How Many roads must an individual walk down, before you can call them an adult?
There. That's much more musical and lyrical. Geez Bob, couldn't you have been a bit more inclusive in your poetry? Apparently the above bastardization of 'Blowin' in the Wind' was included in a New York state textbook on human development. This article, written by Diane Ravitch, elucidates the absurdity of how far the so-called "language police" will go to remove any potentially "offensive" words from state publications. It's a balanced and interesting argument - she's successful in pointing out such absurdity without resorting to some ig'nant, knee-jerk reaction that says that we should abandon "P.C." language altogether. Plus, she makes this great point: by removing any reference to race, class, gender, sexuality or whathaveyou from our literature, how are we encouraging the development and appreciation of diversity that such "policing" actions originally sought to enable?
While I'm on the subject of words, I'd just like to say that I've grown weary of being tacked with the "elitist" label for using a polysyllabic vocabulary. Forgive me for wanting to make communication interesting and precise. Forgive me for not wanting to go gently into the fog of illiteracy fomented by a culture that would rather sit drooling and stupefied in front of "The Bachelorette" than read a book. If you can't understand what I'm sayin', pick up a damn book and increase your vocabulary, because I don't wanna dumb it down anymore.
There. That's much more musical and lyrical. Geez Bob, couldn't you have been a bit more inclusive in your poetry? Apparently the above bastardization of 'Blowin' in the Wind' was included in a New York state textbook on human development. This article, written by Diane Ravitch, elucidates the absurdity of how far the so-called "language police" will go to remove any potentially "offensive" words from state publications. It's a balanced and interesting argument - she's successful in pointing out such absurdity without resorting to some ig'nant, knee-jerk reaction that says that we should abandon "P.C." language altogether. Plus, she makes this great point: by removing any reference to race, class, gender, sexuality or whathaveyou from our literature, how are we encouraging the development and appreciation of diversity that such "policing" actions originally sought to enable?
While I'm on the subject of words, I'd just like to say that I've grown weary of being tacked with the "elitist" label for using a polysyllabic vocabulary. Forgive me for wanting to make communication interesting and precise. Forgive me for not wanting to go gently into the fog of illiteracy fomented by a culture that would rather sit drooling and stupefied in front of "The Bachelorette" than read a book. If you can't understand what I'm sayin', pick up a damn book and increase your vocabulary, because I don't wanna dumb it down anymore.