**This, as with all other editorials, does not reflect the opinions of The Nest, the staff as a whole, or Albany High School. However, we ask you to respectfully enjoy our content, as we want to include viewpoints from across the political spectrum.**

Have you ever been afraid to say something because you felt it might offend someone? Have you ever stayed silent about your beliefs because you felt it didn’t conform to society’s standards? If so, you may have caved to the system of political correctness.

In today’s modern age, aspects of our society have been hijacked by the growing force of victimhood and oppression. Even opinions that somewhat contradict that of another individual, are labelled ignorant and idiotic. Without going on an in-depth analysis of all aspects of political correctness in society, let us examine four common examples.

Censorship

In major news corporations such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC, and ABC, broadcasted information typically affirms the attitudes of the viewers, especially in terms of analyst panels and ‘expert’ opinion. Try it yourself: watch ten minutes of MSNBC followed by Fox News; they’re on entirely separate spectrums, taking whatever feeds their bias.

When a publisher, editorial board, producer, or any other form of modification exists towards original work in 2017, it doesn’t fall under minor polishing, but rather one of substantial revision. This is the problem: writers, speaking guests, hosts, and all the rest are bullied into submission by misappropriating atypical opinions.

In other words, if you don’t believe what the majority of your colleagues and bosses create, get ready to pack your bags. Even if what you attest is factually true or at least a compelling contention, you’d better get going, you regressive fool.

Eventually, the media is led into a sphere where heavy bias takes control. Daily viewers of the same broadcasts are brainwashed into gaining the same opinions they hear, becoming unwilling to fixate attention towards any other media establishment.

As a result, the media is mandated to provide information that continues to uphold opinions of their audience. Hence, hardly any right wing opinions are represented on new sites such as Slate or The New York Times, and vice versa for left wing opinions on sites such as Breitbart or The Blaze. A silenced censorship ensures that no contested judgements are illustrated on any level.

Health Care

Much of this unfortunate phenomenon can undeniably be viewed on college campuses. Millennials, America’s greatest liberal leaning group, tend to be the most self-oppressive in all of society. As witnessed in the previous 2016 election cycle, youthful voters were ecstatic to hear free education promises from socialist candidate Bernie Sanders, stacked with the widely accepted Democrat stance for free, government insured healthcare.

Now, this isn’t exactly the issue. A few groups of young college kids who believe they are entitled to government supplied education and healthcare are free to hold that opinion. It isn’t even an issue when they individually decide to block oppositional forms of debate. Controversial and, quite frankly, morally unsound territory is entered when these groups decide to isolate and condemn other opinions.

Take, for example, a single payer healthcare system. According to annual Gallup polls, Americans who believe in a government run system surpassed 43% in 2016, an almost 10% increase since 2010. As a growing majority of Americans lean towards socialized healthcare, a positively skewed correlation indicates that more Americans also discern it as a right.

This has translated largely into a perverted sense of self-righteousness. It is considered a federal offense to contend that healthcare isn’t a right, that in no world should a doctor be forced to care for a patient. Ultimately, arrogance in the shape of moral divinity shades out oppositional positions that hold any other belief.

LGBT Rights

Yet another popular issue on college campuses is LGBT rights. A growing number of Americans are agreeing with the notion of equality for the LGBT community, with no signs of stopping. A recent Gallup poll indicated a 64% approval for legal gay marriage, marking an all- time high.

But this isn’t enough. Anyone and everyone who disagrees with that sentiment; the 36% of others, must be condemned and slapped as homophobic until they gain some sense. They are the antagonists, the evil villians.

The transgender community operates under similar fashion. Although most Americans aren’t immediately affected by issues from the transgender community, what treatment they receive, or how they feel on the inside, that again isn’t enough. Transgender folks become the moral arbiters of discourse, the ones who decide what can and can’t be said.

In effect, it becomes politically incorrect to position an opinion contrary to their subjective sense of reality. Are you transphobic if you discriminate against girls in the boy scouts? The very thought of challenging these ideas may result in an unleashing of unfair judgement.

This is not an attack on the general altercation on both sides. It is, however, an attack on the incivility and bitterness as a result of political correctness. If the LGBT community is truly fighting for equal rights, having a civil debate based on rational premises with the opposition would certainly lead to success.

Free Speech

Perhaps the saddest and most absurd example of an element under siege by the overwhelming dynamism of political correctness is free speech. It’s not a surprise that this is witnessed once more on college campuses across America. What’s up with these millennials?

What’s special about free speech is that it incorporates all the other suppressed facets of political correctness. In terms of censorship, news media outlets block those who say and write offbeat political stances. In healthcare, self-appointed egotists condemn those who say healthcare isn’t a human right. For LGBT rights, advocates typically run rampant on those who are courageous enough to suggest a contrasting opinion.

All of this means that free speech is silenced. When political commentator Ben Shapiro was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley back in September, over $600,000 was spent for security and safety purposes. As a traditional conservative, there was little to no logical basis for protests. Still, groups like Refuse Fascism showed up to express their discontent with presumably any other opinion that contradicted their own.

In other instances, such as Richard Spencer’s recent speech at University of Florida, similar outcomes occurred. Spencer, a well-known and self-acknowledged white supremacist, was shouted down while giving a speech. By all moral guidelines and common etiquette, racial supremacy is inherently egregious. But that doesn’t mean it gets repressed. Free speech is a right given to all Americans, even the ones who disagree with you as long as they have incited no riot and caused no physical harm. If left alone, Spencer would have likely continued talking to his five fans; instead, he was given the attention he covertly desired.

Nevertheless, the universal excuse for shutting down these speakers remains explicit. The speech is classified as dangerous, offensive, or even violent in and of itself. The phrase “hate speech”, utilized by resistance movements has been manipulated to characterize all of these forms into one.

Summary

As a society, we should all move past the forces of political correctness. Everyone should be free to say with they believe, without fear of backlash or repercussions. News outlets should permit all types of language and opinions, without heavy edits that misconstrue what was previously expressed. All viewpoints on healthcare and LGBT rights should be discussed without the use of derogatory names to degrade those who disagree. Most importantly, free speech should be protected to ensure that all Americans have the right to debate freely on all of these issues. Only then can the chains of political correctness be broken.