Having demonised immigrants in the lead up, the Leave campaign practically legitimised racial abuse for its supporters, leading to a 500% increase in hate crimes reported in the weeks after the vote. Is that really the society you want?
I get that a bit of common sense is required here (and I know that common sense isn’t very common). The reality of life is that people do need to develop some resilience to help them get through the inevitable tough times and there is a subjective limit to how far you can go to appease the oversensitive. But there is no need to deliberately upset others for your own entertainment.
Conclusion
There is nothing (apart from the grammar) wrong with the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” as long as you can identify when a system is broken. That is not always obvious. I might look at my car and think it is fine, but when a mechanic looks at it more closely, he can tell me there is a lot that needs to be fixed. Chances are, if you didn’t think things needed to be fixed back in the 80s, you weren’t looking in the right places. I don’t embrace every change to laws and societal norms (I am actually pretty resistant to change in a lot of cases) and some of them grate at me a bit, but I still believe wholeheartedly that the evolution of societal expectations and accompanying legislation around mental and physical welfare has been positive.
“We never used to worry about things like that!”
“Political correctness is ruining this country!”
Ever heard statements like these? I seem to hear them periodically both in person and following public discourse. Every now and then a post even comes across my Facebook news feed that points out how much has changed from when I was growing up in the 80s, playing to a commonly-voiced complaint that society is becoming overly sensitive (or ‘wowserish’ as David Leyjonhelm likes to complain) and how everyone was happier when we were less politically correct and safety conscious.
Like many adults, I can’t help but reminisce about a lovely childhood, so this meme can be seductive. But when I think about it more, I have to reject the central premise. The evolution of societal expectations and attitudes in the last three decades is not because we are in anyway weaker or ‘going soft’. Most of the changes have been beneficial and in some cases necessitated by modernity; or have been required in response to increased antisocial behaviours. Moreover, this halcyon past that people (mainly white middle-class ones) like to remember so fondly is a myth remembered through rose-tinted glasses and many (obviously not Tony Abbott) have been able to put down the glasses and see it for what it is.
Were we happier without so many rules?
Obviously certain laws and bureaucratic procedures have grown to become unwieldy and complex, especially in the areas of WHS and child safety. And not all of this has been strictly necessary, but only looking at these changes is cherry-picking from history. Other laws made to improve our health and safety have been fantastic! For example, I am no longer forced to inhale second hand smoke when I sit down in a restaurant or get on a plane. I certainly was not better off without this law, and can say without hesitation it outweighs any objection I have to excessive safety laws.
We are also discovering that our more laissez-faire attitude towards child safety was perhaps not something we should be so proud of. In the wake of recent revelations of systemic sexual abuse and bullying in major institutions such as the Catholic Church and the Australian Defence Force, it is reasonable to conclude these abuses would have been much less likely with stricter guidelines around child safety and without a cultural idiom that lionised stoicism and alienated those who complain or speak out.
Were we happier without political correctness?
It may have seemed nice that we worried less about offending people with our words, unless you were the target of those words. Disparaging remarks said in jest can hurt just as much, although the victims of such jokes may not show it. Just because there was less backlash to racist and sexist jokes, doesn’t mean they caused any less hurt. This type of humour (which was a lot more prevalent) went hand in hand with poorer treatment of these minorities too.
As a society, we are now far less accepting of workplace bullying or sexual harassment and this is definitely not a bad thing. But, this is tied directly to our recognition that words alone can be highly damaging to mental health. The word ‘precious’ is a very good adjective for describing people, but it shouldn’t carry negative connotations. Our awareness of this is leading to better treatment and de-stigmatisation of mental health and suicide.
If you remember the world fondly when there was less emphasis on political correctness, you were probably in a position of privilege and power, so most jokes weren’t at your expense. If you really want to see what life would be like without it, spend a few days reading through the disgusting comments posted below youtube videos or consider the UK after the Brexit referendum. Having demonised immigrants in the lead up, the Leave campaign practically legitimised racial abuse for its supporters, leading to a 500% increase in hate crimes reported in the weeks after the vote. Is that really the society you want?
I get that a bit of common sense is required here (and I know that common sense isn’t very common). The reality of life is that people do need to develop some resilience to help them get through the inevitable tough times and there is a subjective limit to how far you can go to appease the oversensitive. But there is no need to deliberately upset others for your own entertainment.
Conclusion
There is nothing (apart from the grammar) wrong with the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” as long as you can identify when a system is broken. That is not always obvious. I might look at my car and think it is fine, but when a mechanic looks at it more closely, he can tell me there is a lot that needs to be fixed. Chances are, if you didn’t think things needed to be fixed back in the 80s, you weren’t looking in the right places. I don’t embrace every change to laws and societal norms (I am actually pretty resistant to change in a lot of cases) and some of them grate at me a bit, but I still believe wholeheartedly that the evolution of societal expectations and accompanying legislation around mental and physical welfare has been positive.
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