Free Speech vs Political Correctness
Hungarian Prime Minister Orban bans “refugees” from entering the country, suggests detention for the duration of their application process, Trump trumps the establishment and is to become president of the United States, the UK leaves the EU — meanwhile, the established media are trying hard to counter these “counter revolutionary” acts and seek to manoeuver discussions back to the political days which are now ancient history. Any utterance made by “unsavoury” characters such as aforementioned Trump and Orban are immediately publicly condemned, as can be read in almost every newspaper, painting the picture of ruthless, Stalinesque dictators. The question, however, remains — are these developments all as gloom and doom as we’re made to believe?
Considering the implications these events have, it is rather unlikely. For years, most Western countries have moved in a bubble of ignorance and inofficial bans on speaking out on certain topic, whilst not even so much as listening to what people had to say. Instead, the same corny phrases such as Merkel’s now infamous “Wir schaffen das” [we can do it] are repeated time and again, with no real public debate, or even asking the people, taking place — partially leading to the rise of the right throughout a considerable portion of the West.
While this is in no way condoning atrocities committed against foreigners and the rise of xenophobia which have sadly become part of this, the positive aspects of these developments must be pointed out as well — the lack of political debates characteristic of recent years doesn’t work anymore. The time of policies without any alternatives are now over; all views have to be taken into consideration, even those that do-gooders do not want to hear in their safe-spaces. This, essentially, is a marked conflict between political correctness, affecting public debate over the two decades years, and free speech, voicing opinions that do not fit party doctrine and challenge previously held ideals.
The West has only itself to blame for their current position as they neglected taking in the mood of the people and catering to the needs of all, and making sure the voices of truly all are heard. Instead of seeing the dread especially leftists fear in these political shifts, perhaps it is time to rather embrace the enrichment it brings to our political landscape — debates actually featuring different opinions and truly challenging the views of the respective opposition.
