I do not consider myself to be politcally correct.  I really feel we were better able to communicate when we could simply speak the truth.  People die, they don't "pass on".  People with low IQ's are retarded, someone who can't walk is crippled, Polock jokes are funny (and NOT racist!), and hugging your kids is OK. 

It was not considered improper nor was it offensive to refer to someone of a different ethnic background by the name of their race or country.  It left little room for doubt or misunderstanding when you could just say what you needed to say.  Instead of talking about "the little boy next door with the learning impairment that has a physical challenge" you just say "the crippled retarded kid".  It saved a lot of words.

Don't get me wrong.  I am not insensitive to others feelings.  But the piling on of "Politcally Correct"  labels can be even more damaging than the plain, blunt, truth.  Most of us over a certain age grew up in the cruel world of honesty, and we're OK.  But the poor kid who just wasn't wired to be a scientist, a surgeon, or a nuclear reactor operator was destined to failure when the politically correct society tried to convince him he was no different than anyone else, and since less was expected of him (in his "special" class"), he got A's in science, and math, and all his other classes because he "tried as hard as anyone else".  And then the reality -- he graduates, and cannot properly fill out a job application because he can't read.  He is fired from his fast-food job because he can't make proper change.  And finally winds up homeless on the street, or in prison because the only way he can have anything is to steal it.  Wouldn't it have been better to,  early on,  give him the C's and D's and have him grow with a reality that maybe he might want to try a vocational class, learn a useful skill, be able to hold a job, and have a sense of meaning and value?  The blunt honesty may have seemed cruel in the beginning, but might have been the one thing that eventually saved his life. 

Oh, yes, before moving on, one more thing.  Anyone that objects to the term "Retarded" has obviously never worked with one !!!

I will, from time to time, share some things that may show that all of our "polically correctness" may not really be progress.  The following is one such sharing.

I did a little research on this, and it is attributed to many sources, none of which I could validate.  It also is posted as 1973 vs 2006 in some places.  Nonetheless, I felt like sharing it for others to contemplate.  Our Politically Correct society is killing us.

(I just saw this re-posted on my daughter's MySpace page from another source, and it was titled "1978 vs 2008".  Regardless of the dates, as long as you look back 25+ years, it still applies.)

1964 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.

2007 - School goes into lockdown, FBI is called,  and Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1964 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins.  Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.

2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark.  Both are charged with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.

1964 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.

2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

 
Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car and his Dad gives him a whipping.

1964 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 - Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison.

 
Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1964 - Mark shares aspirin medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.

2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Mark's car is searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1964 : Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.

2007 : Pedro's cause is taken up by state democratic party. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.

 
Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed .

1964 - Ants die.

2007 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny' s Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

 
Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by Mary, his teacher.  Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1964 - In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
                                                  
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding three up on a push bike was always great fun.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate bread pudding, white bread and real butter and drank lemonade with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...        WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.       And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go karts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations,  Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround-sound, no cell phones, no personal computer s, no Internet or Internet  chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents .                                                

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given air guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

School sports teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.       Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.  They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem  solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!  And YOU are one of them!         CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to  grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, share it with your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors,  doesn't it?!