# Ralph Nader decries PCness **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681 "2016-06-06T22:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/61 "2016-06-07T18:02:48Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > Speaking as another young white male of high intellect and searing wit, well said. One thing that the 99.9999% made-up statistic certainly does apply to: the percentage of people whining about “PC culture” being white men. Gee I wonder why. I know, I know - because white men are all a bunch of racists and sexists who don’t care about anything except preserving their privileges so we should just ignore what they say! Do I get an A, professor? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/62 "2016-06-07T18:05:47Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yeah, no shit, you’re playing on easy mode. You’ve _never_ had to deal with persecution of any kind, so _of course_ it’s not hard for you to shrug that shit off. You’ve literally never been challenged by it. You don’t know what someone else has experienced. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/63 "2016-06-07T18:07:09Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I’m a charming young white male of high intellect and searing wit, with a face chiseled of James Dean’s ashes. > > HAVE AT IT INTERNET WARRIOR Coward. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/64 "2016-06-07T18:08:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Were you hired? Are you kidding? Me? They threw me out. I was just too damn smart and clever and charming. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/65 "2016-06-07T19:46:14Z")
How many people these days are actually white straight Christian undisabled males? 20%? That’s why I figure that by necessity we’re going to have to expand the definition of white(again) to include white Hispanics. If there aren’t enough white males, the “system” won’t work anymore! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/66 "2016-06-07T20:48:19Z")
How about we just ditch “White” altogether. Its not so much a defined group as the lack of it. “White” is everybody who doesn’t have a distinctive characteristic. Why bother? Being a Cubs fan says more about you than being “White”, which doesn’t say much about you at all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/67 "2016-06-07T21:01:21Z")
It DOES say that you only have a very limited number of World Series championships tto reminisce about… ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/68 "2016-06-07T21:04:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > How about we just ditch “White” altogether. Its not so much a defined group as the lack of it. “White” is everybody who doesn’t have a distinctive characteristic. Why bother? Being a Cubs fan says more about you than being “White”, which doesn’t say much about you at all. THen the system really breaks down. No whites, no oppressors. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/69 "2016-06-07T21:27:54Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I do not agree with this claim, because of two reasons: the things you need to remember are always at least a decade old, and people will tell you when you fuck up. This has been my experience. It’s not ‘oh you used transsexual instead of transgender, I hate you now’, it’s more like ‘how dare you use cisgendered to refer to people that aren’t transgendered’ or ‘I’m going to keep calling a trans woman a ‘man in a dress’ even though you’ve pointed out that’s both not accurate and deliberately insulting’. > [@adaher](#): > > but some have taken to using terms like “handicapable” or “differently abled”. I’ve never actually heard anyone even ask someone to use either of those. The only time I’ve heard them is when conservatives use them as an example of something unreasonable. I’m sure there was some fringe college group that pressed for them at one time, but can you point to any sources supporting a widespread campaign for the use of either of those terms instead of disabled? > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yeah, no shit, you’re playing on easy mode. You’ve _never_ had to deal with persecution of any kind, so _of course_ it’s not hard for you to shrug that shit off. Except that it IS hard for his kind to shrug off even the most mild of ‘persecution’. Remember, when the mean old federal government gets all persecuty that you have to treat pre-teens politely, the acorns of people like him prompt them to start making death threats. At six ear olds. This happened back during integration, and is happening now for trans kids being treated as the correct gender in schools. And no, I don’t consider anyone who is making death threats against six year olds, or anyone who takes their side, to be at all tough. But that’s what the ‘anti-PC’ crowd does ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/70 "2016-06-07T21:28:35Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > You don’t know what someone else has experienced. **BPC** actually only called out what **stringbean** ’s experience _wasn’t_. And based on bis self-description as a young white male, it’s not unfair to predict that **BPC** was on the money. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/71 "2016-06-07T22:00:12Z")
Sure, if a person’s life is defined by their group membership. We can draw conclusions about groups based on group characteristics, but we cannot predict individual behaviors or experiences based on group characteristics. Some minorities have led charmed lives, some white males have never gotten a fair shake. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/72 "2016-06-07T22:23:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Sure, if a person’s life is defined by their group membership. We can draw conclusions about groups based on group characteristics, but we cannot predict individual behaviors or experiences based on group characteristics. If that was a response to my post, nonsense. **BPC** ’s list in post 50 was made up of specific unjust experiences that are simply not applicable to young straight white males. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/73 "2016-06-07T22:26:57Z")
Getting called mean names is not a serious social disadvantage. Those words have power because the victims give them power. THe names people call white males have no power because white males refuse to acknowledge them. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/74 "2016-06-07T22:34:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Getting called mean names is not a serious social disadvantage. Those words have power because the victims give them power. THe names people call white males have no power because white males refuse to acknowledge them. Why do you think white males are unique in this capacity? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/75 "2016-06-07T22:39:14Z")
They aren’t. Being bulletproof when someone calls you names is a hallmark of successful people in general. Slurs like “mick”, “guinea” and “kike” used to have power. Now they barely nick the intended victim. And let’s not forget that Ralph Nader himself is not white. He’s Arab. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/76 "2016-06-07T22:40:40Z")
And we’ve got all that money! Sure wish I could remember where I put it, that shit is _handy_! ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/77 "2016-06-07T22:51:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > some white males have never gotten a fair shake. Experience of male victims of Domestic Violence is similar to the experience of slaves. The law almost never protects them. Some of my ancestors were slaves in Russia 1828 – 1858. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/78 "2016-06-07T23:27:26Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yeah, no shit, you’re playing on easy mode. You’ve _never_ had to deal with persecution of any kind, so _of course_ it’s not hard for you to shrug that shit off. You’ve literally never been challenged by it. There’s no white equivalent to “nigger”, no cisgendered equivalent to “tranny”, no straight equivalent to “faggot”, and no male equivalent to “bitch”. These things don’t exist because even if someone did invent a word with such a meaning, there’s no way to instill it with the kind of cultural _power_ that the above terms have. Because white cishet men have all the power. And they’ve had all the power pretty much all the time. > > The jokes about white people are all about not being able to dance, not being “cool”, or having too much money and power - trivial shit, for the most part. The jokes about black people are continuations of violent and nasty stereotypes propped up for hundreds of years that continue to this day to negatively effect them in non-trivial ways. The jokes about transgendered individuals are typically based on a premise of transgendered individuals being dishonest perverts - particularly tragic given both the current debate over their basic right to use the restroom and the amount of violence visited upon them on a regular basis. That is, actually harassment, assault, and _murder_ just because they’re transgendered. > > So yeah. You’re a weakling with absolutely no idea how out of your depth you’d be if you weren’t born with every advantage possible. You’re boxing welterweight high schoolers and wondering why everyone else thinks Muhammad Ali is so great. If you actually had to step in the ring with _real_ discrimination, hatred, or prejudice, your “low-hanging acorns” would retract so fast he wouldn’t even be able to knock them around. I respect this for it contains considerable truth. I still think words only hurt the weak. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/79 "2016-06-07T23:32:29Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I respect this for it contains considerable truth. > > I still think words only hurt the weak. Except the words are a vocal ecpression of real world discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681/80 "2016-06-07T23:33:49Z")
Exactly. The discrimination is the problem, not the verbal expression of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralph-nader-decries-pcness/756681.md?page=5)