Corvus of the Black Night
Wild Duck Pokémon
- 3,416
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Age 31
- With the Birds
- Seen Jan 9, 2015
Political Correctness. It's something you notice when you're friends with 5 blind guys. :p
What is your opinion on being "politically correct"?
Personally, "Political correctness" annoys the crap out of me. It demonstrates the biggest problem in our society - PC originates from trying to "not hurt someone's feelings" but it ends up being more of an issue of the speaker's reputation as opposed to the person they're actually talking about. It's very frustrating to see people be disgusted by my behaviour with my friends when both of us know that we're just fooling around like anyone else would with their friends.
I mean, I understand that you don't want people to think you're racist or intolerant, but honestly I believe that PC breeds intolerance. At least in the case of the disabled (which is the most common one I encounter personally considering my friends) it leads to people being more worried about "not upsetting that person" instead of recognizing that person as, well, a person. It causes people to forget the individuality of that person and throws it to the side of "don't offend someone". In my case I've learned that honestly people prefer you being honest instead of lying to try to make them feel better about themselves. I don't have the same amount of experience with more commonly discussed minorities such as race and religion but I would figure it'd be the same way.
And I'm not saying that people are terrible for helping an old lady cross the street or donating money to someone who was down on their luck, but honestly, we should respect that individual's individuality. Maybe the old lady wants to keep her independence. Maybe the homeless person wanted to be that way. It's always polite to ask, but wrong to force. While an action is more obvious, PC is the verbal equivalent of this and it's much harder to hone down, but it still has the same effect. When I'm with my friends and they ask for help, of course I'll offer it, but I think people forget how demeaning it is to assist someone who doesn't want it.
In the context of a cooperation or large organization, it makes a bit more sense to be PC. Obviously you can't talk to everyone and you can't cater to everyone's tastes, and all it takes is that one offended individual to take and cause thousands of dollars of legal trouble. But why does it have to extend to everyday life? I see it everywhere. It disgusts me that I can't talk to my friends and use the slang terms they came up with to describe other blind people and I'm the offensive one, but they group my friends in the same bag and act like they're helpless idiots, thanks to PC.
Treating others differently because they're different is wrong fundamentally. And PC is just a way to cover that simple little fact up. It ends up separating more people than it brings together. It has its uses in larger conglomerates but ends up being detrimental in every day life.
What is your opinion on being "politically correct"?
Personally, "Political correctness" annoys the crap out of me. It demonstrates the biggest problem in our society - PC originates from trying to "not hurt someone's feelings" but it ends up being more of an issue of the speaker's reputation as opposed to the person they're actually talking about. It's very frustrating to see people be disgusted by my behaviour with my friends when both of us know that we're just fooling around like anyone else would with their friends.
I mean, I understand that you don't want people to think you're racist or intolerant, but honestly I believe that PC breeds intolerance. At least in the case of the disabled (which is the most common one I encounter personally considering my friends) it leads to people being more worried about "not upsetting that person" instead of recognizing that person as, well, a person. It causes people to forget the individuality of that person and throws it to the side of "don't offend someone". In my case I've learned that honestly people prefer you being honest instead of lying to try to make them feel better about themselves. I don't have the same amount of experience with more commonly discussed minorities such as race and religion but I would figure it'd be the same way.
And I'm not saying that people are terrible for helping an old lady cross the street or donating money to someone who was down on their luck, but honestly, we should respect that individual's individuality. Maybe the old lady wants to keep her independence. Maybe the homeless person wanted to be that way. It's always polite to ask, but wrong to force. While an action is more obvious, PC is the verbal equivalent of this and it's much harder to hone down, but it still has the same effect. When I'm with my friends and they ask for help, of course I'll offer it, but I think people forget how demeaning it is to assist someone who doesn't want it.
In the context of a cooperation or large organization, it makes a bit more sense to be PC. Obviously you can't talk to everyone and you can't cater to everyone's tastes, and all it takes is that one offended individual to take and cause thousands of dollars of legal trouble. But why does it have to extend to everyday life? I see it everywhere. It disgusts me that I can't talk to my friends and use the slang terms they came up with to describe other blind people and I'm the offensive one, but they group my friends in the same bag and act like they're helpless idiots, thanks to PC.
Treating others differently because they're different is wrong fundamentally. And PC is just a way to cover that simple little fact up. It ends up separating more people than it brings together. It has its uses in larger conglomerates but ends up being detrimental in every day life.