Let’s Not Confuse Political Correctness With Basic Human Decency

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,778
454
83
Like I've always said: The Anti-PC people are just annoying a-holes.


Let’s Not Confuse Political Correctness With Basic Human Decency

I often wonder what people really mean when they long for the days of not having to be politically correct. “I’m about to say some things that are not PC,” they might warn. Or, “Whoops, better be careful; someone might call the PC police.” Sometimes we hear it following the discrimination of marginalized groups who speak up when their people are dehumanized. In response to their concerns, we often hear, “Oh, they’re just trying to be politically correct.” Or, “I’m so sick of all this PC nonsense. It’s ruining our country.”

I’m beginning to realize that part of the problem in our country right now is a whole lot of people are mistakenly confusing “political correctness” with “basic human decency.”

The anti-PC people seem nostalgic for days gone by when they didn’t have to think so much before speaking; a time when they didn’t have to tiptoe on eggshells, or worry about offending others. Indeed, political correctness even made its way to the heart of the 2016 elections. The term itself was brandished like a weapon to rally a subgroup of the conservatives, and even some of the liberals. But it feels like somewhere along the way, we lost our understanding of what it actually means in the first place.

What are people really longing for when they lament, “political correctness has been the downfall of our country?” Are they pining for a period - not too long ago - when it was universally acceptable to use language that was racist, sexist, homophobic, or prejudiced against someone or a group of people, without any repercussion? What was so great about being offensive to people?

Further, I wonder, do the people who claim to hate political correctness actually like it when it benefits them? I mean, the interesting thing is that the anti-PC people seem to get mightily offended whenever something is said that offends them. It seemed this anomaly was even more amplified during election season whenever Donald Trump spoke. He would begin a speech or add to it with something outright rude or threatening, which he would then get called out for. To that end he would blame political correctness for being the downfall of America, and then when people dissented, he would respond with a tweet about how “unfair” the backlash to his rhetoric was.

Sure, political correctness may have earned its name as a scourge of society. Sure, it may have been the brunt of jokes and satire for a long while, but it’s no less valid because of those things. Social mores change and evolve over time, and as such, people change, too. Politics do not get to determine social culture. It’s the other way around, because social culture is actually not about politics at all. In our country, typically, politics follow social culture changes. And here is where we tend to confuse political correctness with basic human decency.

How did this happen? This is an issue that has been brewing for years, and I’m certainly not the first person to make this connection. But I don’t think anyone can effectively argue with the fact that Donald Trump has lowered the level of discourse in general. This tactic resonated with a lot of people, for varying reasons. In his branding of other politicians, such as “Crooked Hillary,” “Lyin’ Ted,” or “Little Marco,” he consciously chose simplistic terms that were reminiscent of the playground bully, and easy for people to remember and repeat, over and over, until it became their words, too - whether they believed it or not.

In his rhetoric, Trump made the idea of political correctness a direct target, regarding it with absolute disgust. This appealed to many of his supporters across the country, who were also tired of what they perceived as political correctness taking over the country. This was generally the disenfranchised, middle class population of Americans who were tired of the political enterprise, but it was not always them. Trump also appealed to the subsets of people who are typically not marginalized, but believe that they are.

Many people voted for Trump because they could not cast a vote for Hillary. I get it. I was a Bernie fan, originally. I still couldn’t vote for Trump, though. Not while raising a child on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and dozens upon dozens of friends in that community. Not with very close friends who are people of color, or people in marginalized religious communities, all of whose stories I have heard loud and clear.

Other people were able to compartmentalize the “public” Trump, or the “role he was playing” from the promise of change that they thought a non-politician could bring to Washington. But the people who voted for Trump because of his rhetoric are the ones who are truly frightening. They’re like The Westboro Baptist Church, given a national executive promotion. Despite the calls for unity, this is one group of people we must continue to fight against.

The word “politically correct” is one I became familiar with in the early ‘90s, though history has shown the phrase to have been around for hundreds of years with varying meanings. During the time I was growing up, it was a derogatory phrase that was widespread in America, mostly laughed about among conservatives. For them, it seemed to capture the essence of leftist language and behavior.

Most dictionaries agree with the basic definition that political correctness, as we see it today, is the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people. But what it mostly comes down to is not being a jerk to others. In other words, political correctness could almost be interchanged with the word respect, or kindness, or with the act of being non-judgmental. Of course, being PC also means not calling someone a racial slur, not making judgments based on gender stereotypes, or making assumptions about someone’s perceived sexual orientation. It’s about not oppressing a group of marginalized people. But it’s mostly about not being a jerk.

Political correctness, while it may be thought of as a controversial topic for many, is actually an incredibly enlightening and educational idea that sheds light on the truly marginalized populations living on the fringe of society - and not by choice. It raises topics that are well-worthy of discussion. Trump is almost too easy a target to blame for being politically incorrect, a reason why some people like him in the first place. “He’s bucking the system,” they think. Or, “It’s so great to hear somebody not concerned with PC talk.”

Except that he’s not what they think. Trump was not being politically incorrect during election season. He wasn’t representing marginalized populations, or presenting unpopular truths with unbridled passion. He wasn’t standing up for raw analysis of deeply antagonistic subject material. Trump was simply being a jerk, with no apologies to anyone.

Now, I don’t claim to know what the man behind the curtain is really like, or what side he may reveal to those closest to him. But in public, especially in the pre-election phase, the one thing he did a lot of was failure to show basic human decency, and most of us seem to understand what basic human decency is. Where we are misguided is in what we believe about political correctness.

In that light, here are two things that political correctness is not:

It’s not censorship.
It’s not an infringement on anyone’s First Amendment rights.


Let's Not Confuse Political Correctness With Basic Human Decency | The Huffington Post
 

Angstrom

Hall of Fame Member
May 8, 2011
10,659
0
36
The problem with our country is a bunch of stupid people like you mentalflake
 

Danbones

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 23, 2015
24,505
2,197
113
well, we will know it when we see it
but when we see it, it will not be on an MF thread...
lol
unless someone else posts it

pc a-holes are all about dumbing down
you can tell by the knitting needles sticking out of their frontal lobes
 

Danbones

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 23, 2015
24,505
2,197
113
now you're drifting into pure dementia
try removing that knitting needle...you'll feel better when that hole heals
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
45
48
65
the cuck is pretty mad. he'll be flooding the forum with nu-male spam for years to come.
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
32,230
45
48
65
You should just STFU and let the adults discuss this issue.

oh dear,...now you're mad too. Lol!

of course you've been trolling the joint longer than mentalcuck so it was expected you'd break down eventually.

anyway, I'm sorry for upsetting you again. hope you feel better in time for Festivus.
 

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
30,245
99
48
Alberta
U mad
Salty
Cuck
Etc.

It's the most one can expect from people that realize they can't really defend the indefensible. Have you noticed, not one single Trumpite has bothered to address the glaring hypocrisy of supporting the Carrier bailout versus pooh-poohing the Bombardier bailouts. In fact, not only are they not addressing it, they're running away from it. That's a clear sign that your position is vacuous.

(Note to Trumpites...vacuous is not good)
 

davesmom

Council Member
Oct 11, 2015
2,084
0
36
Southern Ontario
Basic human decency means not deliberately saying things to hurt people's feelings. Political correctness means changing words while the substance remains the same and is therefore just plain stupid.


Political correctness often causes more insult than it prevents. Like trying to change the names of sports teams because the names might be demeaning. Now that is stupid.


What is demeaning about the words 'Indians', 'Braves' and 'Chiefs'? I used to think those words were complimentary. I still do. By calling them demeaning, Indians, Braves and Chiefs are demeaned.


What is demeaning about calling a person who can't hear 'deaf'? Does calling him 'hearing impaired' make him any less deaf? Or calling a blind person 'visually impaired'; call him what you like he still can't see.


What is demeaning about referring to a person by his race? Or religion? Are we to believe that people should be ashamed of their race or religion and that it should not be spoken of?


People need to get over getting insulted by the words other people use. You can call an American a Yankee, a Canadian a Canuck, an Englishman a Brit, an Australian an Aussie without insult. But you can't call a Pakistani a Paki or a Chinese a Chinaman or Japanese a Jap without being accused of racial slurs.
Isn't that pretty stupid?
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
138
63
Location, Location
Basic human decency means not deliberately saying things to hurt people's feelings. Political correctness means changing words while the substance remains the same and is therefore just plain stupid.


Political correctness often causes more insult than it prevents. Like trying to change the names of sports teams because the names might be demeaning. Now that is stupid.


What is demeaning about the words 'Indians', 'Braves' and 'Chiefs'? I used to think those words were complimentary. I still do. By calling them demeaning, Indians, Braves and Chiefs are demeaned.


What is demeaning about calling a person who can't hear 'deaf'? Does calling him 'hearing impaired' make him any less deaf? Or calling a blind person 'visually impaired'; call him what you like he still can't see.


What is demeaning about referring to a person by his race? Or religion? Are we to believe that people should be ashamed of their race or religion and that it should not be spoken of?


People need to get over getting insulted by the words other people use. You can call an American a Yankee, a Canadian a Canuck, an Englishman a Brit, an Australian an Aussie without insult. But you can't call a Pakistani a Paki or a Chinese a Chinaman or Japanese a Jap without being accused of racial slurs.
Isn't that pretty stupid?



So, 'ni99er' is still a good option for you?
 

davesmom

Council Member
Oct 11, 2015
2,084
0
36
Southern Ontario
So, 'ni99er' is still a good option for you?



Hmmmm! I don't believe I said that.
However, 'Negro' would be a fair option. Black people are of the Negroid species while white people are of the Caucasion. What's wrong with calling someone what they are? What you are is nothing to be ashamed of or demeaning in any way.
If someone black called me a 'Cockie', I wouldn't get insulted; I would laugh!