Social Justice, Political Correctness, and My Poor, Poor Exploding Brain

A bit of back information before I begin to melt down...

When I was really young, maybe six or seven years old, my Grandfather, a full blooded Native American, sat me down and gave me some of the most relevant and formative advice anyone ever offered. He said to never judge people by things that they cannot control, like where they were born, the color of their skin, their culture, or their gender. He also said that cowards pick on the weak and that true character requires good men to stop cowards from victimizing others.

He is the primary reason, I believe, that I grew up to have such a deeply held and passionate social conscience. I truly do accept everyone for who they are. I may opt to dislike a person deeply because of who they are, but I do make it a point to accept the fact that they are who they choose to be. To me this embodies the "live and let live" approach to life. In short, I don't care if you are straight, gay, bi, black, red, yellow, white, brown, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, attractive, ugly or anything else. That is your business and I'm going to do everything I can to NOT allow labels to dictate my appreciation of others.

TL;DR? I'm about as socially liberal as they come.

Now for the rant.

My approach to life used to be very cut and dry. It was easy. No matter who it was, I could sit down with just about anyone and find some sort of common ground to build at least a cordial and civil conversation or relationship with. For me it was never awkward because I did not try to pretend they were not who they were. I don't avoid topics. If I hang out with a gay guy, I am happy to discuss the nuances of what it is like to be gay versus what I experience as a heterosexual. Same goes with anything. I've learned a LOT about the world through this approach and have met some amazing people because I refused to allow preconceived notions or socially impressed prejudices prevent it from happening.

And then the past six months to a year happened and I am, quite honestly, left about as lost and confused as I can be. Suddenly the entire world went crazy and it seems that somebody, somewhere went out and found every fanatically insane member of each sub-genre of society to somehow become the spokesperson for their "people"

For the love of God, we've got a wanna-be Kardashian suddenly trying to supplant Elton John as the leader of the gay mafia! Even as his daughter is spamming her naked ass so much that it's nearly a daily headline in my Yahoo news feed.

We've got Kanye West - possibly the douchiest human on the planet suddenly thinking he's the new Al Sharpton. The racial agitator who wants to take race relations back to the stone age by trying to incite some sort of Mansonesque civil war. And FFS he married the above mentioned persons former stepdaughter.

There are people going full on stupid, all over social media, declaring their unfathomably ridiculous opinions to be "social justice" and, being totally frank, half of the crap they say, I can't even understand much less process. If there was even an ounce of continuity to their argument I might be able to understand and pick a side, or choose to walk away. But when you read feeds where two lesbians are trying to "outlesbian" each other? How do you even process that?

Armies of folks trying to tell me ( not directly ) that I am a horrible monster because I am male - and therefore am not only a pervert - but a predator, by default because I was born an outtie and not an innie??? FFS I don't recall checking off any "would you rather be born male or female?" boxes before I was born. In fact, even though I drank a lot back in the day, I am fairly certain that I can state with absolute accuracy that I never had a choice in the matter. I was simply BORN THIS WAY. White, male, American, working class.

And yet, still, if they were all only going after me and those like me, I'd kind of get it. Modern history tend to teach that white guys pretty much ran the whole show for a very long time ( not actually true, but hey - schools ) - so I can see those who are not white and male feeling angry. I don't think it's logical or the right way to approach things. But I do get it. I can empathize.

But this entire social justice thing? They aren't just attacking that which is different. They aren't just standing up for them and theirs. They are lashing out at everyone - including their own communities.

And the real world fall out? It's mind numbing. All of this hyper extremist reactionary garbage has poisoned kids to the point where you can easily find Youtube videos of younger females who are enraged that a boy flirted with them. Hell, I haven't looked but there are probably videos of boys raging because a girl got flirty. Somehow these videos end up going along this narrative "So... *sob*... today a guy named Mike said he liked my shoes.... and I felt so raped... I felt so objectified and dirty...."

At what freaking point did we cross the "PC" Rubicon to the point where a compliment becomes synonymous to the ultimate violation imaginable?

God my head hurts.

Is it just me ATS or are any of you also noticing this new irrationality becoming not just a reality - but rapidly becoming the norm?

As always, thanks for reading.

I've noticed the same thing but then I hear the things that young people are saying.

I think it just comes with getting older (same old story) etc.

And then the past six months to a year happened and I am, quite honestly, left about as lost and confused as I can be. Suddenly the entire world went crazy and it seems that somebody, somewhere went out and found every fanatically insane member of each sub-genre of societ

Or has the world always been crazy?

a reply to: Hefficide

You're not alone. There is a war on men. Especially white, straight ones.
If you're male you're sexist.
If you're white you MUST be racist.
If you're straight you have got to be homophobic.
That sounds ridiculous, but that is the thought process going around right now.

Only you could turn a rant into an epic piece of prose like your OP. The world has gone mad and I must have missed my exit ramp.

originally posted by: ItCameFromOuterSpace
a reply to: Hefficide

You're not alone. There is a war on men. Especially white, straight ones.
If you're male you're sexist.
If you're white you MUST be racist.
If you're straight you have got to be homophobic.
That sounds ridiculous, but that is the thought process going around right now.

I cannot remember any of those things applying to my everyday life.

Just being a straight, white, male, and all..

a reply to: Hefficide

Well said, people do get really crazy on social media. Which is why I stay as far as I can from it.

a reply to: Hefficide

Once again you have lifted the writing bar way above the ability of us mere mortals .

a reply to: Hefficide

This is actually pretty typical.

Heff,

You are not imagining it. The world has gone mad. Trust between strangers is non existent, everyone seems to wear their spleen on their sleeve, rather than their hearts, and at no point do most folk engage the gears of their brains before letting the clutch bite, at which point the vast reams of nonsense and unthought spill forth, and at the merest of provocations too!

We live in a time where a man with nothing but the best intentions, is left utterly unsure of himself. All the best and most virtuous elements that make up a man, courage, honour, dignity, respect for others, and honesty, not just factually but emotionally, are all looked down upon in this day and age, because they produce outmoded behaviours.

Of course, you and I know we are right to look at the world with honesty and compassion, understanding and a certain measure of openness. But that puts us at a disadvantage, because it means that our perspective is not similar enough for many people to understand. Others tend to get caught up in concepts, or obsessed with ideologies, rather than dealing with people as if they were people. When folk like us wander into the equation, it messes with their primitive mathematics, throws their ideas into a cocked hat, and it is disconcerting to them.

This is why they react so venomously, because they, like generations before them, fear what they do not understand, fear what is different to them, because their views are no less narrow than those of their predecessors, and we all know how fear progresses through a person, and what it creates at the end.

I pretty much have to accept that the world in which I live, is too technologically advanced, and too intellectually stunted, emotionally decrepit, and psychologically damaged on average, for me to ever make sense of it, and it does often feel as if I have gone insane.

But insanity is the only logical response to a world gone mad, so do not feel either concerned about that feeling, or that you are alone in feeling it. I will raise a glass in your honour later dear chap! Us square pegs need to stick together after all!

"Small minds make the loudest noise". -- Something someone told me once.

Carry on as you always did, Heff, we need more people of patience, understanding & desire to learn like you. Today, the only way we can get that is through inspiration from one. Anything less is just food to feed to wilted little egos of people who think their voice & only theirs matters far above all others.

Oh, and my personal take on those who lump all men in the predator category? Weak, insecure little people who try to make themselves feel better in life by vilifying innocent people for no good reason. Bottom line conclusion I can come to. The fact it comes from women most often should be a red flag that something is very wrong with the womens' movements. Namely, that there's little, if any, self-esteem being taught anymore. Gotta blame someone else when we feel down, yanno? (not that I do that, nor ever would, it's scapegoating & blame-shifting)

a reply to: Hefficide

Social engineering works.

We live in (not a universe) but a Twitter-verse where opinion is weighed the same as fact. Where feelings now have legal precedent.

We are at each others throats for the most inconsequential things that we easily ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room laughing at us.

We lie in a world where;
Cops are bad and criminals are victims
Where soldiers are cowards, but sex-change individuals are heroic
Where success has been measured, now it is called greed
Individuality is something to be ashamed of, unless you are an individual who agrees with everyone else.

I didnt read your post (the OP) sorry. I will tell you this, I'm a socialist, a "leftist", and I absolutely have issues with hardcore privilege theory and identity politics.

Not that racism/sexism/homophobia aren't serious issues but some specific "leftist" theories are troublesome. The thing is, PT activism isn't as bad as actual racism/sexism/homophobia.

The problem is, the right wing makes it next to impossible for even leftist people to criticize "leftist" tactics because we don't want to give racists/sexists/homophobes any ammo.

At the same time, PT activists lambast people on the left as well as right. Especially the RadFems.

Thank god I'm not the only one who has noticed this crap.
Seems the more crazy they are, the bigger the spotlight and stage they get.

I am questioning a lot of my general grounding due to the rampant extremism being presented now as the norm.

I stand firm that I am a traditional liberal, but I am very much starting to distance myself from the current "progressive" label..as they have become...insane. anti-free speech, social control in some authoritarian dystopian dreamscape, etc.

When the socialists are complaining that the social justice warriors are way off, you know there is a problem.

a reply to: Hefficide

You know there is a problem when informed detached debate is presented as biased or hateful.

Children have always had the propensity to be self-destructive, I get the impression that childhood has been extended to the late 60s.

a reply to: Hefficide

This is now the second time I'm stealing this quote (with permission)... I love it.

"Because people on the internet like to exaggerate to convert people to their view points... otherwise their precious little microcosm they've created might be shattered completely.

People on the internet with an agenda? Never!

There aren't feminazis running everywhere. Gay people are not trying to molest your children. Black people are not conspiring against white people. Social justice warriors are confined to a handful of crappy tumblr blogs. Political correctness is not literally hitler or that big of a problem in general. Etc... etc... "

originally posted by: beezzer
We lie in a world where;

Where soldiers are cowards, but sex-change individuals are heroic

May I throw some numbers at you?

During the deadliest war in American history (the Civil War), U.S. soldiers had a 1 in 15 chance of dying.

Currently trans women have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered, or 1 in 8 for trans women of color.

That means it's currently MORE DANGEROUS to be a trans woman in the U.S. than it was to have fought in the deadliest war in our history.

Thank about that next time you make a statement such as that.

Trans people ARE heroic just by living their lives. These women were murdered not in a conflict in which both parties were armed but just by going about their daily lives wanting to be left alone.

a reply to: JadeStar

Interesting point you make but I would like to see a source on that stat.

Well... I hear you. I think you are a very honorable guy, Heff, and I appreciate your rant.

I think the issue is related in part to people who have, in their minds and/or in reality, been victims of societal censure that make them feel like lesser humans. Real abuses have happened. Real issues still exist. Because there IS truth and reality to women being violated, treated as lesser beings and as possessions and in the very recent past as well as in the present, gays being treated as lesser and "diseased," races being treated as lesser and "sub-human."


Heck, I babysat for a mixed-race child back in the 90's in the south, and while walking this beautiful child in his stroller on the sidewalk, minding my own business on a Sunday afternoon, the people coming home from church decided that 1) I must be the child's mother, and 2) that meant they could yell at me angrily and use horrible racist put-downs as they drove past to their Sunday Family Dinners. That was an eye-opener! I was vilified as both a woman and as someone who dared break the race-divide. Wow. Imagine having that to deal with every day.


What you have is a backlash, where the wounded become the ones carrying on the bludgeoning out of anger and their own personal flaws. They feel justified, as they are "fighting back." Self-Righteousness has been the fuel for much carnage throughout history.

It's no surprise that some Feminists are becoming bigots towards males and women they see as "complacent," some gays are becoming bigots towards straight people, some victims of racial bias and prejudice are becoming perpetrators of racial bias and prejudice; the pendulum swings toward the radical. Abuse breeds abuse.

Why do we expect victims to be better people than their victimizers? Somehow we think that if someone has been bullied, that they will not bully someone else because they can now empathize with what it feels like to have their soul crushed.

Some people will be Ghandi-esque and not respond with anger and equal abuse. Other people will lash out to completely stamp out their abuser and anything like it - it is a Holy Mission. We can argue that they haven't been abused, but if they are identifying with a group that has historically been abused and there is current evidence of abuse, that will fall on deaf ears.

Young people like to identify with the drama of holy missions and fairness and justice, and can feed into it with the most shallow understanding of what the original issue is/was - but to them it is massive. That is why a teen girl can rail about how a guy "objectified" her by a compliment; she is feeding into the drama of heroic mission, without having experienced the original very real abuse. She is imitating the trend, finding a button to push to vent feelings she may very well be inventing. She may just want attention, and what better way than to be offended and rail against the machine?? Not saying that there aren't teens with real problems and issues to vent, by the way! Merely discussing the extreme offense over an innocent comment.

What to do about all this?

How do we break this very human cycle?? How do we all grow-up and grow past all of this as a species? How do we educate ourselves and others in respect, treating people on an individual basis rather than as a member of a 'group' or 'category' we are against due to ideology or color or sex or whatever?? How do we see each other as all connected, all human? How do we heal and become willing to heal? I'm open to suggestions...

Perhaps one way through this is to see who is sincerely trying to get people to see the reality of those who are dealing with the results of historical and personal abuses, while maintaining human respect for those they are communicating this to, rather than becoming the very thing they rail against. These are the people that can begin fruitful conversations, and work towards solutions. Also, on the "other side" are the people willing to listen, to see injustice and to have empathy, who can also work towards solutions. Human to human connection. But if people are simply full of themselves and/or yelling back and forth over who is right and wrong, it ain't gonna happen.


-AB

a reply to: Hefficide

Clearly it's all Obama's fault and the lefty media for forcing us to watch all the BS they promote on cable, satellite, and the www.






the little guy above is my sarcasm emote.

I don't watch TV, and ATS is my main source for information and I'm perfectly able to exercise my personal responsibility and ignore most of that. And I don't really care what other people do in their personal life. I have enough to worry about on my own. Right now I need to go wire up my tail pipe on my pickup before it falls off.