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Political Correctness

Is Political Correctness Real

  • Yes

    Votes: 82 82.8%
  • No

    Votes: 8 8.1%
  • Other

    Votes: 9 9.1%

  • Total voters
    99
We agree anti-gay bigotry and racism are evil.

Well, many people on this board consider that view to be political correctness. They don't think racism and bigotry against gay people are evil, they think they're just things that liberals don't want to let people say because it isn't politically correct. So, when you say that political correctness inhibits freedom and whatnot, do you include those views in the scope of the "political correctness" you're denouncing?
 
To note the excesses of the right does not excuse the excesses of the left.

I think I made that abundantly clear, don't you?
I sometimes cringe when people on the left say ridiculous things and engage in the victim mentality. Had a huge row with Chromium recently when he wanted to ban the word 'fag', and I'm a fag ffs! His hissy fit was frankly embarrassing, but for every Chromium there's a rightie playing the victim card and telling me what I can and can't call something. It's an equal opportunities disease; affects all ends of the political spectrum.
 
There's just as much PC nonsense coming from the right.

Foetus, unborn child. Marriage has to mean a man and a woman. Observant Muslim has to be referred to as a Fundy Muzzie. Every year there's a War on Christmas. Don't say Happy Holiday. Palestinians don't exist. Creeping socialism. French fries become Liberty Fries. Welfare Queens and the demonisation of the poor - scroungers. Pro-life, when they really mean anti-abortion. The Dixie Chicks saga.

Need any more examples?

I sometimes cringe when people on the left say ridiculous things and engage in the victim mentality. Had a huge row with Chromium recently when he wanted to ban the word 'fag', and I'm a fag ffs! His hissy fit was frankly embarrassing, but for every Chromium there's a rightie playing the victim card and telling me what I can and can't call something. It's an equal opportunities disease; affects all ends of the political spectrum.

Those are not Political Correctness except for the unborn child... They are narrow minded, bigoted, ignorant, agenda driven, etc. They are not an attack on free speech, other than the unborn one. THAT is Political Correctness.
 
Well, many people on this board consider that view to be political correctness. So, when you say that political correctness inhibits freedom and whatnot, do you include those views in the scope of "political correctness"?

I do not try to inhibit or delegitimize speech with which I disagree.
 
I do not try to inhibit or delegitimize speech with which I disagree.

Sure, you just did. You described racism and anti-gay bigotry as evil. That's what all "political correctness" is- telling people that something they're doing or saying is evil.
 
Those are not Political Correctness except for the unborn child... They are narrow minded, bigoted, ignorant, agenda driven, etc. They are not an attack on free speech, other than the unborn one. THAT is Political Correctness.

Sure they are. Where was the Dixie Chicks right to free speech? Where's the right to free speech for Palestinians to call themselves Palestinians? PC is about controlling how people speak and think and all of those examples I gave were examples of exactly that.
 
Sure, you just did. You described racism and anti-gay bigotry as evil. That's what all "political correctness" is- telling people that something they're doing or saying is evil.


But I do not try to prevent their expression of their views.
 
Sure they are. Where was the Dixie Chicks right to free speech? Where's the right to free speech for Palestinians to call themselves Palestinians? PC is about controlling how people speak and think and all of those examples I gave were examples of exactly that.

I am not sure I agree with that although I have to go... have a good weekend.
 
But I do not try to prevent their expression of their views.

That's the only way "political correctness" seeks to prevent people from expressing their views- by painting the speaker as being evil.
 
It is preventing speech.

It doesn't prevent anything... what it is, is the socially acceptable language of any given period.

Political Correctness has always been with us in one way or another.

in 1960 - Absolutely unacceptable to be gay.

in 2015 - Not so cool to go and call someone a faggot

In 1950 - highly ill advised to admit one was a communist

in 2015 - Who. ****ing. Cares.

Political Correctness is just people being pissed off it isn't as mainstream to say certain things anymore but you can absolutely say them... it just means more people may not want to associate with you after you say them in every circumstance above I just listed.

Pretty darn simple stuff.
 
It is preventing speech.

I mean if your objection is only to actually preventing people from speaking, sure, I suppose that is rude. That isn't a very close match to what "political correctness" seems to refer to though. For example, if somebody says that something somebody else said was racist, no matter how politely and quietly and whatnot they say it, the person who said the thing will almost invariably accuse them of trying to shut them down with political correctness. It's the strength of the accusation- calling something evil- that the people objecting to "political correctness" feel is shutting them down, not actual yelling over or something. I mean, on a forum how would it even be possible to shout somebody down to the point where they couldn't post their thoughts? Yet people are accused of political correctness constantly on forums.
 
It doesn't prevent anything... what it is, is the socially acceptable language of any given period.

Political Correctness has always been with us in one way or another.

in 1960 - Absolutely unacceptable to be gay.

in 2015 - Not so cool to go and call someone a faggot

In 1950 - highly ill advised to admit one was a communist

in 2015 - Who. ****ing. Cares.

Political Correctness is just people being pissed off it isn't as mainstream to say certain things anymore but you can absolutely say them... it just means more people may not want to associate with you after you say them in every circumstance above I just listed.

Pretty darn simple stuff.

Skokie, IL has a large Jewish population. The American Nazi Party planned a demonstration in Skokie. The city moved to block them. The ACLU argued on behalf of the Nazis and the demonstration took place. To me that has always been the standard of excellence. Voltaire famously said: "I hate what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Anything else diminishes freedom.
 
K
I mean if your objection is only to actually preventing people from speaking, sure, I suppose that is rude. That isn't a very close match to what "political correctness" seems to refer to though. For example, if somebody says that something somebody else said was racist, no matter how politely and quietly and whatnot they say it, the person who said the thing will almost invariably accuse them of trying to shut them down with political correctness. It's the strength of the accusation- calling something evil- that the people objecting to "political correctness" feel is shutting them down, not actual yelling over or something. I mean, on a forum how would it even be possible to shout somebody down to the point where they couldn't post their thoughts? Yet people are accused of political correctness constantly on forums.

Please see my #191.
 
Skokie, IL has a large Jewish population. The American Nazi Party planned a demonstration in Skokie. The city moved to block them. The ACLU argued on behalf of the Nazis and the demonstration took place. To me that has always been the standard of excellence. Voltaire famously said: "I hate what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Anything else diminishes freedom.

How in any way does that connect with what I said.

In the end, the Nazi's got to do what they did and express themselves and for better or worse that's all well and good.

But tell me... if you knew an acquaintance who took part in that march on the Nazi side... do you think you'd still associate with that person after that?
 
Skokie, IL has a large Jewish population. The American Nazi Party planned a demonstration in Skokie. The city moved to block them. The ACLU argued on behalf of the Nazis and the demonstration took place. To me that has always been the standard of excellence. Voltaire famously said: "I hate what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Anything else diminishes freedom.

Ok, now that you have the city blocking it, you're just talking about violation of the first amendment. The first amendment can be violated in the name of "political correctness", but it could be violated in the name of anything else too. If your objection is to impairing people's free speech rights, I think we'd probably all agree with you on that, but that doesn't really address the topic of so-called "political correctness." "Political correctness" is generally an accusation that is lobbed at anybody who expresses the view that it is wrong to say something that the speaker thinks it is not wrong to say. For example, if a Nazi starts ranting about the Jews and you tell him you think what he is saying is evil, he will accuse you of political correctness.
 
It doesn't prevent anything... what it is, is the socially acceptable language of any given period.

Political Correctness has always been with us in one way or another.

Except that now - this stuff has fangs. People lose their jobs over this stuff; parents have their children snatched from them by the state; etc. The left is who/what drives this crap - and the left is vicious.

in 1960 - Absolutely unacceptable to be gay.

in 2015 - Not so cool to go and call someone a faggot

In 1950 - highly ill advised to admit one was a communist

in 2015 - Who. ****ing. Cares.

Political Correctness is just people being pissed off it isn't as mainstream to say certain things anymore but you can absolutely say them... it just means more people may not want to associate with you after you say them in every circumstance above I just listed.

Pretty darn simple stuff.

It is interesting that you bring up "communism", the most overt form of authoritarianism - b/c PC is nothing more than "speech codes" backed up by the power of the state - which springs from an authoritarian foundation.

In case you haven't noticed, and I know you and most Americans haven't, America is quickly becoming an authoritarian state. The Patriot Act guts the Bill of Rights, and grants the government sweeping, unaccountable, unconstitutional powers; Obamacare is overt government force - codified nowhere in the Constitution; forced "association and commerce"; speech codes, and penalties backed up by the force of the government for violating them; etc...

All of that and everything else the FedGov is doing is properly founded in authoritarianism.

Who cares?? I care... anyone who desires to live free from the coercion and power of the government or their neighbor should care.
 
It doesn't prevent anything... what it is, is the socially acceptable language of any given period.

Political Correctness has always been with us in one way or another.

in 1960 - Absolutely unacceptable to be gay.

in 2015 - Not so cool to go and call someone a faggot

In 1950 - highly ill advised to admit one was a communist

in 2015 - Who. ****ing. Cares.

Political Correctness is just people being pissed off it isn't as mainstream to say certain things anymore but you can absolutely say them... it just means more people may not want to associate with you after you say them in every circumstance above I just listed.

Pretty darn simple stuff.
Incorrect. Political correctness is the attempt to silence those things from even being said.
 
How in any way does that connect with what I said.

In the end, the Nazi's got to do what they did and express themselves and for better or worse that's all well and good.

But tell me... if you knew an acquaintance who took part in that march on the Nazi side... do you think you'd still associate with that person after that?

We're not talking about personal relationships.
 
Ok, now that you have the city blocking it, you're just talking about violation of the first amendment. The first amendment can be violated in the name of "political correctness", but it could be violated in the name of anything else too. If your objection is to impairing people's free speech rights, I think we'd probably all agree with you on that, but that doesn't really address the topic of so-called "political correctness." "Political correctness" is generally an accusation that is lobbed at anybody who expresses the view that it is wrong to say something that the speaker thinks it is not wrong to say. For example, if a Nazi starts ranting about the Jews and you tell him you think what he is saying is evil, he will accuse you of political correctness.

Political correctness is precisely the attempt by non-government authorities to act in ways that would violate the First Amendment if attempted by the government.
 
Real or not... some think it isn't and they are generally the ones guilty of being Politically Correct. :lol:

Thoughts....

I see political correctness as a modern undeclared mental disorder.
 
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