Those whom the gods would destroy

Conservative Woman has an interesting if somewhat depressing piece on the increasingly deranged BBC.

If you ever had a suspicion that your licence fee was being wasted, this should reassure you.

Yes, our deranged Auntie, the Beast in the Attic at Broadcasting House, has decreed that staff should use words such as ‘they’ or ‘them’ rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’, when addressing gender-fluid or transgender colleagues to make sure the BBC does not develop a ‘heteronormative culture’. Heaven forfend.

The Times reports, as always with a straight face: ‘The broadcaster will also review its “systems and practices” to ensure that they are inclusive of non-binary genders, and will train managers on how to support transgender staff, especially when they are transitioning.’

Sorry, there’s more. ‘In addition heterosexual BBC staff will be asked to wear badges identifying themselves as “straight allies” to help their LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) colleagues.

We may treat this kind of thing with the derision it deserves, but one reader’s comment offers a far more serious point, one we may have forgotten.

And meanwhile we normal, little people watch this developing nonsense with disbelief and open mouthed amazement. Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Our society is now so effete and decadent that it is wholly incapable of resisting any more robust culture, however brutal and backward, that arises to sweep it away.

Indeed – this is the sharp end of the problem.