I’m going to go off on a small tangeant than my normal context for this site for just a moment. I’ve been noticing another hideous trend in the social fabric of the United States and, frankly, it’s getting a little tiresome. Well, actually, there are a few trends, but they seem to intersect on some level so I’ll bring up each one seperately.

First, there is this notion that people have the right not to be offended. I know this isn’t anything new, but this is just getting out of hand lately. Someone please tell me where in the Constitution does it say you have the right to not be offended. I looked. I couldn’t find anything. People have this crazy sense that somehow it’s legally wrong for someone else to make them feel bad. It isnt! Is it rude? Sure. But no one has any legal protection from having their feelings hurt. For example, if I said something like, “All Mexican people are stupid” I have the right to say that anywhere, anytime I want without regard to anyone’s feelings. Is it insanely ignorant and a gross generalization? Of course it is, but the last time I checked, being ignorant or rude is not illegal.

This leads to people having this false sense of entitlement. Whether through their upbringing or too used to having their hand held their whole life, self-important people seem to think that the only view point, opinion, or need that matters is their own. They are free to think that of course, but don’t be offended when I laugh in your face.

There’s also this perception that anyone who isn’t a democrat is a stupid redneck hick racist bigot. Of course, this perception largely comes from people on the left conveniently. Yet, these are the same people who will be the first to tell you that it’s wrong to generalize or use a stereotype for a group of people. What they really mean to say is that they don’t like it when you make fun of them, but it’s perfectly alright for them to make fun of you simply because, well, you’re not from the left and therefore stupid.

This double-standard has persisted for decades and in just the last five years has become a real problem. There is an arrogance about the left that I think even they can’t see anymore. They have a false sense of superiority over those who disagree with their views.

I’m not trying to stick up for the right here. It’s just that over the last five years the left has become much more vocal and have drawn far more attention to themselves and thus making themselves look like pompous asses. I don’t take kindly to anyone telling me what I should think, what I should do, or how I should do it, no matter which side of the fence they sit. If you try and talk down to me and wave your college diploma in my face as a trump card to the argument, I’ll wave a document much older, far more credible, and written by men far smarter of which no arguement you can ever make will win.