PC Regime

The PC Regime

The regime that has emerged throughout the beginning of the twenty-first century is the "PC regime." While many would think that this is referring to the widespread use and dependability of the general population on personal computers and other technological advances such as cell phones, email and the sort, that is not what I am rendering as an earmark of the time. Rather I am stating that the rise of the idea of universally being politically correct has become one of the major steering devices in each and every citizens daily life and has evolved viewpoints and personal choices along the way.
The term political correctness emerged in the 1980s but has quickly spread and can be seen in every aspect of popular life. Throughout the end of the twentieth century and even more so through out the early years of the twenty-first century, ideas surrounding political correctness have quickly evolved into both written and unwritten laws observed within our national and numerous local communities. This is no longer just expected, but those who choose to transgress from the newly founded norm are often met with punishment and outrage. This new eruption has caused the view that the people and groups who are demanding equality and freedoms such as speech and assembly, are the same ones accused of verbally and sometimes even physically persecuting those who choose to speak in plain language without the safeguards of political correctness. The goal that political correctness hopes to achieve is simple and plainly put, is to prevent anyone from being offended.
The idea of being politically correct has directly corresponded into a number of economic, social and ideological disturbances throughout society which have lead to policy demands and measurable administrative and political changes. In the hopes of not offending anyone people have thoroughly debated the ideas of equality through out the areas of marriage, as well as for those that are mentally and physically challenged. These debates have opened a variety of areas of social regulatory policy that has been very controversial even in this politically correct era. The spread of the belief in the mass epidemic of obesity has sparked dialogue on diet reform policy and other health standards like never before in our history. The mass hysteria revolving around a once scientific but not political stance on human-induced global climate change (warming) has struck numerous initiatives and regulations.
The homosexual population in the United States has quickly been growing with the onset of acceptance by a more diverse population. The growth is also contributed to the beginning of use and belief that there should be equal rights not only for all religions or races, as battles in the past have centered on, but also equality regardless of sexual orientation. One key focus has been on the concept of legal and social acceptance of same-sex marriages and homosexual civil unions. Marriage and civil union regulations have been widely accepted as a states-right issue, meaning that the individual states have the constitutional right to set the various regulations involved in the union issue.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century very few states in this country allowed same-sex unions of any type. States often used terms such as bride and groom in their codes and statutes to prohibit homosexual unions without passing controversial binding legislation that expressly denied the right of marriage to anyone. These terms and the ideas in which they are rooted, have been socially proven to offend certain minority groups and therefore have been ruled politically incorrect. Many states now find that they must either allow same-sex marriages, pass initiatives and referendums that are viewed by many as discriminatory, or allow same-sex unions with limits but not marriage. Several equal rights activists have lobbied for a federal constitutional amendment or court precedent setting the bar for national acceptance of gay marriage and are winning because of the "PC" tide. It is suggested by the year 2030 that all states will have passed some type of legislation which allows legal unions within homosexual couples specifically detailing medical and death rights as well as adoption and insurance statutes. There are several large groups who oppose these types of legislation but they are often viewed as politically incorrect and derogatory.
The same-sex marriage debate has caused an uprising in strict conservatives and a counter rising in some liberals. These two sects from the popular Republican and Democratic parties constantly argue and have began taking similar stances on other issues such as abortion, polygamy, stem-cell research and the such. The root of these debates is the oxymoronic idea that more government equals more freedom.
With obesity surpassing smoking as the leading cause of preventable death, health standards started an uproar to help curve the epidemic through out the nation. The obesity dilemma started as a superficial issue where being fat or overweight was seen as ugly. This was fought with campaigns that make beauty something everyone has. Soon thereafter the negative health effects became the center of debate. The government is fighting this epidemic with incentives to lower morbid obesity rates like medicaid plans that pay for nutritionists, bariatic surgeries, and fitness programs for those who cannot afford to pay on there own as well as educational campaigns that help prevent becoming overweight. Body mass index (BMI) is a graded area that is reported on children’s progress reports in government and private schools through out the country. Insurance companies are beginning to penalize those who are ranked overweight by company health examiners and almost every state in the union has banned the use of trans-fat in public cooking. There has been an experimental drug developed by the leading pharmaceutical companies but has yet to be distributed to the public because of the patent and generic fights.
These types of policies have become a way for the government to regulate each citizen’s diet and therefore make the proper decisions that would otherwise not be made by most. This is yet another step towards the total decision making by the government in order to ensure that we all live happy, healthy, and politically correct lives.
The third policy area during this regime is the debate over man-made global climate change. The dilemma often called global warming started as a scientific study but took root as a political dilemma during the early parts of the twenty-first century. This controversy caused a deep split in ideological groups. The Green party quickly took control and fought for this cause. There has been many initiatives taken to reduce the effects of carbon emissions to the environment and the global climate. On the international level, there have been many efforts including the Tokyo Protocol and the more recent Quebec Incentive. This types of agreements are voluntary documents where each States’ government signs and work to lower emissions and try to promote a more environmental friendly approach to energy. These types of initiatives are showing up everywhere. "Congressional legislation to mandate reductions in CO2 emissions from power plants, autos, factories, farms and office buildings has line-jumped to the congressional agenda" and many people are approving because of the propaganda that is being publicized with every turn of the head.1 Ranging from proposed legislation to mandate the use of fluorescent light bulbs and state car emissions inspections to government regulation of corporations pollutants and the like.