In a world overflowing with diversity, we are advised to remain politically correct in everything we do; be it conversing about the various sexual preferences or debating the religions and their many denominations. Societal standards expect us to heed caution and factor in political correctitude into any opinion we might think of or conjure up the courage to utter. While I support the age old ‘think before you speak’, being politically correct goes beyond that by resulting in an inoffensive, placid, and passive attitude that limits the arts of debate and discussion.

While political correctitude successfully allows diversification of personalities and tastes to thrive, it quells the true identification of who we are. The ensuing diversity only gives us the opportunity to float around and feel the influences constantly tugging at us. While it is a pride-worthy trait of humanity and trying things is not generally wrong, getting lost in the various alternatives is. It is too easy to lose footing when there are just so many choices thrown at you and societal standards take away the ability to proclaim one just because someone might not like it and get offended.

To establish and then maintain this hold, we must avoid getting lost by finding what we believe in and identifying ourselves with it. Having a belief or opinion and its proclamation is what allows definitive identification of one’s self because there is no need to hide what you choose or hide from it within yourselves. As far as proclaiming goes, the practice is not to shoot someone in the head if they do not agree or shun someone that is different. It is to have the ability to state and support your identifying beliefs without incorrectly being politically correct.

Let us promote the acceptance of societal contradictions that are the byproducts of diversity and the practice of understanding what we believe in. Once we can accept that people are and will be different, we can combine our offensive yet educated and accepting intellects in the form of debates and discussions to challenge and test each other’s beliefs and identities. The combining of intellects does not have to result in their conformity, as political correctitude would have it, but should result in the celebration of individualism.