*standing ovation for Gollum*
Well said...I couldn't agree more!
Political Corectness must stop
by Adam 31 Replies latest jw friends
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Adam
Gollum, I actually invited you to comment on my previous thread entitled "Political." Couple good questions about N.Korea there.
The balance between idoglogical and realistic is an ongoing struggle for every human community. Too coldly realistic and you end up with a statement like "most people in N.Korea are living in oppression and poverty and if we just went in with tanks and made N.Korea another state, the current problem would be fixed and the people more happy in the long run." Too idoglogical and you've got people screaming that "War is wrong!" even as their country is being invaded. Sometimes a people need to lean one way, and sometimes the other. The problem arises when different groups of peoples are leaning different ways or leaning the same way but to greatly differing degrees. The majority of Americans, acording to the most recent polls, is in favor of military action. Unless I am mistaken, the majority of mainland Europeans are against it. Here's looking forward to when the ballance is once again restored.
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Gollum
Adam,
Sorry, went all stupid and didn't catch the ref to the other thread. I'll throw a comment in over there later, though I probably don't have anything real intellegent to say about that situation (I know, I know, never stopped me before)
Your comment about idological vs. realistic makes me think of a point about this topic.
I sort of think that political correctness and it's apparent polar opposite, stereotyping, have a lot in common. They are both usefull in moderation, and potentially deadly when taken to extremes. Stereotyping is an important skill, we receive a lot of information, and we can't spend all our time processing it, so we put it in little bins. It was a survival skill when we were hanging out in trees, being saber tooth tiger bait. You needed to put something into the bad bin without much thought if you wanted to stay alive. Same thing today, if I'm walking down the street, I don't have time to get to know everybody personally, so they go into a bin, yuppie, gangbanger, old fart in my way, etc etc. And taken to extreme, it makes you stupid, because you put people in the wrong bin. I think political correctness has a good heart, in that it wants to make people think about how what they say and do affects social relationships, and effective social realtionships is a survival skill. However, taken to extreme and saying that all discourse about differences, or banning anything the could possibly be conceived as hurtfull is just as dangourous and bad as overdoing the stereotyping.
How this relates in my mind to the screening stuff, is that just targeting people who appear to be Arabs (which would probably sweep up a lot of non Muslims, like Hindu's or Christians for that matter) would be counter productive. That's just my opinion, which of course is correct
And I would get real nervous if there was a religion checkbox, since I would get real twitchy with Ashcroft in the loop when I check the Atheist box. Probably get my citizenship revoked.
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Country Girl
So..
What's wrong with a red neck? My great Grandfather came to this country at the behest of THIS COUNTRY. He homesteaded. He was promised 160 acres as long as he could bring it to a crop. He did it. He got a red neck from being in the sun all the time, and wearing his hat. He wasn't any more stupid than the next guy, and he didn't pretend he was any smarter. He worked in the sun from sunup til sundown to provide his wife and children with food. His neck became red cuz his head was always down, to the ground, to provide. What's wrong with someone having a red neck? It only indicates, to me, a person that is hard working to get their wife and children some money and food. Nothing wrong with that.
Country Girl
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outoftheorg
There has been some complaints by Canadians, that feel they were unfairly detained for a time and questioned at the border cross points.
Let me tell you of an experience one of our local doctors and his family had while going into Canada.
This doctor, his wife and son went to Canada for vacation. The son had the barber shave his head. This seems to be more and more in vogue nowadays. The father decided that was cool and had the barber shave his head also.
They get to the Canadian border and the first thing they are asked, is "do you have any guns"? They reply, " yes at home, not with us".
They were asked to get out of the car. They and the car were searched. The reason was they looked like they might be Ayran extremists. Shaved heads you know.
The doctor and his family did not take offense at this. They did not like it, but they see that it is a necessary action due to todays problems.
It concerns me that some are so easily offended when the US officials do what is necessary due to todays problems.
I get the impression that anything and everything is being used as an excuse to vent their hatred for the US without any justification.
Outoftheorg
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Crazy151drinker
So why is it that the French claim that they are some super peacefull country and yet their cops carry sub-machinguns in the aiports and train depots?? (They have been doing this for YEARS.).
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Gollum
Country Girl,
Absolultely nothing wrong with being a redneck. LIke I said, those are my people. Just like there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim. When we start harrasing a large group of people based on the actions of a very, very small percentage of that group, then we are A.) In my opinion, acting morally wrong, and B.) being completly ineffective in responding to our security needs.
My point is, we don't harrass rednecks or people from Idaho just because of some well publized incidents involving a very,very,very small percentage of that population. We wouldn't even consider it, because it seems wrong to us. However, it doesn't seem to feel nearly so wrong when it's a group we could not be mistaken for personally.
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Abaddon
Adam, is the site you moderate really called 'PC Patroll'?
What's a patroll?
Do you get a badge?
Sorry to tease, but if you take what you're saying to an extreme, then you are being correct to another form of political sensibility, and are also, by definition, being politically correct, albeit in a different way.
I think at any extreme of behaviour common-sense is lost. A moderate approach is best. It also protects people from ignorance. If you allow profiling to go too far, then you end up being politically uncorrect, as you violate Consititutional principles.
One also has to realise that we are not dealing with comic book bad guys. They read the papers. They are unlikely to try to go through a security cordon thinking; "dark skin, copy of the Qu'ran under one arm, turban. beard, they'll never pick me up".
Racial profiling is often a sop, a little thing to make the great public feel better.
Name me one instance where lives were saved by lifejackets under seats when an airliner ditched in the sea. They're there to make you feel better.
Tell me how come they take away nail scissors with blades 1/2" long when you fly, but contiune to serve from glass bottles on board, often provide metal forks, and allow thermoplastic rulers, and women's hairpins through the security check. If it makes you feel better, I'm happy, but it's a sop.
Interesting you mention the IRA. How do you feel the support that the IRA recieved from Americans fits in with the current war on terrorism? Was that correct, politically or otherwise?
Crazy; The French have lots of different police; the top level get to carry the SMG's, as they are not really civilian police, more like a cross between a State Trooper and the National Guard. But this has little to do with their attitude towards peace. What ever 'heat' the French 'flicks' are packing, their murder rate is a sixth of the USA's. If you have a valid point, make it.
Country Girl; I think you know very well the term red-neck as it is commonly used today referes to political and cultural sensibilites as distinct from employment, so don't make out it applies to your Gran-d, unless it does in that context.
Sargon; logic dicates you have more to fear from Alanis Morrisette and Bryan Adams than a Fifth Column of Arabs hiding in Canada. Any serious threat would not be that easily detectable at a border post, either by avoiding it, or by disguise... the one that was picked up was picked up by blind luck, not profiling.
If I was an Islamic terrorist, I'd get fake ID as Joe Longrunner, I'd stock up on Navajho jewelery, learn a few words of a Native language (they all sound the same to white-eyes... profiling goes both ways...), shave my beard and grow my hair a bit. Add in a leather waistcoat, cowboy boots and a battered pick-up and I'd be functionally invisable.
I don't mean that as a parody of Native Americans in anyway, but as a paraody of how stereotypes blind people.
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nightwarrior
SORRY GENTS I DONT AGREE
The rel resons for political corectness was due to different nationalitys being insulted within there mandotory working lifestyles,
i guess it started to help overcome the basic principles of racial reform,of which your country has and still has a very disturbing area of concern,yes it may have gotten out of hand but this brings to the frontal arena of life ( being aware ) consideration /respect/ stigmatization of certain nationalitys/ prolific profiling/recognigtion of people and not the sterotypical inhuman you may have deemed as unimportant ,awarenes is a step in the right direction,this in turn will either help you as a nation ,especialy if it is not condemned,
HUMANITY/COMPASSION/HUMAN/LOVE JOY/RECOGNITION OF OTHERS/ BUILDS A NEW WORLD.
FAMILYS NEED BUILDING BLOCKS COUNTRYS NEED BUILDING BLOCKS ,RACES NEED BUIDING BLOCKS
YOU NEED TO BUILD AND NOT TEAR DOWN.
ECCUSE ME/INSTEAD OF GET OUT OF MY FFFFFFUKING WAY ( POLITICAL CORECTNESS OR JUST RESPECT FOR ?????YOU
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mattnoel
You think political correctness is bad in America ! try England
A few years back they were going to make us Britains community of communities
We are no longer allowed to have an english or british flag outside our homes ! We are deemed racist by this !
A Police officer in one town was told to remove his english flag from his pen tidy as it was visable from the window !
We are letting all the assylum seekers in, only 10% of which are genuine and then giving them all nice new homes, lots of cash and cars ! yet we try and deport someone who has been living here all her life and paid UK tax for a good number of years ! We then have to pay higher tax to support them !
English history is now being taken out of schools as it is deemed racist to our foreigners in the country !
We are not being taught to be patriotic and proud of our british heritage.......wait for it......because it is deemed racist.
Need I go on...............I wish we had what you guys have in america ! Patriotism !
Its so sad how our country is getting the way it is, the government are pushing people too far and the BNP etc is starting to raise its head and if people get too fed up they will start voting for them and it will cause problems for the genuine foreign folk here who earn an honest living.
Sorry but I feel that this is politically correct gone too far !