could you be arrested for thought crime?

[Nova_Ravenna]

I don't get where she gets the idea that she can decide what is and is not appropriate for me to think, and then tell my children that they should monitor me to make sure I don't say anything against that. If I wanna sit around all day in a Waffen SS uniform, baking Jew shaped cookies then that's what I'm going to do.

[JesusOfNazareth]

Yeah, I can totally believe that the left wants to insitute Thought Crime penalties.

[Ancient Magmia]

Then you're misinterpreting what she said to better suit your own argument. She was in fact implying that it was a thought crime. Why would she have mentioned it otherwise if it was not at all relevant to what she was saying?

And that is kind of what she's asking for. Objecting to racist jokes or remarks. "Don't say that. It's not very nice."

It seems like you're the one who s misinterpreting what she's saying. You're inserting a thought into what she's saying in order to try and prove you're point; we're just taking it for what it is. The point she was trying to make is that you cannot really fight prejudice through laws, because you cannot prosecute somebody for their thoughts (since a thought isn't a crime). So, these attitudes must be combated socially, by speaking up and saying something.

People just want to find an excuse to rail against the White House over the most nonsensical bullshit. That's what I'm getting from this.

>not made in a lighthearted way

Did you just throw that in yourself to better help your argument?

Uh, no. Not every racist joke has to be offensive; they can be funny if it's said lightheartedly and in the appropriate context (this is coming from somebody who's black, btw). I thought that was common knowledge...

You're really grasping at straws to prove your point...

Also, that commie joke was worn out, oh, years ago. In fact, it was never funny to begin with.

And this is relevant how?

[Fedeledland]

Only on the internet is 'watch out for politically inappropriate behavour' the same as 'Big Michelle is Watching You'.

[Neutraligon]

Really? A recommendation is now something she cannot do? This isn't thought police, this is something she recommends you do, like recommending you recycle, or not call each other names.

Yes, I know that.

Isee, so your teacher telling you to not call each other names is thought police, your parents telling you to share is thought police, hell, the fact that you can't incite people to violence is thought police. If that's the definition of thought police you are using, then what's freakin wrong with thought police.

[The Almighty Bob]

I don't know. I'm going off what the OP is saying....

Why does no-one know what she actually said!?

Well, why would accuracy or reason matter? She obviously said she was implementing laws against thought crimes, right? I mean, what other possible explanation could there be?

[Yumyumsuppertime]

Michelle Obama is not part of the US government.

How's that?

Part of her speech:

It was then that critics say the first lady veered off into “thoughtcrime,” a term from Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” defined as “an instance of unorthodox or controversial thinking, considered as a criminal offense or as socially unacceptable,” according to the Oxford Dictionaries.

“There’s no court case against believing in stereotypes or thinking that certain kinds of hateful jokes or comments are funny. So the answers to many of our challenges today can’t necessarily be found in our laws,” Obama said. “As you go forth, when you encounter folks who still hold the old prejudices because they’ve only been around folks like themselves, when you meet folks who think they know all the answers because they’ve never heard any other viewpoints, it’s up to you to help them see things differently.”

“Maybe that starts simply in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you’ve got an aunt talks about ‘those people’. Well, you can politely inform them that they’re talking about your friends,” Obama continued. “Because this issue is so sensitive, is so complicated, so bound up with a painful history. And we need your generation to help us break through. We need all of you to ask the hard questions and have the honest conversations, because that is the only way we will heal the wounds of the past and move forward to a better future.”

http://rt.com/usa/161752-flotus-students-monitor-parents/

So, thought crimes and political correctness. Yay.

Politely confronting people on overt racism in order to start a conversation regarding racial attitudes is political correctness?

Know what? That used to be a valuable term to indicate overreach in policing thoughts and behavior. However, when you're using it to mock a request to simply tell people that racism isn't a good thing, and to have a serious talk about it, then you've devalued the term to such a degree that it's no longer of any use in reasonable discourse. It used to be used to describe the actions of those who would limit speech. Now it's being used to stop a conversation before it even starts. That's pathetic and unworthy of you.

[Yumyumsuppertime]

I don't get where she gets the idea that she can decide what is and is not appropriate for me to think, and then tell my children that they should monitor me to make sure I don't say anything against that. If I wanna sit around all day in a Waffen SS uniform, baking Jew shaped cookies then that's what I'm going to do.

You're right.

Good thing that she didn't actually say that you can't do that.

[Russian Socialist Soviet States]

Big Brother wants to arrest you for thought crimes.

[Neutraligon]

Big Brother wants to arrest you for thought crimes.

Source.

[Nova_Ravenna]

I don't get where she gets the idea that she can decide what is and is not appropriate for me to think, and then tell my children that they should monitor me to make sure I don't say anything against that. If I wanna sit around all day in a Waffen SS uniform, baking Jew shaped cookies then that's what I'm going to do.

You're right.

Good thing that she didn't actually say that you can't do that.

No, she did worse and told children that they should. She is using children as tools of enforcement, she is using children to squash political dissent.

[Russian Socialist Soviet States]

Big Brother wants to arrest you for thought crimes.

Source.

Read 1984.

[Yumyumsuppertime]

You're right.

Good thing that she didn't actually say that you can't do that.

No, she did worse and told children that they should. She is using children as tools of enforcement, she is using children to squash political dissent.

She's asking them to address racism on an interpersonal level, not to report people to the government. Unbunch your panties.

EDIT: Also, these are graduating seniors. While you and I may see them as children, they are not actually such. Rather, they are young adults, legally able to make their own decisions so long as said decisions don't involve drinking alcohol or running for President.

[Yumyumsuppertime]

Source.

Read 1984.

Works of fiction are not a valid source in debates over matters of factual information.

[The Re-Frisivisiaing]

Source.

Read 1984.

I did when I was 13. I thought I was incredibly smart for having done it for a few months too.

[Benuty]

Big Brother wants to arrest you for thought crimes.

Source.

http://www.paranoiddelusionalconspiracycrackcocaine.com

There is your source.

[Scomagia]

So The First Lady advises young adults to confront bigoted and intolerant opinions and suddenly "OMFG 1984!"

Really?

[Yumyumsuppertime]

And this means thought police and thought crime and political correctness somehow?

She herself called it a thoughtcrime, or at least implied that it was. What she's talking about here is political correctness. Thought police would be a bit of a stretch, but it's obvious she's trying to snuff out racist remarks and thoughts.

Oh, no. She's trying to snuff out a misguided attitude that has been the motivating factor behind the greatest wrongs ever committed by this nation. She is exhorting people not to do this through governmental action, but through enouraging serious discussions regarding racial hatred and stereotyping, and the negative effects of same.

What a bitch, amirite?

[Farnhamia]

She herself called it a thoughtcrime, or at least implied that it was. What she's talking about here is political correctness. Thought police would be a bit of a stretch, but it's obvious she's trying to snuff out racist remarks and thoughts.

Oh, no. She's trying to snuff out a misguided attitude that has been the motivating factor behind the greatest wrongs ever committed by this nation. She is exhorting people not to do this through governmental action, but through enouraging serious discussions regarding racial hatred and stereotyping, and the negative effects of same.

What a bitch, amirite?

And she's tall, too. Women should be short and not heard.

[Benuty]

Oh, no. She's trying to snuff out a misguided attitude that has been the motivating factor behind the greatest wrongs ever committed by this nation. She is exhorting people not to do this through governmental action, but through enouraging serious discussions regarding racial hatred and stereotyping, and the negative effects of same.

What a bitch, amirite?

And she's tall, too. Women should be short and not heard.

Speaking of which. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeHUQAnzpF0

[Albul]

I would wager a big wad of cash that not one of these people has read anything by George Orwell.

Proceed to give me the money.

It's not that I won, it's just that that big wad of cash seems to fit right in my pocket.

[MERIZoC]

Wow. Gotta love the Minority Report comparison. I always thought that telling people to discourage racism was the same as arresting people for crimes they haven't committed and may never commit, too!

[Albul]

Oh, yes, the First Lady, a person who has no authority in the White House, is telling these teenagers to prevent racism. As a high-schooler, I can say that the majority probably heard half of what she said and only ten will proceed to do as she says.

[Nova_Ravenna]

Actually I suppose I could be arrested for thought crimes in Most European Nations, Especially Germany and Austria.

[Scomagia]

Actually I suppose I could be arrested for thought crimes in Most European Nations, Especially Germany and Austria.

You'd be supposing wrong.