The Right to be Offensive is disappearing from us quick and fast. It started with Political Correctness a number of years ago and its taking us now to a single view world where the politics of both left wing and right wing are held to be extremist.

Look at the major Western Powers and their democratic systems and you will see a convergence of opinion , a stagnation of new ideas and very little in their day to day politics that would offend.

Topics such as racism, bigotry and abortion are dealt with less and less. Politicians would rather skirt around the issues and avoid the difficult questions. When they are discussed it is done so in a relativist fashion where each individual has the right to decide for themselves. A valid point if you are discussing music or art, but a cop out if you are talking of the politics of a nation

Worse than this is the quashing of ideas that might be construed as offensive to an individual or group by the political establishment. We are told that such ideas should not be heard. This goes from the extremes where Neo-Nazi parties are banned in Germany and other European states to the seemingly ridiculous situation where in work places we cannot openly discuss the race or sex of a colleague in case it is misinterpreted.

This is not the doing of a benevolent authority out to protect us from ourselves, it is the retaining of power by crushing opposing viewpoints. By extending this into our everyday lives as well as our political opinions the culture of conformity is being set in stone

I'm sorry to have mentioned Nazis, abortions and racism all in this. Include also references to marxism, communism and the IRA. Hey stick in the PLO, Israel and Gay Rights. Its all relevant to this point, the point being that almost every opinion offends someone. In fact in politics if you aren't offending anyone then you're not saying much. It's time to get offensive and express opinions

It's also the time to defend our rights and even the rights of those we disagree with to free speech. Opinions, no matter how offensive you find them are just that, opinions. Judge them, argue against them, cringe at them or just laugh at them. To stop them is, in the end, to stop your own rights to offend, to have opinion and to express yourself.

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