From Carl Hayes Fallibilism Democracy and the Market: the Meta-Theoretical Foundations of Popper’s Political Philosophy, 2001, UP of America:
Nicely put, Carl.
“Political Correctness” is just good manners.
Yes, it can be taken to an absurd extreme. But if it weren’t for PC, it would still be acceptable to call ethnic or cultural minorities disgusting names and spread hateful, false sterotypes.
Good manners is good manners. PC is something altogether more pernicious. For one, its prefabricated phrases lead to the abolition of thinking - always a bad thing. Except for the prospective tyrant.
Prospective tyrants thrive on unjustified stereotypes and hateful terms of insult. And if prefabricated phrases lead to less thinking, whither the evolution of language?
They thrive still more when the thoughts of people’s hearts are driven underground and silenced; or submerged and deadened under a welter of gibberish.
More to the point, political correctness is not funny.
Really? I thought they thrived when they could send the secret police round to your house at 4am to make you disappear. Or are you contending that Political Correctness actually relies on violence to establish itself?
But I’ll admit, I’ve never been very clear what political correctness is. Along with SentientMeat, I’ve always thought it meant good manners - acknowledging that, although one might use phrases such as “nigger”, “kike”, “Paki” with nothing but love in one’s heart, other people find it offensive and so it would be simply considerate to use different, less loaded words. But apparently, that is not True Political Correctness - so what is? Can you give us some examples of what you consider to be “PC gone mad” so we know what we’re talking about?
I’m also curious as to why applying libertarianism to sexual and other alternative lifestyles is a bad thing, and what precisely is “naturalistic” about PC’s alleged anti-traditionalism - especially as it seems to rely on “prefabricated phrases”.
I’ve always thought the line across good manners became political correctness was adopting an insufferably superior tone in imposing one’s label on others.
Example: I’m a Left-Handed Carpenter’s Assistant, a group commonly known for decades as “Carpies,” although we never really liked the term, to be brutally frank with you. We feel it would be more respectful if people would adopt the mellifluous appellation of “leftocarpie-asses.” When some ignorant person utters the old-fashioned “Carpie,” we of good breeding say nothing until it’s our turn to speak, and we simply use the preferred term, so as to set a good example, in the faith that eventually it will catch on and replace the oppressive term. Some of us of good breeding might even take the offender to the side and whisper, “Friend, some people have started using ‘leftocarpie-asses’ instead of ‘Carpies.’ Just a thought. Thanks for listening,” as often as needed.
But the ill-mannered will make a big public deal about it, interrupt anyone who uses “Carpies” freely, speechify about us poor leftocarpies-asses and the history of our struggles, however irrelevant to the subject at hand, and generally carry on freely, making any real discourse difficult. These people are what I call Politically Correct.
I’m immensely skeptical that blatant racism would run rampant if it weren’t for a pack of sanctimonious do-gooders constantly getting in everybody else’s face over trivial or entirely imaginary offenses.
(To be fair, the religious right is a big pain in the ass when it comes to political correctness, too.)
I have no idea how the first line of the above post became so incomprehensible.
It should be somethig more like "I’ve always thought the line between good manners and political correctness was **the adoption of ** an insufferably superior tone in imposing one’s label on others.
Those metaphors are so hopelessly mixed that I’m a little unsure how to respond - are you tyrannically deadening me with gibberish?
If Political Correctness is all about demonising perfectly innocent language, well OK, I hate it too. But it isn’t. It’s not about “black board” versus “chalk board”. It’s about “black man” versus “nigger”.
But that’s how the phrase Political Correctness originated - it was when all kinds of atrocious prejudicial language permeated the culture and the media, requiring a concerted effort to make it clear that such language was no longer acceptable.
What you and roger are talking about, and which I find absurd also, is not PC (which is admirable if not essential) but PC gone mad.
I think I want to marry you.
Sentient Meat, while it may be about manners, I admit…people have ill manners. And assuming some sort of (I dislike the term) political correctness about labels and imparting some form of strident ‘don’t use that term!’ carping about it makes the carper ill mannered. If someone feels ill about blacks and calls them ‘niggers’ or somesuch then they’re expressing their viewpoint. To deny them that is a far worse offense than using an insulting term to refer to another person.
Plus, it allows us to easily identify who the assholes of the world are.
Tyrants thrive on anything & everything.
Which is why tyrrany has been so common, through the ages.
I love that defenders of PC language often say this without seeing the wonderful irony.
Alanis Morissette irony? (ie. not irony at all, ironically enough)?
I thought this was going to be another thread about Pipes, Horowitz et al and their recent push for PC classrooms.
Come on, DA, at least explain why it’s ironic!
Yes, I’d like to hear that as well.
It always bewilders me how people can become so extreme on their pro/con views of PC. It’s a tool, nothing more. A hammer can be used to build homes for the poor. Some people will want to ban hammers because they have occasionally been used to bludgeon people. Like it’s the hammer’s fault. The general idea behind PC is don’t be a prick. Some people will pick up the PC banner and be a prick while waving it. That in no way invalidates the notion that you shouldn’t be a prick.
I certainly hope you don’t oppose PC terms simply because they lean toward the prolix.