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Is It Really So Nice To Be Nice?

By: JOHN HARDY

Niceness is the zeitgeist of today. When our ancestors look back through the filter of time, what is it that they will find noteworthy about the people who live in this century? It will not be our valour, nor our cruelty. In both, we have been far surpassed by our forefathers. Nor are our achievements in the arts likely to stand out, as there have been golden ages in the past far more refined than our own period. It will not be our reason, intellectual insight, or mental agility, since these qualities have been in abundance well before the dawn of this century. No. Instead, I would suggest that it will be our niceness which really distinguishes us from those who inhabited other epochs.

This niceness should not be confused for genuine kindness or goodness. It is, at its root, an obsession with being thought well of, not merely by our peers, but by the entire TV audience. Niceness is a sham; sugar-coated narcissism. What lies behind kindness is genuine caring for the other. The energy behind niceness is somehow cloying, as if you were imploring someone to like you. The former is generous, the latter obsequious. The former comes from strength, the latter from weakness. Where one flourishes, the other cannot. Kindness and niceness are mutually exclusive.

Political correctness is niceness elevated to the level of philosophy. It is the new orthodoxy, literally defining North American society. It is reflected in the media, in our laws, in our politics. Being politically correct in your presentation is not a matter of choice; it is a social mandate. Taking any strong position on any topic is tantamount to social suicide. These days, someone being politically incorrect is the equivalent of having spoken out against the party in the Soviet Union or decrying Christian values in the Victorian era. For instance, even the vaguest suggestion that the game exists, is a complete faux pas in the politically correct world. If one is foolish enough to press the point, one risks become a social pariah.

What exactly is political correctness? It is easier to say what it is not. It is not racist, it is not sexist and it is not restrictive. It is not anything at all! It is intolerance of intolerance itself. Any ideology draws a boundary somewhere as to what is acceptable and what is not; what is tolerable and what is not. Propriety, in the past, was prescribed by dogma. Ironically, political correctness denounces dogma as being intolerant, yet manages to be no less judgmental. In the end all we are left with is blandness, tepidness, mediocrity; in other words, niceness!

It is the coup de grace on the part of the players who designed the game. Now they can do as they wish and cover their tracks with long speeches dripping with false sentiment. Anyone who speaks out against their schemes is marginalized for being too negative. As our rights are taken from us, and as we are herded about we are completely oblivious to the fact that we are in a gigantic prison, because it is so very, very nice!

Article Source: http://www.newarticledaily.com

John Berling Hardy is author of the e-book Have We Been Played?- The Hidden Game Revealed. The insights contained in this series give you the Edge. To find out more about the carefully guarded secret shared by all those who enjoy power and prestige visit "http://www.playingtheplayers.com".

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