Political correctness scares me .

a reply to: Greathouse

You might find this interesting. It's a read about how PC is becoming more totalitarian than simply authoritarian.

Totalitarians are a different breed. These are the people who have a plan, who think they see the future more clearly than you or who are convinced they grasp reality in a way that you do not. They don’t serve themselves—or, they don’t serve themselves exclusively—they serve History, or The People, or The Idea, or some other ideological totem that justifies their actions.

They want obedience, of course. But even more, they want their rule, and their belief system, to be accepted and self-sustaining. And the only way to achieve that is to create a new society of people who share those beliefs, even if it means bludgeoning every last citizen into enlightenment. That’s what makes totalitarians different and more dangerous: they are “totalistic” in the sense that they demand a complete reorientation of the individual to the State and its ideological ends. Every person who harbors a secret objection, or even so much as a doubt, is a danger to the future of the whole project, and so the regime compels its subjects not only to obey but to believe.

PC enables this by attempting thought control. PC attempts to control what we can and cannot talk about and how, and it lets the would be control freaks of the world out of their little boxes to try to wreak havoc on the rest of us.

I grant that overall, American political debate on all sides has become nastier and less tolerant. What makes these kinds of attacks, however, smack of totalitarianism—and I could reel off dozens more examples, but your computer would run out of pixels—is that people like Takei and Bennett-Smith are lighting their torches and demanding rough justice even on issues where they’ve already won. In other words, it isn’t enough that Thomas was in the Court’s minority, or that no college in America is bothering to listen to Young. They want Thomas and Young silenced, stripped of their status in their peer group, and to recant—even after being defeated in public on the issue at hand.

That’s terrifying, because it means that for a fair number of people in what’s supposed to be a democracy, “winning” in any normal political sense simply isn’t enough. They are not really trying to capture something as pedestrian as political equality, nor are they satisfied if they get it. They are not really seeking a win in the courts, or a legal solution, or a negotiated settlement. Those are all just merit badges to be collected along the way to a more important goal: what they really want, and what they in fact demand, is that you agree with them. They want you to believe.

The clearest issue where we can see totalitarian impulses coming through is in the Climate Change debate. Of course, they feel fully justified to let their ugliest impulses out their because they can say they are working their fully formed control in the name of "saving the planet." But you don't have to look far to see calls to fine, imprison or even kill those who do not conform.

Most of all, they do not want you, Present Reader, to even think about agreeing with people like Thomas or Young. By attacking everyone in the public sphere from judges to writers, they’re sending a clear warning that there’s plenty of room in the bonfire. It is a vow that you will be held to account for your personal thoughts, even if you’ve already been defeated in a democratic or judicial contest.

No, even after losing, you will be forced to admit the error of your ways. You must accept that you’ve sinned. You must discard your own values and accept the ideas of your betters. You must denounce yourself for undermining the construction of a better world.

You, too, must love Big Brother.

It is, of course, easier to simply silence your opponents than to convince them.



So much easier to subject your opponents to this than it is to risk engaging in an honest exchange of ideas or even let them carry their own private opinions.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: AbstractDreamz

Well said!

I starred you, but to be honest?

Your avatar scares me.

I do not think you should be commenting on others appearances in case they are offended.

Shame on you for your bigoted viewpoint...

I'm only offended that it didn't make him # his pants.

a reply to: reldra

Yes, you are sooo right. How dare I send my child to school with a brown bag lunch that contains a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? That was terribly racist and offensive of me.

Political correctness only really matters if you care what most people think about you - It seems such a funny idea to be afraid of, there are plenty of much deadlier ideas floating around out there. Every culture has had a form of "political" correctness" to try and protect it's cultural practices and beliefs - You can hold whatever opinion/belief you want, but you will always have to deal with people's reaction to that opinion/belief when voiced in a public arena.

Political correctness wasn't invented in modern times, its a social human behavior that has been with us since antiquity, it just has a fancy name now. Cultural change happens with intermingling populations, I think what is really feared isn't political correctness, but changing demographics. It used to be culturally acceptable to use the word 'n-word' in casual conversation - now, not so much (in most populations) - is that change of opinion solely due to political motive, or might there be a more cultural significance to the change? You have the right to hold whatever opinion/belief in the US, but you do not have the right to everyone agreeing, or even respecting said opinion.

originally posted by: AbstractDreamz

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: AbstractDreamz

Well said!

I starred you, but to be honest?

Your avatar scares me.

I do not think you should be commenting on others appearances in case they are offended.

Shame on you for your bigoted viewpoint...

I'm only offended that it didn't make him # his pants.

What makes you think I didn't?

Political Correctness is for sheeple, because their attention span is short and thought processes shallow as a consequence of modern media saturation and overexposure.

PC is an avenue to circumvent democracy, the vocal minority employs it constantly to impose their will onto society.

PC is not all niceness, it is PC to bash Israel in far left corners like those of the media elites for example.

a reply to: Syyth007

Political correctness as a term should not scare anyone. It's the way in which it has been applied in today's society that should be scary.

Ketsuko's clip of the "Two Minutes Hate" is an apt one for the direction in which we're heading as people.

originally posted by: TinfoilTP
Political Correctness is for sheeple, because their attention span is short and thought processes shallow as a consequence of modern media saturation and overexposure.

PC is an avenue to circumvent democracy, the vocal minority employs it constantly to impose their will onto society.

PC is not all niceness, it is PC to bash Israel in far left corners like those of the media elites for example.

The term sheeple is as offensive as any other as it is a derogatory term for a certain section of the population.

I think that you should use the term "conspiritally unaware" to avoid any upset.

a reply to: Greathouse

All you have to do is put an A at the end of it and you will be good..

a reply to: Syyth007

Let's re-examine that.

Donald Trump comes to mind. Now he's rich enough that what's happening to him doesn't matter. But, he said something terribly un-PC, and look at what kind of shaming he's being subjected to, and it goes beyond simply being verbally excoriated. He's losing business.

For the average person, that would equate to losing their job.

Now, even if I could stand up to the verbal excoriation, and I think I could. Obviously, I say enough that makes me unpopular here and keep ticking. If I were to lose my job, it would be devastating. It's not like I have billions to fall back on like Trump does. He can afford to speak his mind openly. I cannot.

To add:

Likewise, my husband is also very outspoken in some un-PC ways, and he has gone to lengths to divest his online persona of connection to his place of employment. There is a reason I don't mention where he works only loosely describe what he does. Those are the times we live in.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: TinfoilTP
Political Correctness is for sheeple, because their attention span is short and thought processes shallow as a consequence of modern media saturation and overexposure.

PC is an avenue to circumvent democracy, the vocal minority employs it constantly to impose their will onto society.

PC is not all niceness, it is PC to bash Israel in far left corners like those of the media elites for example.

The term sheeple is as offensive as any other as it is a derogatory term for a certain section of the population.

I think that you should use the term "conspiritally unaware" to avoid any upset.

[In Deep Radio Pitchman Voice]
Sheeple on, Mr overexposed to media hype follow the leader man, sheeple on.

a reply to: Metallicus

Isn't that just being "CC" though? Conservative politically Correct...

a reply to: ketsuko

That was very well said. I like it when someone reads into my thread and realizes the opinion I am stating .


Shamrocks thread on the anti-gun guy confronting the open carry protester caused me to make this thread .

shamrocks thread

With the anti-gun protester using taunting, threats and repeated attempts to get a angry response . It shows that many people believe that their opinion is so righteous they will gladly use political correctness as a club.


And a club it has in fact become, before any debate on the issue at hand is taken it already wears a heavy stain of intolerance . Which automatically puts any opposing view on the defense which is the absolute worst ground you can find yourself on in the debate .

Its all PC police until some one talks bad about cops, military, capitalism or america in general.
Can't forget Christianity, almost did.
Any anti speech of any of that will not be tolerated and needs to be silenced.

But we never hear the cries of out of control PC then.

Only when some one says maybe you shouldn't call that person any derogatory term you can think of.

Strange.

a reply to: Greathouse

Call it soft fascism.
You just can't hate it.

it gives me a headache when speaking to anybody i meet anywhere in the world , makes you feel like you are walking in a landmine , i hate it.

a reply to: ProfessorChaos

There was a time when you'd be murdered on the spot for talking bad about the emperor/king/chief, holding different opinions then dictated by local religion, ad infinitum - this stuff is nothing new. I agree that most people are reactionary, are too easily led to hold predefined opinions, and will sacrifice accuracy for streamlining.

I had a good friend get arrested in high-school because of a stupid sarcastic remark he made - He was on a library computer on the internet, looking at a website he shouldn't have been (newgrounds or something stupid like that) and he closed the browser quickly as the librarian approached. She asked him what he was looking at, he sarcastically said a website on how to build a bomb. A few years prior, he might have gotten a sarcastic remark back, or maybe a detention, but this was the same year (or the next year, hazy memory) as the Colombine shooting and my Highschool instituted a zero tolerance rule, so the police arrived and charged him with terroristic threats, his house was searched, etc.

I know the librarian didn't really think he was trying to build a bomb, she just used the rules set in place to be vindictive (she was very familiar with my friend, and they were not on good footing, he was a smartass, but he abhorred violence - and she could be one ill tempered librarian). Do I agree with what she did? Of course not, I absolutely love my right to be a sarcastic bastard - but I understand the circumstances. My friend was a dumbass for saying what he did in that situation (in school, right after zero tolerance policies were instituted). If you want to speak in a public forum (see what I did there?) you have to be careful about what you say ; but that has always been true, it's not a new concept, and I'd say you're much safer to express dissenting opinions today then you ever had in the past.

a reply to: Greathouse

You just gave me a million dollar idea if I were a programmer. Since I ain't, I'll give the concept away free. Mandate that all computer spell checkers have included a PC checker that will automatically remove all offensive words and replace them with warm and fuzzy types or a simple happy face icon if the discovered word has not yet been added to the lexicon of the dictionary but is suspect nonetheless.

Is it just me or the people that cry the most about the new pc vogue, are the people that cant see the difference between behing ass and having an opinion.

originally posted by: Dr UAE
it gives me a headache when speaking to anybody i meet anywhere in the world , makes you feel like you are walking in a landmine , i hate it.

It only feels that way, because that's exactly what you're doing.