Manitoba Revokes 'Star Trek' Licence Plate Deemed Offensive

[C C]

http://m.huffpost.com/ca/entry/16303128

EXCERPT: Manitoba Public Insurance has revoked a Star Trek fan's personalized licence plate after receiving complaints that its message — ASIMIL8 — is offensive to indigenous people. Nick Troller has been driving around with the plate for two years.

It's held within a Star Trek licence frame that also bears the quotes, "We are the Borg," and "Resistance is Futile." Troller tells CTV Winnipeg that on his favourite show, an enemy race of aliens called the Borg travel through the galaxy trying to assimilate other cultures into their own.

He says he thought the plate was funny and notes strangers and other Trek fans have complimented him and asked to take photos with the plate.

But Troller got a phone call Wednesday from a staff member at Manitoba Public Insurance who told him two people had complained that the word "assimilate" is offensive to indigenous people.

He also received a letter from MPI on Thursday demanding he "surrender" the plate immediately, telling him he can either get a new plate or a refund on the $100 charge....

[Magical Realist]

In other words, assimilate or die. How ironic.

[Zinjanthropos]

 two people had complained 

What you may not realize is this,  in Canada that is twice the required number for righting a perceived wrong. With such overwhelming negative sentiment the commission had no choice but to act as they did.

[C C]

What you may not realize is this,  in Canada that is twice the required number for righting a perceived wrong. With such overwhelming negative sentiment the commission had no choice but to act as they did.

[...Inserted Supplemental Quote...] Ry Moran, from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, insists the word "assimilate" is too offensive to be on a licence plate. [...] "Canadians are becoming increasingly less tolerant of free expression," he said. "You have more and more people who believe that they have a legal right to go through life without seeing or without hearing things they find to be offensive."

They're essentially creating a new profanity system that is based on political and empathetic correctness rather than traditional scatology, sexual obscenity, verbal abuse, and blasphemy. A list of offensive words which should no longer be expressed in public lest they draw reactions and consequences akin to what the old school of vulgarity yielded back in its heyday.

As I've tried to point out for years, the shock-value of the old "profanity system" has become sterile due to gratuitous overuse. Thereby rendered worthless for its once typical functions (like non-violent emotional purging; indicating to others that one is in an angry or overwrought state; rebellious thumbing of the nose at establishment protocols for some kind of "I'm a cool individual who should belong to your sub-cultural clique" effect; etc).

As a result of that failing, this new "dirty word" list which derives its potency from ideological transgressions has become attractive to many because it does deliver the desired shock-value and provoking of consequences. (Which is to say, there's no getting around that many otherwise disciplined people want to flirt with disaster in the context of social settings / interactions, courtesy of that almost innate human need for "cussing" and so forth.)

The person here, however (if going by superficial appearances of the story anyway), didn't even have such a purpose in mind; especially in terms of how a Star Trek trope could be construed as relating to indigenous peoples. His "in the dark" situation is very (very) roughly akin to that exotic marathon runner in a Seinfield episode, who thought calling everybody "bastard" with a smile was just a friendly local custom in NYC. Eventually getting into trouble when he unknowingly directed it at a baby born out of wedlock: "Aw, he's such a cute little bastard."

[Zinjanthropos]

You know CC, future generations of Canadians will find other innocent ways to insult one another. I remember when the word 'queer' designated a homosexual. Today it's reverted to its original meaning even though people are still afraid to use it in normal conversation lest they be misinterpreted or forced to observe the stare or hear a lame joke about it. I know 'gay' took its place and if there's a new word then I don't know it. However it shows you that words deemed unacceptable by decree or by a strong political lobby can be weeded out of English lexicon. I can't speak for other languages.