The anti-PC mob

[Dr Mindbender]

Didn't know where to post this, its as good as anywhere it seems.

How does everyone deal with those people who complain about ''its political correctness gone mad?'' How do you respond to this from a leftist perspective? I dont know about the rest of this world, but british society in general and in particular the indigenous reactionary working class are convinced that there is some sort of ' PC conspiracy lobby' set to rid the world of being able to watch porn, behave like a mysoginist gobshite and blame everything on immigrants? This is despite the fact that their little 'movement' is cheerled by the tabloids, TV pundits and reactionary TV stations all of whom have enough power, wealth and influence to make Solomon blush.

I know from leftist principle we can't tolerate this attitude. Where the fuck do we start?!

[Holden Caulfield]

good fucking question,
maybe we should hijack vans delivering the Sun and burn their vile contents?
kill Clarkson, Murdoc, etc..

[Dr Mindbender]

probably the worse post ever here...
..

Why?

This cancerous attitude within our working class society has to be exposed and dealt with.

[Holden Caulfield]

i ment mine, coz i added nothing of value..
sorry for the confusion, im with you on this one
ive edited it, if a mod could delete these posts it would be super

[Dr Mindbender]

I'd like to know where it all started from.

I can still remember the days when it was the politically incorrect that were largely satirised and ridiculed. You had Alf Garnett, and going further back (before my time of course) you had the series 'love thy neighbour'.

Seems these days the shoe is increasingly on the other foot.

[Socialistpenguin]

It's true that the "anti-PC" crowd get a lot coverage and support from the press and the media at large: then again, it's thinly veiled attempt to push back the standards of the working class, and those most exploited within it. You've gotta start pointing this out to people, especially working class people that it's a load of bunk, invention and exaggeration. For instance, you know that infamous case of that nursery changing the lyrics of "Ba Ba Black Sheep" to "Ba Ba Rainbow Sheep"? That had nothing to do with political correctness, it was merely a language action exercise for the children. The media got a hold of it and managed to whip up a nice good frenzy about "political correctness"

"Political correctness gone mad" is a complete media invention, and should be stressed as such.

[Holden Caulfield]

the myth of 'winterval' instead of Christmas,
and what is the deal every year about nativity plays, its a fictional play same as anyother and everybody already knows the end

[Dr Mindbender]

It's true that the "anti-PC" crowd get a lot coverage and support from the press and the media at large: then again, it's thinly veiled attempt to push back the standards of the working class, and those most exploited within it. You've gotta start pointing this out to people, especially working class people that it's a load of bunk, invention and exaggeration. For instance, you know that infamous case of that nursery changing the lyrics of "Ba Ba Black Sheep" to "Ba Ba Rainbow Sheep"? That had nothing to do with political correctness, it was merely a language action exercise for the children. The media got a hold of it and managed to whip up a nice good frenzy about "political correctness"

"Political correctness gone mad" is a complete media invention, and should be stressed as such.


Another point I should have made is the Anti-PC's mob's belief that the left wing is trying to gradually 'abolish' Christianity and Christmas.

What about this lot complaining about the 'muslims lobbying' to have christmas trees removed from banks or the way in which the name of christmas crackers were changed to 'festive crackers' or something like that as not to offend non-christians.

BTW Just so you know, I'm not defending this sentiment, I'm just fishing for debate.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

On one had, people who whinge about "immigrants" and "asylum seekers" being handed money, a house and a car on a plate are ignorant racist morons who don't know what they're talking about and are simply parroting whatever it was they picked up from the Daily Express or the Daily Heil.

On the other hand, what wrong with watching porn, swearing, and not behaving like a snooty middle class champagne socialist?

[Dr Mindbender]

the myth of 'winterval' instead of Christmas,
and what is the deal every year about nativity plays, its a fictional play same as anyother and everybody already knows the end

lol beat me to it. more or less. :D

[Holden Caulfield]

coz christmas trees have got to do with Jesus?! somebody should explain this to them,

also porn is good, i think many people know i love to swear, and PC should be ignored, social conscience will do for most people

i would say i am a cultural christian in the way i celebrate christmas i dont believe in god/jesus/allah/tooth fairy etc but my culture says we have trees at christmas it is just what is done to entertain the simple minded (i.e me)
anybody agree?

[Dr Mindbender]

coz christmas trees have got to do with Jesus?! somebody should explain this to them,

also porn is good, i think many people know i love to swear, and PC should be ignored, social conscience will do for most people

i would say i am a cultural christian in the way i celebrate christmas i dont believe in god/jesus/allah/tooth fairy etc but my culture says we have trees at christmas it is just what is done to entertain the simple minded (i.e me)
anybody agree?

I'm not sure.

Wouldn't christmas lose it's relevance after the revolution? Anyone knows?
Anyone care?

Anyway, back on topic. What do we do about these little englanders?

[Raúl Duke]

Interesting enough...while this thread is referring mostly to the UK we hear similar things about "PC gone mad" (and probably most of this comes from FOX news or such..although I wouldn't know), especially the whole Christmas/happy holiday/winter thing (except in the U.S. they all got riled up only because, it seems, stores and businesses state happy holidays instead of merry christmas due to multicultural/mutli-religious reasons such as the fact that Jews, Wiccans, etc don't celebrate christmas but celebrate something else around that month.

[Dr Mindbender]

Interesting enough...while this thread is referring mostly to the UK we hear similar things about "PC gone mad" (and probably most of this comes from FOX news or such..although I wouldn't know), especially the whole Christmas/happy holiday/winter thing (except in the U.S. they all got riled up only because, it seems, stores and businesses state happy holidays instead of merry christmas due to multicultural/mutli-religious reasons such as the fact that Jews, Wiccans, etc don't celebrate christmas but celebrate something else around that month.

I know in America its really bad, but theres also something about the English mindset that makes the anti-PC lot particularly venomous.

Something to do with their ''2 world wars and 1 world cup'' fortress England thought processes.

[The Intransigent Faction]

As far as the "Merry Christmas" debate..people might get upset that it's been decided that "Happy Holidays" is more appropriate. Frankly, who gives a fuck? Understanding that common courtesy dictates recognizing the lengthy list of other significant occasions during the "holiday season" does not mean the undermining of/a "war on" Christmas. On the other hand I've had neighbours whom I know are Muslim wish my family a "Merry Christmas" and even give my parents a bottle of wine as a gift..so if this is done privately where religious differences may be understood and respected it doesn't seem improper in the least.
As for such terms as racial slurs..the majority of people that I've encountered who whine about being denied the right to use the "n word" among other slurs have been white supremacists a la David Duke's "NAAWP". There could be exceptions to that but I haven't yet encountered someone whose bothered to complain that didn't turn out racist.
Those who believe that the religious sanctity of Christmas is undermined by correctness should start directing their complaints to the malls commercializing the holiday like crazy.

[Luís Henrique]

coz christmas trees have got to do with Jesus?! somebody should explain this to them,

Please don't. Someone did explain it to American religious morons, and now they believe that Christmas trees are part of the Wiccan-atheist-Muslism conspiracy to abolish Christmastendom.

Luís Henrique

[Dimentio]

I think that political correctness is a real threat to the credibility of the left, especially when it makes us make double standards. For example this famous slogan:

"Islam is a religion of peace"

I am not particularily fond of western culture, but I know that I prefer to live in a society which have some sort of basic human rights, before living in societies where the laws are based upon mythology.

I am not hating moslems by stating that I dislike islam. On the contrary, if I hated moslems as a "race", I would have likened them to stay with Islam.

[TheDifferenceEngine]

Its seems that most of the anti-PC hate speech is spouted by the Murdochian press, Perhaps getting some information out to the british public about how most of their major news organs are owned by a American billionaire who is in bed with the Republican Party?

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

The people who make this up are all serious ****s.

Little john writes things complaining about immigrants and "good old england" from his Florida mansion

[Morpheus]

"Political correctness" is just a perjorative term for not being a bigot.

[Sendo]

I feel that a lot of PC is snobbish, white liberal, patronizing language that dumbs down people who use it.

Take for example mankind vs. humankind.

I'm sorry, but "man" is gender-neutral in such a context. There is no such thing as "womankind," oh I'm sorry, "womynkind"

Or what about BCE and CE vs. ACN and AD

As a non-Christian I MUCH PREFER "ACN/BC" and "AD"
What's more offensive: admitting that the calendar most use is, in fact, based on English time and on Jesus-based years, or the condescending "common era" which says this is the norm, anything based on a different history or culture is therefore "uncommon" and perhaps wrong, or abnormal.

How about developmentally disabled vs. mentally retarded.

I am familiar with mental retardation and that's what it is, a SLOW BRAIN. Developmentally disabled implies much worse things, "disabled"??! Did we change this because of the derogatory slur "R-Tard!"? By that logic we'll have to change the name of the condition every decade.

How about Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

How fucking patronizing can you get? This is up there with "whatever your God may be..." The only significant holidays are Channukah and Christmas at this time. To say "Happy Holidays" assumes that that person must celebrate one of their most sacred holidays in December, which I think is worse than assuming a person is Christian as the majority of Americans actually are. My Jewish friends had NO problem with "Merry Christmas," the only friends of mine who did have a problem were my Chrsitian-raised or believing Christian friends. "Whoever your God may be" is condescending to Agnostics, atheists, buddhists, hinduists, and others I'm sorry to say I don't know about.

Or how about Custodial engineer vs. cleaner or janitor

DEFEND THE WORK do not dodge and hide from what it is, DEFEND IT as honest work! When people say custodial engineer I feel that they're looking down from their ivory towers and feeling pity for such animal-like labor, "oh dear, those poor unwashed masses, let's talk to them or about them with euphemisms as we would with children"

A lot of this is in fact, Christian-raised, embittered people on an anti-Christian festival crusade, not criticizing legit problems with Judeo-Christianity, but rather anti-harmless-pagan-derived-festivals. So we have an uproar against candles on Douglas firs, but where is the uproar against public festivals in Latin America with a religious tinge, where's the uproar against Shintoism in Japan, where's the uproar against Iran?

Well, that's what it's like in my area. I do acknowledge that overtly and specificly theistic nativities and the like don't deserve public funding and I do realize how many public schools in fundamentalist areas make other people feel uncomfortable and outcasted. But there is a middle ground.

As a guy I will continue to say "chick" from time to time, just as girls tend to say "dudes" "pigs." I don't mean it derogatorily, I talk like a sailor, and associate mostly with guys.

[superiority]

the condescending "common era" which says this is the norm, anything based on a different history or culture is therefore "uncommon" and perhaps wrong, or abnormal.
You're misunderstanding what is meant by common in this context. It means the same as "property held in common".


How about developmentally disabled vs. mentally retarded.

I am familiar with mental retardation and that's what it is, a SLOW BRAIN. Developmentally disabled implies much worse things, "disabled"??! Did we change this because of the derogatory slur "R-Tard!"? By that logic we'll have to change the name of the condition every decade.
Indeed. See the article on the Euphemism treadmill on Wikipedia (fewer than 25 posts). However, I have never been reprimanded by anyone for using the phrase 'mentally retarded', my name of choice for the appropriate group of people.



How about Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

How fucking patronizing can you get? This is up there with "whatever your God may be..." The only significant holidays are Channukah and Christmas at this time. To say "Happy Holidays" assumes that that person must celebrate one of their most sacred holidays in December, which I think is worse than assuming a person is Christian as the majority of Americans actually are. My Jewish friends had NO problem with "Merry Christmas," the only friends of mine who did have a problem were my Chrsitian-raised or believing Christian friends. "Whoever your God may be" is condescending to Agnostics, atheists, buddhists, hinduists
Does anyone honestly give a fuck about this? I thought it was just something Fox News made up to draw in viewers: "OMIGOD THE STORE PEOPLE ARE NOT SPECIFICALLY REFERRING TO MY HOLIDAY THEY ARE TRYING TO DESTROY OUR TRADITIONS!!!1!". The thing to do with right-wing talking points is ignore them, not repeat them.


others I'm sorry to say I don't know about.
No reason to be sorry for not concerning yourself with the myriad varieties of superstition.


A lot of this is in fact, Christian-raised, embittered people on an anti-Christian festival crusade, not criticizing legit problems with Judeo-Christianity, but rather anti-harmless-pagan-derived-festivals.
A lot of this is in fact the Murdoch press blowing a bunch of meaningless shit way out of proportion on slow news days.