News:

Welcome to our site!

Main Menu

Is PC a real problem?

Started by Berati, December 23, 2014, 01:38:21 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Aletheia

I tend to lean a little more toward the Don Rickles approach. You have to be able to laugh at many of the derogatory slurs, slang, and phrases out there, especially the ones which are applied to your own racial or ethnic background. The moment you make talking about that off limits, that just increases the impulse to push the issue. These terms do not have to be socially accepted, but they shouldn't be censored either.

Just like when someone has a bad idea, the best way to remove the incentive to support bad ideas is to let the group put the idea to the test. They give it a try and it systematically fails. Before long, everyone accepts that the idea wasn't a good one. However, anyone is free to give the idea a try if they want.




Quote from: Jakenessif you believe in the supernatural, you do not understand modern science. Period.

Moralnihilist

I dont like PC.
Firstly, it makes talking take 3x as long. Kinda like when prince changed his name to that symbol, people started calling him "The Artist Formally Known as Prince". Now you have to call someone a Morbidly Obese Same Gender Preferenced African American, instead of a fat black cocksucker(George Carlin joke not mine).

Secondly, it turns language into "thought crime" and frankly I think its bullshit. If I were to insult someone using "offensive" language, that is my right as an American. Frankly I dont give two fucks what anyone thinks of my language.
Science doesn't give a damn about religions, because "damns" are not measurable units and therefore have no place in research. As soon as it's possible to detect damns, we'll quantize perdition and number all the levels of hell. Until then, science doesn't care.

Jmpty

???  ??

Solitary

Words are just abstract symbols or sounds---like the American flag---why put so much emotion into their use? If I say nigga nigga every black person is offended, when it means quickly quickly in Chinese. Black punks go around calling each other nigger, why aren't they offended? Because it isn't the word itself, but what is meant by its use by the person using it. And why are people offended by a word unless they want to be offended by it. Just the word atheist is used offensively by idiots, fuck them and the Donkey they rode in on! What words are a person suppose to use if they don't like someone for any reason, or are pissed off? Lul. Honkey, Dyke, Blasphemer, Dumb Ass, Cunt, Prick, Queer, Sinner, go to hell---etc. Prejudice? Hell yes KKK! Bigot? Hell yes religious nut! Hateful? Hell yes War Monger!   :fU: :butt: :kidra:
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

Sal1981

Political Correctness only is a concern, I think, when it comes to overtly self-censorship - and when does that really happen?

Jmpty

Quote from: Solitary on December 24, 2014, 12:38:25 PM
Words are just abstract symbols or sounds---like the American flag---why put so much emotion into their use? If I say nigga nigga every black person is offended, when it means quickly quickly in Chinese. Black punks go around calling each other nigger, why aren't they offended? Because it isn't the word itself, but what is meant by its use by the person using it. And why are people offended by a word unless they want to be offended by it. Just the word atheist is used offensively by idiots, fuck them and the Donkey they rode in on! What words are a person suppose to use if they don't like someone for any reason, or are pissed off? Lul. Honkey, Dyke, Blasphemer, Dumb Ass, Cunt, Prick, Queer, Sinner, go to hell---etc. Prejudice? Hell yes KKK! Bigot? Hell yes religious nut! Hateful? Hell yes War Monger!   :fU: :butt: :kidra:

I'm not sure what kind of Chinese you're talking about. There is a word in Mandarin, nega, pronounced nay-ga, which means "that" but that's about the only thing that comes close to nigga.
???  ??

Mermaid

People need to respect each other. That's my credo. If someone finds something offensive, instead of judging it and itemizing the reasons they're wrong, I try to accept that for what it is, and move on.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

the_antithesis

Quote from: Yahtzee CroshawIt's very depressing when you can't make honest cultural commentary without having to disavow the assumption that your feelings are motivated by an irrational hate-trigger response to different levels of melanin. You know what? A society where anyone can make jokes about anyone else and everyone laughs is a truly tolerant society. Political correctness-charged censorship only serves to engender resentment and distance between social groups.

doorknob

it depends highly on the situation. Some if not many are truly offensive. while the ones we hear about most are people being utterly ridiculous.

that being said I support freedom of speech and that includes hate speech. Hate speech falls under the category of unpopular speech which last time I checked is protected. But the more we allow people to chip away at our rights the more we loose.

I don't care if that means assholes getting to sound like assholes. I'd rather be offended than be the thought police.

PickelledEggs

Quote from: Mermaid on December 26, 2014, 07:46:40 AM
People need to respect each other. That's my credo. If someone finds something offensive, instead of judging it and itemizing the reasons they're wrong, I try to accept that for what it is, and move on.
I really don't think an over-generalization is necessary, but I do agree with this to an extent. The exceptions I would give to this rule is if someone was an asshole or their world-view is harmful.

I would actually go one further and say while for me, I don't give someone respect until it is earned, I also don't disrespect someone unless it is earned. Everyone that hasn't fallen in one of those 2 categories for me gets a respectful/neutral view from me... if that makes sense.

Mermaid

Quote from: PickelledEggs on December 26, 2014, 08:22:17 PM
I really don't think an over-generalization is necessary, but I do agree with this to an extent. The exceptions I would give to this rule is if someone was an asshole or their world-view is harmful.

I would actually go one further and say while for me, I don't give someone respect until it is earned, I also don't disrespect someone unless it is earned. Everyone that hasn't fallen in one of those 2 categories for me gets a respectful/neutral view from me... if that makes sense.
Yeah, it makes sense.

Some further thoughts on "PC": People sometimes complain when they can't say certain things because they are not "PC" anymore, and that is inconvenient. Actually, you can say whatever you want, but you have to realize that you will offend people if you do. If you don't care, you don't care. That's on you. If you used to be able to call women "skirts" or Native Americans "Redskins" and you can't anymore and you're annoyed about that, I'd say you have a certain lack of respect for the people you are offending. If you complain that people are offended too easily, you, again, have a certain lack of respect for those people.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Hydra009

Quote from: doorknob on December 26, 2014, 04:36:14 PMthat being said I support freedom of speech and that includes hate speech. Hate speech falls under the category of unpopular speech which last time I checked is protected. But the more we allow people to chip away at our rights the more we loose.

I don't care if that means assholes getting to sound like assholes. I'd rather be offended than be the thought police.
I'm not sure were exactly to stand on hate speech.  Sure, I'd agree with that the KKK can march and the Westboro people can spew their bile, even though I don't like it.  But inciting violence or threatening people with bodily harm?  I'm not okay with that.  And it's not always easy to distinguish one from the other.

SGOS

I used the term "Politically correct" one time around a friend who then insisted that it was a meaningless term.  He struggled with it, but didn't seem to grasp it.  Then I struggled with why he couldn't grasp the meaning.  Now it is a relatively recent description, and as such, may not have a universally accepted definition, which would make it confusing for some.

But I will agree that it's an odd concept. It most clear to say something is correct or incorrect.  Why isn't that adequate?  Throwing in an additional descriptor that describes in what manner something is correct might muddy the concept of what being correct means.  It sort of sounds like something that is politically correct is not truly correct, in which case being politically incorrect would actually mean someone is correct.

Quite often when someone says something is politically correct, it means he disagrees with it.  And it usually applies to liberal ideas.  Of course conservatives also practice political correctness.  After all, would could be more politically correct than cherishing the "Christian ideals" upon which this great country is founded?

Berati

Quote from: SGOS on December 27, 2014, 08:00:16 AM
I used the term "Politically correct" one time around a friend who then insisted that it was a meaningless term.  He struggled with it, but didn't seem to grasp it.  Then I struggled with why he couldn't grasp the meaning.  Now it is a relatively recent description, and as such, may not have a universally accepted definition, which would make it confusing for some.

But I will agree that it's an odd concept. It most clear to say something is correct or incorrect.  Why isn't that adequate?  Throwing in an additional descriptor that describes in what manner something is correct might muddy the concept of what being correct means.  It sort of sounds like something that is politically correct is not truly correct, in which case being politically incorrect would actually mean someone is correct.

Quite often when someone says something is politically correct, it means he disagrees with it.  And it usually applies to liberal ideas.  Of course conservatives also practice political correctness.  After all, would could be more politically correct than cherishing the "Christian ideals" upon which this great country is founded?
McCarthyism is the worst example of right wing political correctness I can think of having occurred here and it's far worse than the liberal version IMO.

As to the liberal version, here are a couple more examples where I think it goes too far.

I have an issue with the recent attempt to remove the word "nigger" from Huckelbery Finn and other classics.

Also, I've heard of attempts to squash any research on race/crime or to suppress the data that is already available. I think this well intentioned ostrich like behavior would be more harmful than helpful. Awhile back the Toronto police service stopped including race in descriptions of suspects. Seems a rather important detail to leave out. It didn't last long.
Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

the_antithesis

Quote from: doorknob on December 26, 2014, 04:36:14 PM
I don't care if that means assholes getting to sound like assholes. I'd rather be offended than be the thought police.

Mostly because that doesn't work. It does not change people's attitudes. Only hides them.

It makes as much sense as a racist who doesn't like black people to solve that problem with some peach spray paint.