Just What is (and what is wrong with) Political Correctness?

No... you got urged by this forum to be public-spirited, and decided it was because of political correctness. I think you get called apathetic because you "reserve [your] basic right not to give a damn." That's what apathy means... not giving a damn.

I tend to be very suspicious of this claim that PC has anything to do with a moral response to racism and sexism. I have been trying to resist this equation all through this thread because it's just not what PC is about in my experience. Of course I too agree that both are morally wrong, but that misses the whole point of PC it seems to me. Maybe it should be said, I don't know, but something in me says no, that's a red herring, and only feeds the liberals' complete misunderstanding of the idea. Yes, you've put your finger on an essential, maybe the essential, thing about it. It's conformism in thought and feeling demanded and enforced by extreme moralistic denunciations. The content happens to be leftist oriented as it came out of the 60s, but I suppose it doesn't have to be, it simply happens to be.

That was the term Rauch used in the essay cited above, "In Defense of Prejudice." "Intellectual pluralism," which he favors, is opposed to "purism" (or political correctness).His idea was that prejudice--or what we think is prejudice--must be tolerated because the attempt to eradicate it will also eradicate the dissident. In other words, it leads to an unhealthy conformity.

In all seriousness, Faith... I still don't get how this is not "people don't like you, and say so," if the only means by which it is enforced is "extreme moralistic denunciations."There's no force of authority. No physical force. Just people reacting to what others say and do by saying they think poorly of the person (denouncing them) for what they say and do. Even if it is extreme, it's still just variations on responding to someone's attitude by saying, "Geez, what a dick."

We have gone to the extremes with PC in the UK, some of the guidelines that people have came up with are just stoooopid.We are not supposed to call a blackboard a blackboard anymore, we are to call it a chalkboard.We do not start a new topic at school with a 'brainstorm', we have 'thought-showers' because brainstorm may offend kids with epilepsy or some other disorder.Perhaps the daftest thing we have in schools now is that we should not split classes into groups numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 anymore, or group A, group B, group C, because it suggests that group 1 or group A are somehow superior to the others. The way round this is to have a group 1, and a group A, and a group Alpha What a load of bull.Brian.

You are personalizing something that is not personal, and missing the whole point.

Oh yeah, there is that whole angle on it too. I remember a Berkeley friend once indignantly objecting to the very words for comparison in the English language and seriously proposing that they be eliminated. You know, no more "good, bad, better, worse, best, worst." Superior, inferior. Excellent, and so on.I think I stood there stupefied at the thought.{Edit: Actually I think we haven't descended to the depths of PC hell you are describing, but then I haven't checked with Berkeley lately}Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

This part isn't personal at all: Edited by docpotato, : No reason given.

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The American Drivel Review

If it will make you feel better, feel free to read the question as:

quote:

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I still don't get how this is not "people don't like someone, and say so," if the only means by which it is enforced is "extreme moralistic denunciations."

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I think the reference is to social pressures in the real world.

Read the rest of the question, Robin. I'm asking, if the only force behind it is social pressure, then it doesn't it basically amount to "people don't like someone?" (Or, in extremes, lots of people don't like someone."Edited by Dan Carroll, : No reason given.

What can I say. I'm sorry you don't get it. Maybe I'm too tired to be clearer. It's a system of thought, it's not just saying you disagree with something or dislike someone.

Okay. Let's assume it's a system of thought by which people don't like someone because of their attitude and actions.All this means is that a person's system of thought will lead them to respond to someone by saying, "Geez, what a dick."Edited by Dan Carroll, : No reason given.

Yes, but such pressures are powerful. One must conform or be out on the streets.

Which, of course, makes one wonder how you and Faith are managing to get internet access from your cardboard box behind the 7-11.Do you feel that people have a right to be liked?