Your Opinion of Political Correctness

[Lavan Tiri]

I like polite people, but there's a difference between common courtesy and political correctness. I most hate other blacks who get offended when I say "black", when it's just easier than saying "African-American".

See, that's one where every informed person agrees that it's just stupid. Mostly because most black people have so little African ancestry any more that to call them African-anything is just about wrong.

Yeah, but some of them still act like I hate them.


Also, if we're supposed to treat disabled people like regular people, then why can't some realtors use the terms "walk-in closet, great view," and " nice acoustics", for fear of offending some disabled customers, and being sued, since if your feelings were hewt oo can soo dem fo lossa money.

[MERIZoC]

See, that's one where every informed person agrees that it's just stupid. Mostly because most black people have so little African ancestry any more that to call them African-anything is just about wrong.

Yeah, but some of them still act like I hate them.


Also, if we're supposed to treat disabled people like regular people, then why can't some realtors use the terms "walk-in closet, great view," and " nice acoustics", for fear of offending some disabled customers, and being sued, since if your feelings were hewt oo can soo dem fo lossa money.

When has this happened?

[Lavan Tiri]

Yeah, but some of them still act like I hate them.


Also, if we're supposed to treat disabled people like regular people, then why can't some realtors use the terms "walk-in closet, great view," and " nice acoustics", for fear of offending some disabled customers, and being sued, since if your feelings were hewt oo can soo dem fo lossa money.

When has this happened?

Meh. It's anecdotal experience.

[MERIZoC]

When has this happened?

Meh. It's anecdotal experience.

…..You or someone you know has been sued by a disabled person for saying "nice acoustics"?

[Doitsu-san]

That is unacceptable, that is against free speech. That is why I am against political correctness, because it forces people to conform to mainstream beliefs and punishes them if they respectfully state their opinion because some groups feel that their opinion is wrong.

Free speech doesn't mean immunity to criticism. Anyone is free to say whatever they want, and no one can stop them. However, supporting an unpopular opinion will certainly make one unpopular. That should be self-evident.

Criticism of the opinion is different than valuing the opinion as hate speech.

Political Correctness essentially espouses the belief that if you offend someone you are a bigot, and people who are very politically correct go to great lengths to marginalize and defame those who are "Politically Incorrect". There is a difference between respectfully stating a belief and hate speech, and there is a difference between respectful criticism and criticism by Political Correctness.

[Olthar]

Free speech doesn't mean immunity to criticism. Anyone is free to say whatever they want, and no one can stop them. However, supporting an unpopular opinion will certainly make one unpopular. That should be self-evident.

Criticism of the opinion is different than valuing the opinion as hate speech.

Political Correctness essentially espouses the belief that if you offend someone you are a bigot, and people who are very politically correct go to great lengths to marginalize and defame those who are "Politically Incorrect". There is a difference between respectfully stating a belief and hate speech, and there is a difference between respectful criticism and criticism by Political Correctness.

People have a right to insult those they deem as offensive and bigoted. Free speech goes both ways, buddy.

[Threlizdun]

Useful when it prevents unnecessary discomfort. Harmful when it restricts ones capacity to objectively assess society and participate in political discourse.

[Doitsu-san]

Criticism of the opinion is different than valuing the opinion as hate speech.

Political Correctness essentially espouses the belief that if you offend someone you are a bigot, and people who are very politically correct go to great lengths to marginalize and defame those who are "Politically Incorrect". There is a difference between respectfully stating a belief and hate speech, and there is a difference between respectful criticism and criticism by Political Correctness.

People have a right to insult those they deem as offensive and bigoted. Free speech goes both ways, buddy.

The thing is, Political Correctness is saying people are "bigoted" because their opinions offend people, not because their opinions are producing hate against a group in any way. This is also coupled with measures to crash the said person's career (as seen in the case of Eich).

Calling someone bigoted because their opinions happen to offend a certain group is idiotic, stupid, and why I am against the notion of "Political Correctness".

[MERIZoC]

People have a right to insult those they deem as offensive and bigoted. Free speech goes both ways, buddy.

The thing is, Political Correctness is saying people are "bigoted" because their opinions offend people, not because their opinions are producing hate against a group in any way. This is also coupled with measures to crash the said person's career (as seen in the case of Eich).

Calling someone bigoted because their opinions happen to offend a certain group is idiotic, stupid, and why I am against the notion of "Political Correctness".

Eich was bigoted. That's why there was such a controversy over it. Had he just made an offhand, slightly homophobic remark, nothing would have come of it except for a day or two of news coverage.

[Threlizdun]

People have a right to insult those they deem as offensive and bigoted. Free speech goes both ways, buddy.

The thing is, Political Correctness is saying people are "bigoted" because their opinions offend people, not because their opinions are producing hate against a group in any way. This is also coupled with measures to crash the said person's career (as seen in the case of Eich).

Calling someone bigoted because their opinions happen to offend a certain group is idiotic, stupid, and why I am against the notion of "Political Correctness".

Simply accepting that it is better to avoid terms that can easily offend others when perfectly acceptable alternatives exist is not difficult and does not impede on ones ability to get their point across. Talking about immigration reform without using racial slurs for example doesn't harm the discussion in any way, so in such an instance choosing not to use the politically correct terms when you know them is simply a matter of being rude and insensitive.

It is true that using an offensive term without realizing it does not necessary mean someone is bigoted, but if someone for example were to refer to Latin Americans as "wetbacks" or African Americans as "niggers" when they absolutely know the history behind those terms and how offensive and dehumanizing they are, then that absolutely does indicate bigotry on the part of the user.

Now this isn't to say all aspects of political correctness are always necessary. When certain groups are rendered above criticism then it has become dangerous, but most of political correctness is just common courtesy.

[Shago]

Political Correctness is a bunch of BULLSHIT! Always having to tip-toe around one group of peoples "sensitivities" and "feelings", its a disgrace to human nature.

[Doitsu-san]

The thing is, Political Correctness is saying people are "bigoted" because their opinions offend people, not because their opinions are producing hate against a group in any way. This is also coupled with measures to crash the said person's career (as seen in the case of Eich).

Calling someone bigoted because their opinions happen to offend a certain group is idiotic, stupid, and why I am against the notion of "Political Correctness".

Simply accepting that it is better to avoid terms that can easily offend others when perfectly acceptable alternatives exist is not difficult and does not impede on ones ability to get their point across. Talking about immigration reform without using racial slurs for example doesn't harm the discussion in any way, so in such an instance choosing not to use the politically correct terms when you know them is simply a matter of being rude and insensitive.

It is true that using an offensive term without realizing it does not necessary mean someone is bigoted, but if someone for example were to refer to Latin Americans as "wetbacks" or African Americans as "niggers" when they absolutely know the history behind those terms and how offensive and dehumanizing they are, then that absolutely does indicate bigotry on the part of the user.

Now this isn't to say all aspects of political correctness are always necessary. When certain groups are rendered above criticism then it has become dangerous, but most of political correctness is just common courtesy.

I absolutely agree with you. Directly insulting a ethnic group is hate speech.

I am denouncing Political Correctness for how it is used to defame those who hold respectful opinions which some people may find offensive. Saying "I do not favor Homosexual marriage due to my religion." is not hate speech, yet we see people being driven out of careers because they are "politically incorrect" which somehow makes them bigots.

[Threlizdun]

Simply accepting that it is better to avoid terms that can easily offend others when perfectly acceptable alternatives exist is not difficult and does not impede on ones ability to get their point across. Talking about immigration reform without using racial slurs for example doesn't harm the discussion in any way, so in such an instance choosing not to use the politically correct terms when you know them is simply a matter of being rude and insensitive.

It is true that using an offensive term without realizing it does not necessary mean someone is bigoted, but if someone for example were to refer to Latin Americans as "wetbacks" or African Americans as "niggers" when they absolutely know the history behind those terms and how offensive and dehumanizing they are, then that absolutely does indicate bigotry on the part of the user.

Now this isn't to say all aspects of political correctness are always necessary. When certain groups are rendered above criticism then it has become dangerous, but most of political correctness is just common courtesy.

I absolutely agree with you. Directly insulting a ethnic group is hate speech.

I am denouncing Political Correctness for how it is used to defame those who hold respectful opinions which some people may find offensive. Saying "I do not favor Homosexual marriage due to my religion." is not hate speech, yet we see people being driven out of careers because they are "politically incorrect" which somehow makes them bigots.

Saying you disagree with same-sex marriage isn't politically incorrect. It's an extremely common view that is still perfectly acceptable within political discourse in literally every single nation on Earth. However, it is a bigoted view, not because of how it relates to political correctness, but because intolerance of others based on their sexual orientation is absolutely bigotry.

[Threlizdun]

Political Correctness is a bunch of BULLSHIT! Always having to tip-toe around one group of peoples "sensitivities" and "feelings", its a disgrace to human nature.

Not being unnecessarily insensitive isn't hard. As I've already stated as an example, you can advocate immigration reform without using racial slurs. It doesn't impede upon political discourse when applied in such a manner, but rather just displays common courtesy.

[Viritica]

It's a useless political toll of the left. It's getting to the point where no one can offend anyone, and if you offend someone you're a racist xenophobic Reichthuglican KKKoch-puppet.

Every time it gets a little more elaborate in his language.

I like being elaborate. Tis fun.

[Viritica]

It's a useless political toll of the left. It's getting to the point where no one can offend anyone, and if you offend someone you're a racist xenophobic Reichthuglican KKKoch-puppet.

Really. ?

Yes.

[Viritica]

People don't have a right to not be offended. It's as simple as that.

[Cubanya]

My point is that when talking with people, I can't even say "raise the white flag" for fear of offending caucasians, sing "Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers" for fear of offending Jews, support the Washington football team for fear of offending Native Americans, or do anything for fear of offending somebody. It's a load of bullshit.

Sorry. Cow waste.

[The Floating Island of the Sleeping God]

My point is that when talking with people, I can't even say "raise the white flag" for fear of offending caucasians, sing "Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers" for fear of offending Jews, support the Washington football team for fear of offending Native Americans, or do anything for fear of offending somebody. It's a load of bullshit.

Sorry. Cow waste.

As a white person, I've never ever heard someone be offended by "raise the white flag". Not everyone's seen The Producers, so you might have to explain yourself to a Jew if one hears you singing it, but once you explain it they probably wouldn't care. And the Washington football team was named for a racial slur, so...is it bullshit that people get offended when you offend them? I don't think so. Is it bullshit when people get mad on the behalf of others? Most of the time, yes. That's where PC treads on the absurd. There's no actual penalty for not being politically correct, mind. You just have to be aware that if you say something offensive, people will get offended. If you're okay with that and its consequences, there's nothing to stop you.

[Americanada]

Useful when it prevents unnecessary discomfort. Harmful when it restricts ones capacity to objectively assess society and participate in political discourse.

I have to agree with this. It gained a good reputation from such comedians as George Carlin and Mel Brooks.

Now every time someone wants to deflect controversy, all you have to do is say "just politically incorrect" and now the controversy will be derailed.

This ironically means that "Political correctness" is now coming to mean "got caught saying something stupid and can't come up with a good enough excuse but still refusing to acknowledge the mistake". I genuinely fear that "Political correctness" has drifted so far away from its academic definition that it has become the new "socialism" of American parlance, serving as a catch-all term you can use to insult your opponent without actually addressing the logos of the argument at all.

Really, political correctness and political incorrectness should be considered two sides of the same coin that have different occasions where they are inappropriate. Just as it would not be appropriate to be politically incorrect to a person whose standards you do not know, it is definitely not appropriate to write a work of fiction dealing with a racial topic in a racist setting and have the dialogue be politically correct.

Alternatively, another place where political correctness is inappropriate is when satirizing a topic of political incorrectness ala Stephen Colbert's satire on the Washington Redskins name controversy.

A while back, I was playing a computer game with a friend. It was one of those rare kinds of days where you really get to relax and chill and forget about your stress/obligations. At some point, I said something like "Hell yeah! We totally raped the other team!" My friends girlfriend happened to be listening in on us, and ran over and gave me an extended rant about tumblr feminist bullshit and rape jokes and all that. I really wanted to say "I'm not supporting rape, I'm just hanging back and you're being a stone-cold bitch" but I didn't want to offend her so instead I apologized and watched my words and it kind of ruined my whole game time with my friend because I was afraid if I said anything fun she'd get mad at me.

I love stream-of-consciousness posts.

Anyway, Political Correctness is a load of horse shit.

If trash-talk was water water in a desert, would you be that guy writing his will and testament at reservoir because the water was not Zephyrhills?

[Aplan]

Maybe I'm a little biased because I've never personally been offended. Come to think of it, I'm not
100% sure what the term means. It's just thrown around all willy-nilly, sometimes, seemingly,
out of context.
I'm not sure you could even offened me. There's nothing you could say to me that I would get upset over, unless it was on a highly personally level. And at that point it doesn't seem "offensive"
It's just fightin words.

[The New Sea Territory]

Political Correctness is a bunch of BULLSHIT! Always having to tip-toe around one group of peoples "sensitivities" and "feelings", its a disgrace to human nature.

Thank you, Sarah Palin.

[The Holy Therns]

I consider objection to political correctness the first sign I can't trust someone.

[Adab]

I agree and object to the concept of political correctness, depending on the circumstances. I believe in the freedom of speech and feel that I have no reason to attack anyone for announcing their opinion on a subject, but sometimes it gets taken too far - people can use outrageously strong and offensive language on a sensitive matter (race and religion, for example) and their opinion ends up hurting people because of its offensiveness. I oppose delivering opinions in such a manner. It will not gain you popularity (except among extremists, maybe, but they tend to be either widely despised or simply ignored).

[Baltenstein]

I know a lot of unnecessary rhetoric comes under scrutiny for being politically incorrect, but we're just discussing the above. Many of course claim that this is "onerous" and prevents truth from being told. So I want to know, NS, what is your opinion of political correctness?

PC is everybit as stupid, whiny and self-righteous as the socalled "conservative values".