The slow march of the PC plodders

[Ramrod]

The promoters of political correctness have damaged exactly those they set out to help.....PC started as a counter-culture attack on the dominant conservative ideology in the 1960s but has now risen to become the dominant establishment ideology, and in doing so it has become a heresy of the liberalism it first espoused. Rather than tackling intolerance, it now promotes intolerance, brooking no criticism and denouncing any critics. PC has a vice-like grip on public debate and policy making, setting out what can and canââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t be debated, and what the terms of the debate are: anything or anyone who digresses from the PC script is automatically controversial.....By condemning everyone who disagrees with them in the most extreme terms †â€ÂÂÂ� those isms †â€ÂÂÂ� the PC brigade have succeeded in making us a nervy nation, with most people anxious about what they say or think. This has fuelled politics of denial, with politicians preferring to stick their heads in the sand rather than tackle sensitive issues. And again, it is the vulnerable who end up suffering......

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Discuss (nicely)

[Russ]

SkyNews had a similar article yesterday...

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...207634,00.html

Yep, you are either -ist or -phobic. I have always thought it a pernicious tactic to misrepresent someone's view of something as a 'fear' of it.

Indeed

There was a gentleman from India on telly yesterday. He was saying how upset he was because people were scared of saying anything to him that might be deemed offencive.People would not mention Christmas near him as the PC brigade had deemed it offence for people of his religion ?. His point let him decide what is offence not someone who has not even met him.

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by Russ D

SkyNews had a similar article yesterday...

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...207634,00.html

"By closing down debates, it restricts the ability of society to tackle the problems that face it."

Exactly!

---------- Post added at 12:32 ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 ----------

I found this especially disturbing:

The EU commissioned a report on the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe, but the authors found that the main cause was an increase in attacks from Muslim youths. The Commission binned the non-PC report, and ordered a PC one that blamed the rise on white skinheads instead. But refusing to face up honestly to the true cause of growing anti-Semitism makes it impossible to combat it.

If thats true the people responsible should be sacked....

A lot of the time however the examples of Political Correctness is misrepresented so the newspapers can sell more. An example was one that Sky News showed yesterday.

A council called their lights 'Winter Lights' instead of Christmas Lights, of course there was uproar as people complained with increased hatred of a PC world and annoyed that it had been changed to not offending Muslims and so on. When people (admittly few would actual bother) reading the article it was so they could keep the lights up beyond Christmas

[Stuart]

Well, I have to admit that I agree with the article. We (as a nation) ARE too frightened of the "Politically Correct" brigade.
While I don't believe we should all go round being Racist, homophobic bigots (quite the oppoisite in fact), we should not treat people differently because they are a different race or sexual persuasion. This, to me, is wrong, regardless of the excuse.

Originally Posted by Damien

A lot of the time however the examples of Political Correctness is misrepresented so the newspapers can sell more. An example was one that Sky News showed yesterday.

A council called their lights 'Winter Lights' instead of Christmas Lights, of course there was uproar as people complained with increased hatred of a PC world and annoyed that it had been changed to not offending Muslims and so on. When people (admittly few would actual bother) reading the article it was so they could keep the lights up beyond Christmas

Oh Buddha, please let's not go there again ...

Originally Posted by Damien

A lot of the time however the examples of Political Correctness is misrepresented so the newspapers can sell more.

This argument is a hot favourite with anyone who thinks (or prefers to think) that PC isn't a divisive force in our society.

What are we to do, assume that ALL examples of PC are a misrepresentation? Or are we going to pick and choose - we'll assume the ones that show PC as evil are false, and anything else must then be true?

BTW - I have still to see an example where PC is a benefit to society...

No, The Term PC has been Hijacked. It is basically ensuring equal treatment not using offensive words for discribe minority groups. You do not have to go back far to find examples where racsit lanuage is used in programs.

Words like 'Pakki' and 'Nigger' where used a lot and now they are not allowed. Postive example number one! The reason you havent seen a positive example is because the term is now applyed to only negitive examples while positive examples go ignored ( A story about someone being sacked for racist abuse isnt a good story, but christmas under attack is!)

The reason its so popular a story to run with is because of the racist sub-text. It basicially saying that our current way of life is under attack from these minority groups with stirs a lot of anger

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

BTW - I have still to see an example where PC is a benefit to society...

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Bill C

Agreed.

No, Sorry. This is too far. There are many examples.

PC's idea is too stop sexism and racism but no positive examples of these will ever come up. The principle is a good one and it has stopped some negitive terms from used.

Originally Posted by Damien

Words like 'Pakki' and 'Nigger' where used a lot and now they are not allowed. Postive example number one!

I'm not even convinced that is an example of PC at work, but it certainly isn't a recent example. To me that's simply the anti-racism legislation at work, which is NOT the same as PC.

Originally Posted by Damien

The reason you havent seen a positive example is because the term is now applyed to only negitive examples while positive examples go ignored

Hang on, first you try to sell me the above 'positive example' and now you tell me there aren't any?

Originally Posted by Damien

The reason its so popular a story to run with is because of the racist sub-text. It basicially saying that our current way of life is under attack from these minority groups with stirs a lot of anger

You seem to think that PC is a tool for anti-racism and as such a good thing.

To me, that is another argument used to maintain PC and to make it possible for anyone who is against PC (in it's divisive, brain-dead form found today) to be labelled 'racist' by implication.

---------- Post added at 13:21 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

Originally Posted by Damien

PC's idea is too stop sexism and racism but no positive examples of these will ever come up. The principle is a good one and it has stopped some negitive terms from used.

If there are no positive examples, then it can't be a positive thing, can it?

---------- Post added at 13:23 ---------- Previous post was at 13:21 ----------

Originally Posted by Damien

PC's idea is too stop sexism and racism...

And apparently any other -ism that anyone cares to invent.

If it ever had such a noble aim, it has now become so perverted that it should be consigned to history.

Originally Posted by ScaredWebWarrior

I'm not even convinced that is an example of PC at work, but it certainly isn't a recent example. To me that's simply the anti-racism legislation at work, which is NOT the same as PC.
Hang on, first you try to sell me the above 'positive example' and now you tell me there aren't any?
You seem to think that PC is a tool for anti-racism and as such a good thing.

To me, that is another argument used to maintain PC and to make it possible for anyone who is against PC (in it's divisive, brain-dead form found today) to be labelled 'racist' by implication.

---------- Post added at 13:21 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

If there are no positive examples, then it can't be a positive thing, can it?

There are never any positive examples in the media because they do not sell papers, not negitive storys do. People like bad news.

Also the rest of your posts shows how the term has been Hijacked. to simply apply to negitive storys while others are down to Anti-rascim and so on

[Ramrod]

I believe that the cases where 'pc' ideas have protected people aren't actually cases of political correctness coming to the aid of minorities etc....those are just examples of legislation aiding people.
True pc (imo) is like the example I gave above where polititians didn't like the findings of an investigation because it would upset a section of society so they re-did the investigation to get more politically acceptable results....