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[quote=Anonymous]The question made me recall a couple of passages from Heinlein. (Granted, Heinlein is not who I would usually turn to for political philosophy, but he had his good points.)

[quote]Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them. No matter how “pure” their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best. (Time Enough for Love, 1973) [/quote]

But there’s more to it than that:

[quote]...a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than a riot.

This symptom is especially serious in that an individual displaying it never thinks of it as a sign of ill health but as proof of his/her strength. (Friday, 1982) [/quote]

Rudeness written off as "PC" may seem like a little thing–a tiny annoyance to be lived with, but it seems that this kind of sickness in a society starts at the top - both in the home as well as in government.

When we have a candidate for President making gross incivility and vulgarity the standard for political discourse, legitimizing the use of such techniques for his followers, and dismissing the usual social lubricants as "weakness" and "PC," we have the beginnings of the kind of sickness that Heinlein was describing.

Showing courtesy to others, using good manners, all of the things your mother (or someone) tried to teach you about politeness, those are signs of respect for each other. When you dismiss them as "PC" or signs of weakness then you demonstrate that our culture is rotting because you are choosing not to show respect and be polite to the other members of your society.

When apologizing when you (or the country you lead) have made a mistake or caused harm to others is viewed as weakness, then that social lubricant has started to break down.

[/quote]

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