Is PC a real problem?

[Gerard]

PC can be a problem but it can also be a blessing. Not everything revolves around politics or the way opinions should be rightly addressed. PC can also be a way of avoiding poisonous conversations with people that you don't actually have a quarrel with. Sometimes you just don't want to know, or have to know what people you are talking to think about contentious or even obnoxious matters. Then it's just about being polite... Not political!

Gerard

[Berati]

PC can be a problem but it can also be a blessing. Not everything revolves around politics or the way opinions should be rightly addressed. PC can also be a way of avoiding poisonous conversations with people that you don't actually have a quarrel with. Sometimes you just don't want to know, or have to know what people you are talking to think about contentious or even obnoxious matters. Then it's just about being polite... Not political!

Gerard

I agree with you but I would label what you are talking about as polite conversation or etiquette.

PC as I brought up in the OP is more about unofficial punishing of "wrong" behavior. Like the labelling of any criticism of islam as "racist" (see the attempt to keep Bill Maher from delivering a commencement speech for his criticism of islam) or the refusal to allow the collection of race statistics when studying crime. Both are well intentioned but ultimately harmful IMO. 
I'm a big fan of polite conversation but I don't like it when conversation is stifled in a high handed holier then thou manner which I see as the actual purpose of PC. 
It's annoying but I'm not really sure how big  problem it is. Bill Maher was ultimately allowed to give his speech and race stats are kept. Although if I was the guy fired for calling a whining male co-worker a "little girl" I might think it's going to far.

[Atheon]

I think Macs are more of a problem.

[Gerard]

I agree with you but I would label what you are talking about as polite conversation or etiquette.

PC as I brought up in the OP is more about unofficial punishing of "wrong" behavior. Like the labelling of any criticism of islam as "racist" (see the attempt to keep Bill Maher from delivering a commencement speech for his criticism of islam) or the refusal to allow the collection of race statistics when studying crime. Both are well intentioned but ultimately harmful IMO. 
I'm a big fan of polite conversation but I don't like it when conversation is stifled in a high handed holier then thou manner which I see as the actual purpose of PC. 
It's annoying but I'm not really sure how big  problem it is. Bill Maher was ultimately allowed to give his speech and race stats are kept. Although if I was the guy fired for calling a whining male co-worker a "little girl" I might think it's going to far.

I suppose you are right. PC may very well not be just about not talking about contentious matters in polite conversation, as I took it to be. Making certain points of view the object of "punishment" is indeed problematic. Is it PC? Or is it simply not correct politicaaly or otherwise I wonder?

Gerard

[Combanitorics]

Political Correctness has an opportunity cost.  I could be "studying to understand other cultures" or I could be doing something else, maybe something that will further my own cause.

[SGOS]

I suppose you are right. PC may very well not be just about not talking about contentious matters in polite conversation, as I took it to be. Making certain points of view the object of "punishment" is indeed problematic. Is it PC? Or is it simply not correct politicaaly or otherwise I wonder?

Gerard

I think political correctness is somewhat meaningless, although I do have a picture of something in my mind when I hear the word.  It's meaningless for three reasons:

1)It is more related to political affiliation than it is to reality.  For example, 14 years ago it was politically correct to know with a great deal of certainty that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  While the certainty cut across party lines, it was more widely known to be true by Republicans than Democrats.  Or for liberals, it is well know that racial profiling does not solve crimes, although it appears that most liberals who know this to be true, have not seen actual evidence.

2)Something that is politically correct, could be true or false, but in most cases, politically correct sort of implies something is deemed correct, which in reality, is actually not correct at all.

3)I suspect that those who whole certain politically correct views might be posturing somewhat for their peers, while at a less conscious level, they may actually question the truth of their position.

I wonder who coined this term, and what power this phenomenon holds that draws it into our social structure and makes it worthy of a label?

[Baruch]

I think political correctness is somewhat meaningless, although I do have a picture of something in my mind when I hear the word.  It's meaningless for three reasons:

1)It is more related to political affiliation than it is to reality.  For example, 14 years ago it was politically correct to know with a great deal of certainty that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  While the certainty cut across party lines, it was more widely known to be true by Republicans than Democrats.  Or for liberals, it is well know that racial profiling does not solve crimes, although it appears that most liberals who know this to be true, have not seen actual evidence.

2)Something that is politically correct, could be true or false, but in most cases, politically correct sort of implies something is deemed correct, which in reality, is actually not correct at all.

3)I suspect that those who whole certain politically correct views might be posturing somewhat for their peers, while at a less conscious level, they may actually question the truth of their position.

I wonder who coined this term, and what power this phenomenon holds that draws it into our social structure and makes it worthy of a label?

I believe it is a neo-lib phenomenon ... trying to create "thought crime" as well as "speech crime".  Of course the neo-con position is the "one true faith"  ;-)  Neo-cons don't want you to shut up, they just want to kill you.

[Ace101]

I saw an SNL fake commercial called "Asian American Doll". I thought it was an hilarious comment on our current level of Political Correctness .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFCAGVopUp0

A few days later I was watching the Golf Channel ( I love golf, so sue me) and one of the big stories this year was that PGA of America president Ted Bishop was fired for making sexist comments. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/24/us-golf-pga-bishop-idUSKCN0ID2JD20141024

Here is the Coles Notes version:
A British golfer named Ian Poulter had made some snotty comments about some other hall of fame type golfers. Ted Bishop thought these comments were whinny and called him a "Lil girl" in a tweet and followed that up with this tweet:
"Tom Watson (8 majors and a 10-3-1 Ryder Cup record) and Nick Faldo (6 majors and all-time Ryder Cup points leader) get bashed by Ian James Poulter. Really? Sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess. C'MON MAN!" 

The story of the tweet grew quickly in the golf world and Bishop withdrew the post and apologized. However, the damage had been done so he was fired pretty quickly by the board of directors for making sexist comments.
A little background.. Bishop has a very good track record promoting women's golf and has two daughters one of whom I believe is pursuing a career as a pro. I looked to see if there were any other reasons the board might want to get rid of him but I couldn't find anything. He has apparently been doing a good job besides this faux pas. He was only a couple of months away from completing his term as president though I can't see that as being a factor.

How do you view the PC discussion? Is it overdone or over exaggerated or do you think there is a real problem?

If it's xenocentric then it's a problem - having standards of civility based on real underlying principles is fine, but being disproportionately offended if it's a minority or women who is the butt of the joke isn't about real civility.

The argument from the far-left which you'll usually hear against this is the quasi-Marxist theory of "equality of outcome" (ex. that since women and minorities are "more" oppressed then double standards are acceptable in order to "even out" the results), but it's a silly theory. It'd be like using higher % of black crime rates to justify racial profiling or discrimination.

[Ace101]

On the positive side, I think the internet is helping to kill political correctness and bring light to absurd cases such as the story of the golfer, and according to polls the majority of Americans are tired of it.