Back in Freshman year of college, I was in a meeting with the rest of the Reilly Hall Student Association Board (or whatever we called it) to help plan an event to hold in the fall. It was a Halloween party, plain and simple. We were going to hold it in the end of October, pass out candy, wear costumes, and carve pumpkins. Only problem was that we couldn't call it a Halloween party because, according to my Assistant Resident Hall Director, it was "offensive" to some people. That was the last meeting I attended.

It seems like almost everything in today's world is "offensive" in some way. I can understand not allowing Spongebob to drop an "f-bomb" on a children's channel or not allowing graphic sex scenes on regular television, but we've become so concerned with not wanting to offend people that it seems like virtually everything today is offensive in one way or another. Some people in our society have even gone so far as to label the American Flag as offensive.

I'm sure most of you have heard about the students of UC Irvine banning the American Flag. The student council voted to remove it along with every other flag from the lobby of the building that houses their office. Their resolution said that they wanted to make a more "culturally inclusive" space because "flags not only serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism, but also construct cultural mythologies and narratives that in turn charge nationalistic sentiments."

I forgot that we were taught in school that America is a culturally exclusive melting pot of one ingredient.

That's my bad.

The ban was later vetoed. Now, I'm not going to get in to how I think those students are complete idiots. I'm not going to mention that if patriotism and nationalism are so bad, then there is no reason to have events like the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics. Instead, I hope that by providing examples of people getting offended at ridiculous things, you and/or I can identify why this has become such a problem and possibly, what we should do to fix it.

I decided that I wanted to write this article after I was blown away about the "controversy" behind this tank-top

Seems pretty harmless, right? Not according to Rita Richardson, a Sebastian, Florida mother and avid JC Penny shopper."I just thought it was sad that a major retailer like JC Penny would want its brand associated with something that advocates and glorifies gun violence," Rita said, "I would hope they would take it off the shelves, immediately."

First off, this lady is nuts. I'm sorry. It doesn't say, "Suns Out, I'm Going to Go Shoot Up a School", it simply says "Suns Out Guns Out", which 99.99% of Americans know means muscular arms. I don't know how anybody could seriously think that violence with guns is cool after seeing this shirt. Some people call their arms cannons too, but you don't see them dressing up as Captain Jack Sparrow, boarding a pirate ship and attacking Port Royal. It's because it's a joke and it needs to be treated as such.

Ms. Richardson, along with many other Americans, seem to have the mentality that freedom of speech and expression is ok, as long as it doesn't offend them. Those students at UC Irvine exercise the right to say how America is bad because of its nationalism and patriotism, but don't want people to express their patriotism by flying the American Flag because it's "offensive". Both are perfectly legal, and people obviously strongly support both sides, so why is it fair to only allow one because it's apparently the "culturally inclusive" option? The biggest problem with America's obsession over political correctness is that it actually slows us down as a society.

We seem to be under the impression that banning something simply gets rid of a problem. But bullying isn't allowed in our schools, and it still happens every day. Drunk driving is illegal, yet it still happens every day. Murder is illegal, yet... I've made my point.

Banning something is never enough to solve a problem. If that was the case, we'd have zero people in jail and the police wouldn't be necessary. In terms of "offensive things", banning them under political correctness can actually result in a lack of productivity.

In 2006, the Harvard Business Review published an article called "Rethinking Political Correctness". In it, they highlighted the problems of being overly politically correct in the workplace. They said that political correctness is a "double-edged sword" because "it has helped many traditionally underrepresented employees to experience their workplace as more inclusive," but "the PC rule book can hinder employees’ ability to develop effective relationships across potentially divisive group differences. Companies need to equip workers with skills—not rules—for building these relationships."

In the article, they list some real life examples of how people were afraid to speak up or act in the workplace out of fear that they'd be labeled as "racist" or "sexist" or they'd be accused of "pulling the race card". They talk about an African-American woman who feels like she's being unfairly targeted by her white, male boss. She's afraid to say anything because she fears being the person who brings a topic like that up. They also talk about a white partner at a management consultancy. He notices a lack of diversity in the office and subsequently hired and mentored a young Latina woman in hopes that he could help women and other minorities succeed in the company. She turns out to be a bad employee, and he distances himself from her because he fears that upon hearing negative feedback, she'll think the office doesn't think she's a good worker due to her heritage and gender.

We have become so fearful of being politically incorrect or being the person who "pulls the race card", that our workplaces are suffering because of it. The intention of political correctness is too... not let people... hmm. What is the intention of political correctness? What does it mean?

Truth is, we don't have an actual definition. We actually have many. According to Reason.com, the modern use of the word was first coined by Marxist-Leninist sects in the early 20th century, but it was also used in magazines like Mother Jones and Ms. to "describe a consumer good or a lifestyle choice". Apparently some used it mockingly, but other used it seriously.

Have fun trying to figure out what this means.

Later, in the late 80's and 90's, we started to see the term "politically correct" used on college campuses in a way that most resembles what we think of it today.

So what was the point of throwing all that information at you? To confuse you. Because political correctness is confusing. We don't have a clear definition of it, so it will always be impossible to truly be 100% politically correct.

The last main point I want to bring up involves simply poking fun at people. Most of us do it. It's even a big way that young men bond. We make fun of our friends for their favorite sports team, maybe a past bad date, or a funny incident at a college party. But it's all in good fun. We don't mean anything bad by teasing them, and it's how we bond.

The comedic pair Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele (Key and Peele) wrote an article called "Make Fun Of Everything" for Time Magazine highlighting this general idea.They said that our society has become so concerned with being politically correct that we can acceptably poke fun at almost no one anymore. They argue that this is a problem because it essentially turns us into bullies.

Think about it. When we only allow ourselves to make fun of a select group and not everyone, we're either saying 1. The people we're making fun of aren't deserving of the same level of respect as everyone else, or 2. The people we are making fun of are stronger and can take humor better than everyone else. Key and Peele even pose the questions that if a comedian excludes one group from the people they make fun of, aren't they "implying that the members of that group are not capable of self-reflection? Or don’t possess the mental faculties to recognize the nuances of satire?"

All of this boils down to what Key and Peele said, essentially. If we allow one side the right to freely express themselves or freely be made fun of, but not the other side, how can we expect to advance as a society? If people can't bring up a concern in the workplace due to the fear that they'll be called "racist" or be accused of "pulling the race card", then how effective is political correctness? Truth is, we will never be able to have a discussion about anything by silencing one side. We have an endless amount of problems in this country, but we will never solve them if we call for a discussion but tell certain sides they can't join in because they're "offensive" or not politically correct.

Look, respect one another. Recognize that we're all equal. But because of that, don't be afraid to poke fun at someone or wear a "Suns Out, Guns Out" tank top. If it's all in good fun, you have the right to express yourself just as much as they have the right to disagree with you.

If there's a legitimate problem in your work place, bring it up. Keeping it bottled up inside because you're worried someone might misinterpret you won't solve anything.

And above all else, stop being offended by everything. Take life a little less seriously, and maybe you'll be able to find a lot more humor in the world.