The Nation of Political Correctness (NPC)
The Nation of Political Correctness (NPC) was founded in 2500. Below is an excerpted story from one of their most famous authors, Rosalie Maggio1.
Long ago, we had the power to express ourselves freely; to say what we want, act how we want, and be who we want. This power got out of control however, as the vile creatures of the past abused this power for evil deeds, tarnishing their own reputations as well as harming others’ lives. The only way to battle against such a predicament was through unification, in other words, conformity. So here we are, in the true land of equality, where we no one has to worry if their language is politically correct or not.
Such a task may seem daunting, but with a strategic and organized plan, it is not hard to ensure successful results. Starting from birth, Correctians (citizens of NPC) are monitored for signs of abnormal word choice and diverging characteristics and treated for these differences. As such, the typical samaritan qualities can be seen in nearly all the citizens as everyone must be equal–this is a very important value in our nation. As the children grow, being politically correct is incorporated into nearly every lesson to reinforce this core idea. When the child reaches the correct level of maturity, they are honored with the choice between a select number of jobs catered to their capabilities. The word police title is the most prestigious of all these, as these people have an important task and are appointed by the head board themselves! A word police is always working diligently ensuring that one’s thoughts, actions, and even the slighted remarks are all considered politically correct. With the elimination of something known as “social media”, an avenue for users to anonymously spew politically incorrect language, the word police’s jobs have become much easier.
As the years progress, we will continue to see more differences terminated and more people join our nation in hopes of escaping the cruel world that remains. Until we achieve that feat, we shall continue working hard to implement political correctness into every aspect and every second of our lives.
1 Rosalie Maggio is sardonically quoted in “The Word Police” by Michiko Kakutani
I loved your satirical blog post about the NPC (it took me a while to realize that the NPC was made up, but we don't talk about that). You painted a vivid picture about life in the dystopian society. It also did a good job of highlighting the absurdity of trying to eliminate politically incorrect language.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it was intentional, but I think the NPC acronym is clever. Conformity will make us just like video game NPCs (non-playable characters), never allowed to stray from a predetermined pattern of behavior. This is an excellent example of how people with good intentions can become worse than the very thing they are fighting, just like the Baudelaire children the A Series of Unfortunate Events. I like the 1984 parallel too, as people in that world were also forced to conform to a ridiculous degree.
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