PC Fatigue

The next Republican debate will shortly be upon us and people are wondering how well Donald Trump will perform.  In the previous debates, only his mother and devoted enthusiasts were impressed.  He was neither cogent nor forceful in his presentation.

Nonetheless The Donald’s aficionados are convinced that he is honest, brilliant, and strong.  No matter what he says, they take it as gospel.  In fact, Trump is none of what is alleged.  To the contrary, he is a pathetic imitation of what a tough-minded leader should be.

So why do so many people think otherwise?  Why is he hailed as a national savior in some quarters?  This has become an enduring mystery.  Indeed, commentators of every political stripe have struggled to explain the phenomenon.  About all they can agree on, however, is that the “establishment” got it wrong.

In fact, the answer is not difficult to discern.  The Trump boomlet is a reflection of PC fatigue.   As the anti-political correctness candidate, he has benefited from a backlash that has been slow in coming.

First, Donald is not an honest man.  He routinely denies that he has said what he can be documented as saying.  Second, he is decidedly not brilliant.  His insights into foreign affairs and domestic politics really are on the junior high school level.  Third, he is not especially strong.  Anyone who brags about his accomplishments as much as he does is fundamentally insecure.

Still, there is an area in which Trump might be described as strong.  Trump has stood up against political correctness.  He regularly says things that no sane politician is supposed to say—and then he stands up to the criticism that inevitably results.

Why this has gained him a dedicated following can be understood by examining from whence his support derives.  As the polls demonstrate, his most ardent backers are blue-collar whites.  They are the ones who cheer when he lowers the boom on his detractors.

But consider the primary targets of PC.  These too are straight, white males.  They are the folks who are routinely accused of being racist, sexist, and homophobic.  They are the ones depicted as mean-spirited boobs who ought to be run out of town on a rail.

Consider too the methodology of the folks who enforce political correctness.  These card-carrying liberals, and their naïve young henchmen, are specialists in intimidation.  Their primary technique for quashing the opposition is to silence it into submission.

How do the achieve this?  Why they march through the streets chanting about how they will roast pigs like bacon.  They camp out on Wall Street in order to disrupt capitalist activities.  They flood suburban malls to prevent shoppers from patronizing the stores.

The PC folks lie.  They insist that “hand up don’t shoot” was a reality.  They firebomb senior centers.  Stand in their way and they rough you up.  And, of course, if they can, they will get you fired from your job.  Failing this, they will use the law to have you fined for not baking a cake for homosexuals.

It, therefore, takes courage to oppose to these bullies.  Yet this bravery is sorely lacking on campus, in the media, and among politicians.  As a consequence, millions of Americans are fed up with being treated like second-class citizens in their own land.   They have been looking for a champion and believe they have found one in Trump.

Unfortunately, The Donald is a bogus hero.  He is coarse, vulgar, and in-your-face, but this is not the same as genuine courage.  Truly courageous people do more than hurl insults.  They do not call women ugly, Mexicans inveterate criminals, or soft-spoken rivals weak.

Trump is not smart because he says he is.   And he is not strong because he promises to bomb the daylights out of our enemies.  PC does need to be challenged—but not in the way he does it.  A devotee of infantile rudeness cannot halt a plague of self-righteous meanness.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University