It's growing no doubt, but locally around here anyway, nowhere near as quickly as the media would have some believe.
What overly offended people have lost, or don't consider, or don't care about, is context. While words can trigger certain people to do what could be considered negative acts, it's an extreme rarity. This is because most people do what's necessary, reading into the words and understanding that what's being said isn't negative, and not meant to be harmful, considering it's not, most of the time.
For those that wont consider context for whatever reason, it's like a teenager taking an aluminum ladder and leaning it against the overhead power lines without considering why those lines are there and their meaning and purpose. Every kid is taught what those lines are and to stay the heck away from them, period. Blaming the utility isn't a reasonable excuse as long as everything is in good working order, even if it's an unfortunate mistake of the public's doing.
What we are seeing is an increase in the number of people 'extending ladders and placing them against power lines and blaming the utility', causing people there to lose their jobs, when it's the person who got burnt who didn't take the time to assess the situation at all. The 'power lines' aren't there to hurt anyone, and in fact do much good, but if you don't treat them with respect, they can potentially cause you harm. And while rare, from time to time those 'lines can come down' and cause harm, and need to be brought to attention and repaired. No system is perfect.
If some Mennonites or Amish don't like the negative dangers the power lines potentially pose, especially because they have no use for them, should we make the utility workers as well as the rest of the public pay for that, and/or maybe even tear down the lines and 'ban' them altogether?
