According to the recent study Aggravating
Circumstances by Public Agenda Online, 80 percent of Americans
consider "lack of respect" to be a serious social problem.
Most surveyed believe the problem
is increasing, with 41 percent viewing themselves as part of the problem.
Politically correct feminists bear
some of the responsibility for making North America a less civil place
in which to live. PC feminism is the politics of rage that depicts
men as political enemies of women. It replaces reasoned argument with
ad hominem onslaught and has sparked a hate-filled
backlash at the fringes of the Men's Rights Movement, where women
are hated as a class in tit-for-tat fashion.
The bitterness inspired by PC feminism
is so great that tell-all books are written
by insiders to expose the viciousness. Tammy Bruce — former president
of L.A. NOW — chronicles the left-wing campaigns of malice against
dissent in her book, The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's
Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds.
More recently, Woman's
Inhumanity to Woman by pioneering PC feminist Phyllis Chesler,
accuses the movement of embracing slander, libel and backstabbing
against anyone who dares to question or disagree.
The fractiousness might be written
off as distracting gossip were it not for the fact that slander has
become standard methodology for many discussions that affect social
policy: domestic violence, rape, abortion, sexual harassment. The
methodology of malice has become a barrier to progress that must be
addressed. Intellectual civility must be championed, beginning on
the individual level.
The following is a list of some intellectual
rights you should demand:
- You have the right to not care.
Perhaps anorexia in America is being blamed on Calista Flockhart
for the 100th time. If the topic is boring, you have the right to
state, "I don't want to talk about this further."
- You have the right to not understand
something without being made to feel stupid. A feminist may be excoriating
white male culture for the lack of women in Congress. You have the
right to say: "I don't understand. Since more women vote than men,
how can men be blamed for election results?"
- You have the right to be uninformed.
You may know nothing about the trafficking of girls into prostitution
in East Asia. Don't apologize. Simply state: "I am not familiar
with that. Why don't you explain it to me?"
- You have the right to make an error.
Perhaps in arguing against affirmative action, you misstate
a statistic. Committing honest errors is inevitable and you
have the right to be fallible without having your integrity questioned.
Admit "I'm clearly mistaken on that point," then move on.
- You have the right to change your
mind. When the Taliban required women to wear burquas, you may have
railed against the garment: Now that burquas are optional, you may
defend the prerogative of Afghan women to dress as they wish. There
is no shame in changing your mind. Indeed, it can be a sign of intellectual
honesty.
- You have the right to disagree
without having to justify yourself. Female co-workers may be bashing
men in general as philandering wife-beaters. You have the right
to state firmly "I disagree" and walk away without explanation —
or stay and argue, as you choose.
- You have the right to form an opinion
and to express it. You do not need a diploma, permission from your
spouse, dispensation from the Church, or a birth certificate listing
the "correct" sex. Simply by being human, you have a right to reach
conclusions and state them. For example, men have a right to independent
opinions on "women's" issues like abortion.
Rights are what we are entitled to
claim from other people, and all rights have corresponding duties
— those behaviors that others are entitled to claim from us. The following
are some of the intellectual duties, or rules of etiquette, that others
have a right to expect from you.
- Never purposely embarrass anyone.
Brute reason is as inexcusable as brute force.
- Give the other person time to consider
your points: don't badger them. Your purpose is not to punish someone
but to persuade.
- When someone has conceded a point,
move on. Do not keep hammering away simply for the satisfaction
of being correct over and over again.
- Freely acknowledge errors. "Sticking
to your guns" makes your error the center of attention and is likely
to cast doubt on every other claim you've made.
- When you are uncertain, say so.
Saying "I don't know" is a sign of intellectual honesty and self-confidence,
not weakness.
- Acknowledge good points made by
your "opponent." Such courtesy within arguments is so rare that
you will acquire a reputation for fairness based on this habit alone.
- Don't argue to display your own
cleverness. This is as offensive to most people as an ostentatious
display of wealth that usually causes resentment, not admiration.
