Truth Is The New Hate Speech
James F. Tracy
Official Public Discourse in America: Censorship and Orwellian “Double Think”, “Political Correctness”
An infirmity once characterizing the past century's most severe totalitarian regimes has now taken root in Western public discourse and practice, a process akin to Orwellian "double think" acting as a form of de facto censorship preempting consideration of major issues and events.
This mindset is obliquely shared by a majority of professional journalists, academics, and public office holders — in short, those who represent and lead public opinion. Once a state-endorsed narrative of a questionable event has been presented to and conveyed by the mainstream news media, it is almost invariably accepted without question by "Inner Party" members.
Such silence is abetted by a mechanical allegiance to prevailing authority figures and institutional power. In possessing such a worldview one reflexively forfeits personal integrity to uphold the collective political correctness and an overarching faith in the given sociopolitical system's truth. Alternative interpretations of such events by the laity can be dismissed out-of-hand as "conspiracy theories," thereby further confirming the Party's creed.
Political correctness ensures that, under penalty of de facto or formal censure, deference to official narratives will increasingly eclipse free inquiry and expression in the West. The notion that one's country is becoming a ruthless police state becomes clichéd, particularly with a lack of historical context. Extreme totalitarian regimes based on, for example, Marxist fundamentalism and unquestioning loyalty to the Party famously utilized internment and compulsory psychiatry to quell political dissidents and unorthodox speech.