Political correctness: required or repugnant?

[shibbieNIS]

As modernisation dawns on democracy, a neologism is coined: "Political Correctness". Supporting human equality or suppressing freedom of speech, arguably the most important right of all. What is the take on it? I leave the decision to you.

[Cluny the Scourge]

Complaints about political correctness are invariably a cloak for injustice, indecency and unfairness. Find any red-faced croaker flecked with spittle scoffing and growling at their leashes over PC and you will find wrongs being righted, evils cast into the wind and villainy exposed before the face of righteousness.

[shibbieNIS]

@Cluny the Scourge: hmm i see your point but i don't agree entirely. PC is effectively stopping what I like to call "right to free speech". I do agree that people that people who blame people based on race (or such-like) alone are clearly wrong, I just feel the fact that it is so precise and overly strict that it is becoming a bit of a farce. can you agree with that?

[therussian]

Voted "It has more downsides than benefits". I hate it in general, but there are times when it's good.



I'll get back to you on when it's good later.........maybe

[Lord Rahl]

It depends on the circumstance, really. If I'm just hanging out with my friends I don't act PC because they won't really care what I say. If I am in a public place surrounded by a bunch of people I don't know I should be PC because it is the decent thing to do.

[Farnan]

It depends on the circumstance, really. If I'm just hanging out with my friends I don't act PC because they won't really care what I say. If I am in a public place surrounded by a bunch of people I don't know I should be PC because it is the decent thing to do.

Exactly...

I don't have a problem with homosexuals, but a friend of mine and I joke around calling each other gay. We don't do that in public because someone who does not know us will take it wrong. I also don't jokingly call my best friend a ***** in public (running joke between us) because I would probably get an ultra-feminist to come up and lecture me...

[Sétanta]

Exactly...

I don't have a problem with homosexuals, but a friend of mine and I joke around calling each other gay. We don't do that in public because someone who does not know us will take it wrong. I also don't jokingly call my best friend a ***** in public (running joke between us) because I would probably get an ultra-feminist to come up and lecture me...

Heh, the words "gay", "homo" and "commie" are the standard insults where I live. If somebody does something stupid they are acting "gay" and if somebody says something crazy they are a "commie"

I don't randomly call people gay and commies though.

[Erich von Manstein]

The term "political correctness" is simply the latest incarnation of suppression of free expression and thought. Whenever you hear someone stating that it is necessary to right wrongs and uphold justice, you'll actually see someone attempting to suppress speech they disagree with since they are incapable of actually convincing the public to think otherwise. It is no more excusable than any other form of authoritarian control limiting a person's right to think and speak of their own free will.

[misfitsfiend138]

i think its a load of censor bypass removed - imb39, that and affirmative action.

[Ma'ahes]

I think people have a different standard of talking when with their friends. I mean, I always throw in Asian and gay jokes when talking with my friends (who are asian and gay, that is....), and they throw back some Jewish ones...all in the name of a few laughs. Now, I'd let some jokes go between my friends and I that I'd never let go in public. Some sayings just require a certain amount of trust, and knowing the limits of what one can say to a friend.

[RusskiSoldat]

For all the restrictions that it creates, political correctness has succeeded in softening up society.
20 years ago around here, if you called someone gay, it was on, because the man had to defend his honor.
Now people routinely refer to each other as gay for no real reason, as the word no longer carries such a heavy negative connotation.
I call that progress for freedom of speech.

[Angmar_nite]

I think it is very important in that it sets up the original definitions of words. Basically what you see in a dictionary is what is politically correct. It's the standard. It's also what's formal.

You do hope your leaders and other leaders aim to be politically correct or else terrible misunderstandings can occur. Imagine bush saying this is a "gay" bill rather than this is a terrible bill.

See? Not as useless as you may think.

[The Good]

I dislike Political Correctness. Here is a reason why, I am able to tolerate more minor Political Correctness, but saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas has gone too far....Also, Happy Holidays is incorrect, Christmas is ONE SINGLE holiday. Sorry for the all caps, but I needed to emphasise that.

Whats next anyway, that the politicians change Easter to Bunny Rabbit Day? That sounds downright retarded.

[Carach]

PC is rubbish. It needs to be gotten rid of ASAP.

it may have been realtively fine 40 odd years ago when it was invented, today its become waaaaaaaaaaay over the top and neoliberal

theres so many examples of people getting arrested in the UK for "offending" someone from a minority background its not funny. example: the school my mum worked in were having sports day, the team names were after animals but the head had heard another school was getting sued or facing some kind of legal action because one of its teams were called "monkeys" and had a couple of black kids in that team - the head asked my mum whether we had any monkey teams, to which my mum replied "no but we do have cheetahs! that may imply their children to be cheats?" (this was a joke obviously) - the head seriously considered dropping cheetah team for fear of facing legal action wtf?

Thats how idiotic and paranoid people are now because of what PC has brought.

[Crawe]

I think the initial idea was a good one. But now it has got WAY out of hand and is essentially being used as a new formal of moral fascism. It is being wielded as a self-righteous and hypocritical weapon to impose one's will over others. It's like revenge of the nerds or something.

The irony is that some of the most racist/sexist/homophobic people I've ever met are card-carrying members of political correctness - they're just too dumb/arrogant to realize it. Instead they deflect their own failings onto others. Christ, even the other day I had some fool implying I was racist... even though I'm married to a black woman and have a mixed race son. That's typical political correctness - they always seem to preach about things that they themselves know very little about.

I think it's possibly the biggest social evil that we currently face in the West. Britain's got it particularly bad under the current Labour government, though the rest of Europe and America aren't much better.

[Gelgoog]

Whats next anyway, that the politicians change Easter to Bunny Rabbit Day? That sounds downright retarded.

im offended at the usage of the word retarded! its mentally less-able, you douchebag.

[Garbarsardar]

im offended at the usage of the word retarded! its mentally less-able, you douchebag.

Except if you had a ...say... retarded little sister. Then you wouldn't object to people calling her "the freak", right?

Or if you had a black girlfriend that would go by the nick name of chimpanzee. No probs there, heh?

As much as I detest PC no one can deny that language not merely reflects reality but actually forms it.

Ain't that so my fellow nerds?

[Ragabash]

Thread Moved to The Political Mudpit.

[barabinni]

I think that people are too sensitive to everything these days and need pc to cool their bones.

I really don't like it.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Although it does go too far from time to time it is ultimately a good thing that opens up politics to many minorities.