The power of being un-PC
After his Trade Me listing made the news he fielded dozens of queries and applications. It looks like he’ll have no trouble filling his roster of possumers.
His advertising was a success and it was because it was so unpolitically correct – including gems such as: ‘‘They need to understand that the job doesn’t mean you get to drive around on QUADS all day and shoot s**t.... you actually have to walk....and the walking involves HILLS!’’
And: ‘‘They need to understand that there’s NO internet...no cell coverage...no breaks....and most of all NOWHINGING!!!!!’’
Political correctness is a funny concept and it changes as the social values that it represents change. Political correctness is, in a way, the extreme manifestation of a society’s values.
A politically correct position often stems from a solid moral starting point, but which is then taken too far, so that fear of offending that value, through any action, word or, sometimes it even feels, thought.
So, it is always easy to admire the non-PC. They are people brave enough to put their head above the parapet and say ‘‘I don’t really care what society thinks, I think they’re wrong’’. Being non-PC is different from being offensive.
In this case, the political correctness Trafford is railing against stems from good motives – protecting the rights of workers to be treated fairly by their employers. An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay is the ideal that works for both employer and employee. In times past, the scales tipped in favour of the employers and the issues this caused are arguably rectified.
Unfortunately, the politically correct extreme of these measures have led to a situation where, when employers are left accepting a dishonest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, they feel unable to say or do much about it.
There will be some who congratulate Trafford for his approach, others who condemn him. But, like it or not, his advert appealed because it stood up to the extremes and said ‘‘I don’t think your way is right’’. As long as his employees are treated within the boundaries of the law there’s nothing wrong with that. It takes a bit of bravery to do that – bravery that will earn him plenty of respect and the result he wants.
That’s the power of being unPC.