What's so wrong about being "politically correct"? - Page 2

Tao_Equus · 05-15-2009, 10:33 AM

Being Politically correct is adjusting ones language to appear to the observer to support a preconceived set of ideals. It has become little more than a formalised adoption of political spin that can be learned by rote and is never deviated from. It does not serve the people it proposes to protect, it serves the commentator, and is as readily and easily used to cover and disguise the very prejudices it proposes to defend against. Or, as happened here recently, be used to justify an equally unacceptable set of prejudices. Being PC, however well meaning, means pandering to a set of rigid rules that are nothing less than self-censorship. Again this censorship is more of an aid to the prejudiced than the group that is meant to be being defended in its use, its easy to hide behind the 'soundbites' of PC.

It is a sort of politico-speak that has leaked into broader usage. It was developed for consensus of language in legalese document and policy and there it has some merit. But to fall back on it in general conversation can mean several things, none of them entirely healthy or indicative of real social tolerance. If you know you are not racist you should have the confidence to say so in your own words and not fall back on a PC soundbite that may very well be ambiguous given the nuance of the conversation. Being honest in your own words reveals where you really stand. Which to my mind is far more preferable than the memo's of lawyers.

Postmaster · 05-15-2009, 02:18 PM

Id give you some rep for this but cant give anymore to you at present haha

17th Angel · 05-15-2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by path_of_one

I grew up poor. No sense in calling it "disadvantaged" or "economically deficient" or whatever. We were poor. I don't mind calling it what it was.

No shame being poor.....

Oy..... If, I were a rich man.... Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum! All day long I'd; biddy biddy bum! If I were a wealthy man...... I!!!Wouldn't have to work hard!!!!

dauer · 05-15-2009, 04:52 PM

Yeah but d00d, it's no great honor either. :/

17th Angel · 05-15-2009, 04:55 PM

Money is but the world's curse Dauer!!!..... *waits for it.... LOL*

dauer · 05-15-2009, 05:05 PM

Sorry, you lost me. :/

Postmaster · 05-15-2009, 05:39 PM

Yeah man money isnt exactly a blessing. A blessing is getting through life as stress free as posible. I seen some of my friends get destroyed by more wealth then the greater population. Being born with a silver spoon leaves you open to a world of resourse without understanding consequence, different if you actually earn it for yourself.

17th Angel · 05-15-2009, 05:51 PM

*sighs*

*points to script*

Dauers Line: Oh well then may god smite me with it, and may I never recover!

Francis king · 05-16-2009, 02:42 PM

I can also retell stories much like Dauers- being worried about saying things like "black", being careful not to use negative stereotyping, etc, when growing up, especially around white ppl... I imagine most ppl go through this, even today...

but, like Tao points out- I think most of this was and is due to political spin...

It WAS an issue for us, in the UK in the 1990's- the Metropolitan police force was deemed institutionally racist, we had pockets of refugees in sink estates not interacting with whitey as whitey was perceived to be a rasist oppressor, we had few black ppl in positions of power, local and national government, etc, and we recognised it for what it was- the last vestiges of Colonialism, the undercurrent which flavoured life- that ultimately, it shouldn't and couldn't continue, and so we Liberals all crept about too scared to put a foot into it, and eventually we arrived at some semblance of rationality...

I worked in a voluntary sector job, advising ppl of their rights... we collected statistics on how many ppl came through the door and what colour they were...

the more black ppl we got, the more money we got... it didn't matter how many jews, or poles, or buddhists we had- just what colour they were...

then we couldn't say black anymore- we had to start labelling due to "nation"- a person would be african british, or british african, and we often had to ask ppl what they were in interview... this was uncomfortable, and we stopped asking...

the funders, though, still wanted to know how many black ppl we assisted... so then we were encouraged to mark them off as "BME"

black and minority ethnic... the only problem with this was...

BME meant anything- white Irish travellers, Asian students, even the Welsh (ppl from Wales!) so we had to wait until Parliament issued a new descriptor for us to use...

thats not to say it is all over yet, though-

yesterday in a queue in a store, a white man stood with armfuls of products and no basket. A black woman walked past him and bumped into him, and he dropped all his stuff. She either didn't notice or didn't care. I bent down to pick his products up, and he says...

"some of them have got no manners, have they?"

I shook my head and said no. I agreed. Often ppl are ill-mannered. And then I realised what he meant. He meant, some of THEM, i.e., black ppl...

At the till stood a large black security guard, and two black women having their bags packed... and they all looked at me... like I was scum...

maybe I should have challenged the man, but he was white, low end working class, poor and hard done to... because of his socio-economic situation, because of limited intelligence and opportunity, he was the minority ethnic instead, and I actually felt sorry for him...

Ten years ago, I would have challenged him, would parrot some PC-speak, but today... I don't care...

I didn't even feel the need to make amends, to reassure the queue I was definately not a racist, that I had misunderstood the man, and really I thought HE was the peasant, the slave, the victim, the outsider.

I no longer feel that level of angst, so familiar to me as a young adult... Now I call a spade a spade and still find great enjoyment in racially slurring the Welsh (they're white- its alright). I feel no qualms whatsoever about throwing stones at the Orange on the glorious 12th!! (It's my culture and denying me the right to hurl small projectiles is in contravention to my human rights under the Human Rights Act)...

The problem with using our politically correct descriptors is.. they are value judgements, made for something that matters not one jot... I dont care what colour u are, or what Holy Book u prefer... all I care about is me, and how u will interact with me...

If you are decent, I will try to be decent as well...

As George Orwell wrote in "Animal Farm"... "all animals are equal, yet some are more equal than others..."

As a religious type, I have spent many, many years trying to treat ppl fairly and be indiscriminate, yet, unfortunately, not all ppl are equal, and not all ppl should expect the same level of rights everyone else has...

I don't think we should deem all humans, irrespective of their culture and status and life experience to be equal and deserve exactly the same treatment. I do not think this is fair, even though on the surface it appears to be the ultimate in fairness, it is in fact something else; it is stupidity.

Postmaster · 05-21-2009, 06:07 PM

The only things that make me give value to people are the virtues they do or don't present and the worst I do is give a piece of my mind but usually ignore. I really don't care what background they come from were all human at the end of the day. As soon as I see that frontal lobe sticking out on the front of their heads I indentify them as one of us

I'm a big fan of interfaith inter-human relations. So I present myself in a way that aids this. And I frown agains't people in my circle of friends and family that discriminate on others for simply not being similar enough to them.