The Death of Political Correctness...

[TLK Valentine]

... now that I have your attention, I'd like to try a little thought experiment:

We all wake up tomorrow to a world without "Political Correctness." The very concept has been instantly expunged from society.

For the purpose of this thread I would like to offer a definition of "Political Correctness" as "the concept that a person's words can have negative repercussions on their professional and/or personal life because someone, somewhere, might be offended by them, either on their own or someone else's behalf." (If anyone has a better definition, I'm willing to consider it)

Anywho, it's now gone...what happens next?

 

[JustOneWay]

Anywho, it's now gone...what happens next?

I can again call my 'not so smart' friend a retard without feeling guilty that I may have insulted him. After all, it is about what I feel and not him. Why should I have to hold back if I think I am better? It is the American way....

 

[Chesterton]

I'm thinking maybe the OP is some kind of trick question I'm not smart enough to see, but I'll take the bait. Nothing would happen next. We go about our lives in a free society. We communicate ideas openly and honestly, and if need be we debate them. We respect the fact that people have differences and have different ideas and beliefs, and we live and let live.

 

[Chesterton]

I can again call my 'not so smart' friend a retard without feeling guilty that I may have insulted him. After all, it is about what I feel and not him. Why should I have to hold back if I think I am better? It is the American way....

But you just called him "not so smart". Isn't that insulting? See you can either talk about a characteristic, or not talk about it at all. You can recognize reality and deal with it, or be an ostrich.

 

[JustOneWay]

But you just called him "not so smart". Isn't that insulting? See you can either talk about a characteristic, or not talk about it at all. You can recognize reality and deal with it, or be an ostrich.

'not so smart' is not an insult. It is a description of a reality. Apparently you do not understand political correctness....all the while trying to be politically correct.

 

[variant]

There is an ever so slight and vague line between being against political correctness and supporting rude and boorish behavior.

 

[TLK Valentine]

There is an ever so slight and vague line between being against political correctness and supporting rude and boorish behavior.

Would it therefore be safe to say that the issue is not "political correctness," per se, but rather too much of it? Too much of a necessary thing, perhaps?

 

[variant]

Would it therefore be safe to say that the issue is not "political correctness," per se, but rather too much of it? Too much of a necessary thing, perhaps?

The issue is that people are used to acting, thinking and speaking about certain things in a certain way and are annoyed by demands to immediately change to be politically correct whenever the powers that be say we all need to change how we act...

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

I'm thinking maybe the OP is some kind of trick question I'm not smart enough to see, but I'll take the bait. Nothing would happen next. We go about our lives in a free society. We communicate ideas openly and honestly, and if need be we debate them. We respect the fact that people have differences and have different ideas and beliefs, and we live and let live.

The way I'd put it is that we'd have a society which has no inclination to put "victims" or "oppressed" people on a pedestal.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The issue is that people are annoyed by demands to be politically correct.

Not so much the demands themselves, but that there are too many....

 

[variant]

Not so much the demands themselves, but that there are too many....

Sorry, I expanded on that thought a bit after I posted it.

The demands are also somewhat arbitrary in the nature of what the zeitgeist chooses to care about.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The way I'd put it is that we'd have a society which has no inclination to put "victims" or "oppressed" people on a pedestal.

But surely there are a few "victims" and/or "oppressed people" who have earned a little sympathy, correct?

 

[TLK Valentine]

Sorry, I expanded on that thought a bit after I posted it.

The demands are also somewhat arbitrary in the nature of what the zeitgeist chooses to care about.

The zeitgeist has always been arbitrary. People and causes fall in and out of fashion so quickly and randomly I'm surprised they don't get whiplash...

 

[variant]

The zeitgeist has always been arbitrary. People and causes fall in and out of fashion so quickly and randomly I'm surprised they don't get whiplash...

Which is why it is understandable that people get annoyed with social demands.

But surely there are a few "victims" and/or "oppressed people" who have earned a little sympathy, correct?

We all deserve a little sympathy for having to deal with other humans all our lives, but we only have ourselves to blame.

 

[Chesterton]

The way I'd put it is that we'd have a society which has no inclination to put "victims" or "oppressed" people on a pedestal.

That's true, and when you put things on a pedestal you perpetuate the things you claim you want to get rid of, and I'll give a little example from my own life which actually happened.

I was dating this girl and on one of our first few dates we sat down at a restaurant, she went to the restroom, our waiter had brought us water or whatever, and when she came back she asked which waiter was ours. I looked around and said "the black guy" (there were, say, 5 waiters milling about, 4 white, one black). Her jaw dropped, she was horrified. I was clueless. We got into a discussion but she was never able to give a reason why you shouldn't identify a person by the color of their skin, other than "you just don't". If there had been 4 brunette waiters and one blonde guy I'd have probably said "the blonde guy". So what? I see skin color as what it is, utterly normal, and she sees it as what - something which can't even be spoken? I don't know, is she a racist? Does she think you can't mention color because deep down she looks down on blacks because she sees a different color as something they need to be pitied for as if it were a disease or something? Which one us is more likely racist, me or her? Her mindset is exactly what a big part of PC is about, and it perpetuates stereotypes and divisions between people.

 

[hislegacy]

How did we ever survive for 230 or so years before we allowed the PC people to run our lives?

Here's a thought lets ditch political correctness, and replace it with the Bambi rule.

If you don't have something kind to say, don't say anything

The instant side effect would be this forum going silent.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Here's a thought lets ditch political correctness, and replace it with the Bambi rule.

If you don't have something kind to say, don't say anything

The instant side effect would be this forum going silent.

Lead by example, my friend...

 

[hislegacy]

Lead by example, my friend...

Ditto

 

[Chesterton]

There is an ever so slight and vague line between being against political correctness and supporting rude and boorish behavior.

I've seen this kind of comment in other threads regarding PC, as if it's about "civility". It's not, it's about thought control. Think of Condoleeza Rice having to bail on a commencement speech due to protests. I've never heard her say a harsh word about anyone or anything. Seems to me like a very sweet person. PC is not about being ill-mannered.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Ditto

You preach it, you practice it.