Episode 239 - Where Are You From? How Not To Be Offended And Why It Can Be Used For Offence

"Where are you from" is considered a micro aggression. Of course in a harmonious society this is a reasonable question indicative of genuine interest. Indeed in a harmonious society to suggest any other motive would be nonsense. However it has become a problem for two reasons in this age of societal collapse where political correctness has been the latest disintegration stage.
The first is people are easily offended because they are unhappy and are insecure about their own identity and feel they have no control apart from the politically correct right to offence for which there is no cost and no responsibility. Of course people should be proud of who they are and pride inspires respect and interest and education. Indeed who you are is simply reality and that is the healthiest thing to deal with. Not edging anxiously round political correctness.
The second is that the indigenous population is also feeling unhappy and insecure about their identity as they see it collapsing around them manifested by discussions over whether Christmas should be cancelled or summer school exams moved due to Ramadan.
As usual we are all too blinded by the symptom to really address the real problem which is something far more sinister.
The real fault lies with our leaders. It is their responsibility to provide leadership including national identity. If someone wants to move to any country it should be clear to them that they will be respected for who they are and where they come from but the priority is to integrate and take on the identity of that country and it's customs. In evolutionary terms if something is familiar it's probably good as it has not already eaten you. If it's not familiar it could be a danger. Hence we dont like people who are different. Studies back this up by showing certain of our brain cells which respond to social queues -mirror neurones- either don't respond or respond less when observing someone of a different skin colour. It can be remedied by education. Hence the phenomenon of racism is a natural phenomenon but the fact it happens is a sign of a badly run society. People don't feel integrated and instead stay close to those they identify with which is why cities become mosaics of different cultures and religions with limited mixing. For instance we all know which cultural groups live in China town, Finchley, Hownslow, Walthamstow, Lambeth -or even large swathes of Birmingham.... Once you have coalescing of cultures each rubbing shoulders with each other then you have friction and strife. Add into that increased immigration recently with no effort or requirement of integration then you have a dry tinder box where small incidents can act as kindling for the underlying problem. For instance the UK is a Christian country. The King of England is the head of the Church of England. At citizenship ceremonies you have to swear allegiance to the King of England. Saudi Arabia is much clearer. It has strict requirements for cohesion to its own culture and religion and forbids public display of other religions. Do you think they would consider moving Ramadan to allow foreign students to study for exams? Who is the stronger more harmonious society? The problem with our leaders is that being a democracy they have to get elected hence they have to please the vast majority of the population who make decisions emotionally on top of which they are misinformed by the media. Therefore logical well infirmed voting is not only a pipe dream but those seeking election just make promises that sound good emotively for quick votes. This is nothing to do with firm fair leadership which will displease the politically correct mass media. Try enforcing British culture, identity, values let alone the Church of England. This general collapse is seeping into every fibre of our society including health, social services police. Everyone avoids responsibility behaves obstructively and destructively rather than constructively and takes offe