POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

A thought: that the absence of political correctness is just as bad as too much. It is, after all, about using language to reinforce a set of values. People have always done that. However, the old school hate PC because it presents an alternative morality to theirs and is therefore a threat. The libertarians don’t like it because it’s any kind of fixed morality at all.

IRVINE WELSH ON ECSTASY

1.     “...you lose that fear of failure. The longer you stay doing one thing, you tend to block yourself with a lot of self-defeating limitations. I’d been farting around with music for ages and not getting anywhere, so I thought I’d give writing a go. With E, you wanted to do something, you’re fired up, even on the comedown. You’re having this intense emotional experience with people, some of whom you’ve just met, and you get much deeper insights - you learn more about people than on any other drug. I think people who’ve grown up in the last ten years know more about human nature and psychology than kids did before. Ecstasy didn’t just give me the balls to set myself up as a writer, it gave me the skills I needed to be a good one.”