What is political correctness?

As you wish

 

touché

 

It is an interesting topic
Imo political correctness is speech that is somehow inhibited to correspond to some sense of propriety
These days it is most often used by conservatives as an ad hominem cudgel against liberals.
But imo there are all sorts of ways that speech can be censored by a sense of propiety.
Such propriety can be conservative as well as liberal, and many other things in addition
In many situations (like talking to my mom) i may feel that it is improper to be straightforward regarding my views on religion. I would most often not tell people that they seem obese. I would refrain from telling family friends, or my boss who support trump my views about him. I generally do not share my views on Israel. I am careful not to be too direct about the bonehead stupidity and duplicitnous of invading iraq....esp given some people may have known people who patriotically served there. And, yes, i avoid casually criticising other racial groups.

Long ago there was a movie called Bambi. My mother often quoted a the line: if you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all. That is imo, of the essence of political correctness.... Not that my mom has ever voted democratic.

There was a time when political correctness was called good manners.... Imo, people using the pc Meme are deploying a jargon based rationale for wallowing in the self indulgent pleasure of disrespect and insult.

For example, Apparently there is some pleasure in refering to illegal imigrants as rapists. Certainly there are lots of people who seem to orgasmically revel in hearing this .... These people seem to think our political discussion is immeasurably improved via such politically incorrect polemics.

But, in fairness, conservatives are in many respects responding in kind to years of leftist rhetoric that crassly sought to win political arguments via ad hominen reference to opponents as racists, or fascists, or anti-semites, or imperialists, or zenophobes, or homophobes, or theocrats, etc, etc

 

Oh please, you don't have to call them rapists, referring to them as "illegal immigrants" is already considered extremely politically incorrect, you'd probably be banned on dailykos right away. The politically correct way to refer to them is "undocumented americans", "work visa challenged" or something like that.

 

So why was that rhetorical device used? And why was it so often repeated? And why has it found such resonance?

The basic point is that illegal immigrants have broken our laws... Not that they are rapists.
So why is it pc to simply point out that this is a case of offensive, insulting, exploitive, and inaccurate political demogogery excused as championing a war on pc

 

1. When someone demands you change your phrasing or terms to suit their political preferences, they are demanding political correctness.
2. Correct and politically correct are not mutually exclusive concepts. Most of the time the politically correct thing to say is simply the correct thing censored through a political filter and adjusted for sensitivity.
3. It's a culture thing. Anyone who brings it up decides it. For instance: it's fine to call a New Zealander a Kiwi... until it isn't. One day they'll decide that's not an acceptable term. Nobody will pass a law, the scales of culture will simply tip in that direction. Politicians, celebrities, musicians, and significant events (mass shootings, wars, etc) all contribute.

I would also add that it's usually a "war of words". An objective concept is referred to by an arbitrary term. Black, African-American, negro, n***er, all refer to the same concept. As long as it becomes accepted and people know that you're referring to this concept, you could call them window panes for all it matters. But alas for communication to be successful we need to decide on a few terms everyone recognizes. Those with various interests compete for public recognition of their preferred term.

This is how all language works. We say tomato sauce, you say ketchup. All that's different is that a political motive is introduced, in addition to all the regular motives.

 

Pretty much the only people 'obsessed' with PC are those who whine like special snowflakes because their abusive language and nature is revealed by it.

 

The architects of political correctness universally leftists.

 

A political buzzword that means absolutely nothing at all, or is a negative synonym of the word politeness for people that want an excuse to be impolite. It is exceedingly rare that I see an instance of real world 'political correctness' that doesn't seem eminently reasonable and simply the courteous thing to do.

 

I grew up in a town bordering the largest reservation in the country and the only time I heard the term redskin used was in a John Wayne movie. The football logo is no more offensive than Yosemite Sam used by Texas Tech. PC seems to be a required course in our institutes of higher learning. Who decides? The guy what builds the biggest wing.

 

Not wanting the Redskins to be called the Redskins because you find it offensive is a perfectly reasonable position, though not one that I agree with. Dismissing it as 'PC' is simply a way of dismissing the position, which people have perfectly valid reasons for holding. Just as people on the left can dismiss reasonable positions on the right as bigotry, people on the right can dismiss reasonable positions on the left as political correctness, and dismissing someone else's position because you disagree with them, without so much as considering their reason for it (and every opinion has a reason for it's existence) does very little to resolve the issues involved. By allowing dismissal, the usage of the term 'PC' both pervades, and degrades, discussion.

 

then you aren't paying attention.

 

University "leftists" are fascists.

 

How dismissive. I dare you to find a single real world instance of 'PC' that cannot be explained in a reasonable manor.

 

"Political correctness"....is what the racist Right bemoans stopping them from using racial and ethnic and bigoted slurs OPENLY as they used to be able to do in the pre-1960s.

That's it.

It's the fact that they aren't able to sit around a bar with a bunch of fellow white guys cracking "n______r jokes" or "wetback jokes" or "homo jokes." or the blog equivalent.

 

How about booing people that say all lives instead of black lives matter. And please the ability to find reasonable explanation for an action does not in any way mean the action itself is reasonable..

 

PC = Double Think

 

The reason that people boo people who say "All lives matter" rather than "Black lives matter", is quite simple. It would be perfectly fine as a stand alone slogan, but is instead poised against black lives matter; everybody can, generally, agree that both all lives and black lives matter (though, in the cases of abortion and vegetarianism, people disagree on what constitutes a life). However, people who say that black lives matter say that in particular, in direct contrast to how they feel that they are treated in practice, given the numerous shootings of unarmed black males (that fellow who worked at a group home comes to mind), at a higher rate (though not a higher number, given that there are far more white people than black people) than other ethnicities. By saying "All lives matter", you are saying something that people agree with, but you are marginalizing the fact that black lives are often valued a if they don't matter. You aren't standing in contrast to anything, you aren't proving a point. It's much like, for instance, proposed White History month, or Straight Pride days; people are already taught white history, and being straight is already treated with pride. White lives, and Asian and Hispanic lives, are already treated as if they matter; by saying, "All lives matter", you detract from the issue that black lives are often treated as if they aren't, and that, indeed, is something worthy of a chorus of boos.

 

That was simultaneously illogical and more than a bit silly, especially given the fact that virtually everything the BLM movement is based on is a fiction to a greater or lesser extent.

 

Political Correctness is a tool used to limit the thoughts and speech of people;a la Orwellian Newspeak.
"polit′ically correct′
adj.
marked by or adhering to a typically progressive orthodoxy on issues involving esp. race, gender, sexual affinity, or ecology. Abbr.: PC, P.C. "
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/politically+correct
"
Full Definition of newspeak

: propagandistic language marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/newspeak[/B]

Examples: Black American="African American"
Hard of hearing= "Aurally challenged"
Not smart="Cerebrellay challenged"
Ugly="Esthetically challenged"
Dishonest="Ethically challenged"
Crippled="Handicapable"
Deaf="Hearing-impaired"
Mailman="Letter Carrier"
Dwarf="Little person"
Waitress or waiter="Server"
Crazy="Reality challenged"
Prostitute="Sex worker"
Illegal Alien="Undocumented Immigrant"
Blind="Visually impaired"
Poor="Underprivileged"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_politically_correct_terms

As for the boundary of what is or is not PC;That is decided wholly by the people that make this stuff up.There is no general consensus agreeing on these things.
The Washington Redskins being a prime example of that.

Racial/Ethnical slurs of any kind from mild to wild are not permitted by the PC movement.


"marked by or adhering to a typically progressive orthodoxy on issues involving esp. race, gender, sexual affinity, or ecology. "

The authority they use is that they claim to know what's best for everybody,and make up words so as not to offend.

It's not.Plain language is essential to personal liberty and PC just muddles the waters as to the meaning of words.

 

If a dwarf prefers to be called a little person, you call the dwarf a little person. Calling 'black people' African Americans is more accurate, not less, there are varying degrees of blindness which makes visually impaired more accurate, and most of those words are, in fact, more accurate ways to refer to something. Calling them circumlocutory is utterly false. A sex worker has a job involving sex, and so forth. 'Plain language' is still often used, but more accurate (or simply polite) terminology is perfectly acceptable, and ought to be encouraged. It doesn't 'muddle the meanings of words', it makes them clearer. If a non-native English speaker heard the word prostitute, they likely wouldn't have an idea what it was, while if they heard the word 'Sex worker' it's quite clear. Same thing with little person, African American, and so forth. These words are more clear, not less.

Edit: Also, several of those are misspelled.

 

As long as this mindset exists on the right (that anything that includes anyone but white people is pandering), your party will continue its spiral down.

 

I am not a fan of either party, both are corrupt and serve the 1 presenters only, not the American people. The Republican party is pandering to social and fiscal conservatives, the democratic party is pandering to racial and other minorities and the poor.

None delivers of course and pandering is pandering... In the context of our discussion the democratic party is pandering to minorities and is constantly engaged in race baiting.

 

Political Correctness is:

Being anti-White.

Being anti-Christian/Biblical.

 

No,It's not.After 3+ generations of being in America;You are an American,there's no Africa in the equation.
I think "African-American" is particularly offensive;by design.
It's a word designed to make Black Americans think of slaves in chains being abducted from Africa.