Political correctness Vs Freedom of speech

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In summary: PC?No, I don't think political correctness is the same as being PC. Political correctness is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behaviour, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished. PC is the insistence that everyone use language and behave in a way that won't offend certain groups of people. PC can be defined as 'the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s'. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behaviour, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished. The declared rational of this tyranny is to prevent people being offended; to
  • #1
the number 42
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"Political Correctness (PC) is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behaviour, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished.
...The declared rational of this tyranny is to prevent people being offended; to compel everyone to avoid using words or behaviour that may upset homosexuals, women, non-whites, the crippled, the mentally impaired, the fat or the ugly.
...Helen... was a citizen of Kiev during the Red Terror, and described living with official truth and the constant threat of arrest. Knowing the content of the latest party newspaper was critical to avoiding internment, as public contradiction, either directly or indirectly, meant denouncement to the KGB. If you complained about being hungry when food shortages were not officially recognised, then you became an enemy of the state. If you failed to praise a Soviet hero, or praised an ex-hero, then again your fate was sealed. The need to be politically correct dominated all conversation and behaviour.
...Unless plain speaking is allowed, clear thinking is denied. There can be no good reason for denying freedom of expression"
http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm

"On America's college campuses [political correctness] has diminished freedom of speech, warped curricula, politicized grading and replaced intellectual integrity with vapid sloganeering...
Deconstruction first removes all meaning from "texts," then inserts new meaning: one way or another, the text illustrates the oppression of women, blacks, homosexuals, etc., by white men and Western culture. The intended meaning of the author is irrelevant"
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com/

"'The enemies of intellectual liberty always try to present their case as a plea for discipline versus individualism... [but] to write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.' ––George Orwell"
http://members.aol.com/williefank/pc-essay.htm [Broken]

You disagree with political correctness? Fascist!
 
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  • #2
I always loved the irony of extreme political correctness. Liberals are supposed to be the champions of freedom (1st amendment above all), yet the US's bastion of censorship is its bastion of neo liberalism: Berkeley, California. True to liberalism though, it isn't institutional censorship, but popular censorship: if the school paper publishes an unpopular idea, the students will steal and destroy the papers so people can't read the article!
 
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  • #3
There is a way to remain politically correct while continuing to exercise your Freedom of Speech. One just need to think about what they say and how to say it, before tey open their mouths.
 
  • #4
misskitty said:
There is a way to remain politically correct while continuing to exercise your Freedom of Speech. One just need to think about what they say and how to say it, before tey open their mouths.

Views that aren't PC can be said in a vulgar way that nobody will agree with, or in sensitive and academic terms. Those who insist on these views not being expressed will still find the latter unacceptable.
 
  • #5
russ_watters said:
I always loved the irony of extreme political correctness. Liberals are supposed to be the champions of freedom (1st amendment above all), yet the US's bastion of censorship is its bastion of neo liberalism: Berkeley, California.

Dang! I had a bet with myself that we'd never agree on anything.
:grumpy:
 
  • #6
You should be allowed to speak your peace on a subject as you see fit, whether it offends people or not. However, a clearly articulate and educated opinion can get the same point across and allow you to maintain your integrity.
 
  • #7
One shouldn't go around trying to please everyone all the time. Its acceptable to disagree with people. Political correctness is a an attempt to avoid hurt feelings.
 
  • #8
I can't believe you just said that! That's SO patronising.
 
  • #9
I didn't make the comment to be patronizing. I just think its better to speak your mind but try to do it as politly as possible. Many times this isn't what happens, but we can't really help that.
 
  • #10
misskitty said:
I didn't make the comment to be patronizing. I just think its better to speak your mind but try to do it as politly as possible. Many times this isn't what happens, but we can't really help that.

:biggrin: But how would you like it if you weren't allowed to say what you just said, just because I found it offensive? i.e. I didn't think you were being patronising at all, I was just making a point. Hope you don't mind :redface:
 
  • #11
Oh no its ok...I understand what your meaning was...:smile:

I would be indescribably upset if I wasn't allowed to speak my mind because it offended someone. I would try to do everything I could to make it possible for me to speak what was in my head.
 
  • #12
Its almost IMPOSSIBLE to say anything without offending anyone...which is soo incredible annoying and bothersome...:devil:
 
  • #13
I hate the idea of 'political correctness'.

If what i say offends you, don't listen. Better yet, go away. Problem solved.

Now granted, it is better to be respectful of people, i won't argue with that, but a garbage man is a garbage man, not a friggin engineer.
 
  • #14
franznietzsche said:
I hate the idea of 'political correctness'.

If what i say offends you, don't listen. Better yet, go away. Problem solved.

Now granted, it is better to be respectful of people, i won't argue with that, but a garbage man is a garbage man, not a friggin engineer.


Lol... :rofl: I can agree with that. I don't completely disagree with political correctness. Thats also one way to express an opinion. :wink:
 
  • #15
Political correctness is ok, but what I can't stand is political correctness gone mad.

We're not allowed to sing "Baa baa black sheep" any more in our schools. If anyone can convince me that this move will discourage racism, then I'll be their personal slave for a time period of not less than six hours.
 
  • #16
brewnog said:
Political correctness is ok, but what I can't stand is political correctness gone mad.

We're not allowed to sing "Baa baa black sheep" any more in our schools. If anyone can convince me that this move will discourage racism, then I'll be their personal slave for a time period of not less than six hours.


YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! Your school banned Baa Baa Black Sheep?? Thats dumb. How is that song racist? I can't stand it either when people go over board ith political correctness. That drives me up the wall.
 
  • #17
the number 42 said:
Dang! I had a bet with myself that we'd never agree on anything.
:grumpy:

Both Russ and Franz ... ever better ! PC is a plague, just a cheap way of giving a punch.
 
  • #18
brewnog said:
Political correctness is ok, but what I can't stand is political correctness gone mad.

We're not allowed to sing "Baa baa black sheep" any more in our schools. If anyone can convince me that this move will discourage racism, then I'll be their personal slave for a time period of not less than six hours.


I would sing it anyway.

Then they can discipline me, and i can sue for infringement of my first amendment rights. For irony's sake, i'd call the NAACP for support. :biggrin:
 
  • #19
Brilliant idea. Hopefully win loads of money!:biggrin:
 
  • #20
misskitty said:
Brilliant idea. Hopefully win loads of money!:biggrin:


How insulting!

I'm conservative dammit!

I don't want the money. I want that school board in jail.
 
  • #21
Not ment as an insult. You can be conservative. You can put the school board in jail and put that money to good use.
 
  • #22
misskitty said:
Not ment as an insult. You can be conservative. You can put the school board in jail and put that money to good use.


I don't want any bloody money.

Have i worked for it? Have i done anything to deserve it? No. And unlike most other Americans, i know that that means i shouldn't get it. I don't want it. I wouldn't take it.

I just want the school board in jail for violating the law. Simple. Justice. A concept utterly foreign to most Americans.
 
  • #23
Are you always this negetive about everything? You can say what you like...you're right of free speech.
 
  • #24
misskitty said:
Are you always this negetive about everything?

Oh, I'm very positive. I'm positively sure that I'm this negative.


You can say what you like...you're right of free speech.

Non-sequitur?
 
  • #25
Why, just the other day someone repeated the age-old advise that I should not discuss religion and politics.

Since religion is subjective and is personal interpretation (cannot be substantiated), I do not discuss it--I don't have that kind of time (i.e., infinity). Keeping up with current events is much more important in other countries of the world than it is in America, and politics is a staple of conversation abroad. So one might ask, why is it so "politically incorrect" to discuss politics in the US? Maybe most Americans are uncomfortable with it because they don't stay up with the issues. In this forum people in other countries know a lot more about US history, constitution, events, etc. than my fellow Americans do (outside the Ivy Towers). More disconcerting is since 9-11, I feel there has been a trend to suppress dissent in our country (ironically in the guise of patriotism). If these people really love their country and want to spread democracy, they might want to try a little of it right here at home first.
 
  • #26
franznietzsche said:
I would sing it anyway.

Ha! I knew you were racist, and now we have the proof. :biggrin:
 
  • #27
Could you translate non-sequitur for me please?
 
  • #28
SOS2008 said:
Why, just the other day someone repeated the age-old advise that I should not discuss religion and politics.

Since religion is subjective and is personal interpretation (cannot be substantiated), I do not discuss it--I don't have that kind of time (i.e., infinity). Keeping up with current events is much more important in other countries of the world than it is in America, and politics is a staple of conversation abroad. So one might ask, why is it so "politically incorrect" to discuss politics in the US?

Its not. Me and my friends mostly discuss politics and philosophy. Of course then again, i refuse to waste my time with someone who can't. So i guess you just run with the wrong crowd.

Maybe most Americans are uncomfortable with it because they don't stay up with the issues. In this forum people in other countries know a lot more about US history, constitution, events, etc. than my fellow Americans do (outside the Ivy Towers).

Oh i can think of quite a few non-americans here who know about as much about US history as your friends do, which is to say, nothing. They're just better at pretending.

More disconcerting is since 9-11, I feel there has been a trend to suppress dissent in our country (ironically in the guise of patriotism). If these people really love their country and want to spread democracy, they might want to try a little of it right here at home first.

Since when? I dissent all the time, i have yet to be oppressed.
 
  • #29
SOS2008 said:
More disconcerting is since 9-11, I feel there has been a trend to suppress dissent in our country (ironically in the guise of patriotism).
You "feel" it? Its the law, that's more than a feeling.

SOS2008 said:
If these people really love their country and want to spread democracy, they might want to try a little of it right here at home first.
Very true. You can't represent democracy in the world with bombs, torture, and gagging orders.
 
  • #30
misskitty said:
Could you translate non-sequitur for me please?


I would, but I'm feeling a strong strain of intellectual elitism all of a sudden, so how about you use that new-fangled dictionary.com that's about five seconds away?

I don't mean to be rude, I'm just annoyed by the number of lazy people who insist on asking questions that they could easily get an answer to in seconds without expecting other people to take time out of their day solely to answer some question that has been repeated and covered over and over already (yes, I'm ranting).

At any rate, its latin, meaning "does not follow". Roughly equivalent to the response "where the heck did that come from?" when someone says something "from out in left field."

Oh, and it should be without the hyphen, that was my error.
 
  • #31
the number 42 said:
Ha! I knew you were racist, and now we have the proof. :biggrin:


If i didn't know you were joking, i would hate you for that. Sadly, i know people who would respond that way and not be joking. Yes, i hate them.
 
  • #32
That reminds me of something someone said to me once. It was along the lines of to get Peace you need to have a War. 42, your right. Democracy simply can not flourish in a world with violent restrictions.
 
  • #33
franznietzsche said:
If i didn't know you were joking, i would hate you for that. Sadly, i know people who would respond that way and not be joking. Yes, i hate them.

Exactly my point. People say this stuff and mean it, and it shuts the rest of us up because... who can be bothered dealing with trying to explain to a bunch of do-gooder idiots that 'baa baa black sheep' is about a sheep, not a black person.

I would hate you if you took my jibe seriously. In fact, I think I hate you anyway, you sheep-hater :biggrin:
 
  • #34
franznietzsche said:
So i guess you just run with the wrong crowd.

Not by choice. I'm adrift in a sea of "red" -- where you can get your thumb on the real pulse of America. To that point and prior comments in other threads about the warm and fuzzy photos of the war in Iraq, I add to this the matter of immense numbers of ribbons on peoples vehicles (read it before you freak): www.commondreams.org/views05/0214-23.htm[/URL]. Just yesterday I saw a vehicle with not one, not two, but FOUR of these things on their car. I've made the suggestion that a movie be made entitled: "Escape from Jesusland"

Now what was this thread about? :smile:
 
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  • #35
SOS2008 said:
Not by choice. I'm adrift in a sea of "red" -- where you can get your thumb on the real pulse of America.

Buddy, i am that sea of red. And i still discuss politics and philosophy. I still dissent. There is a difference between conservative and moron, just as there is a difference between "liberal" and moron (despite what i routinely see around me everyday).
 
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