CHild Poverty

[vegetariantaxidermy]

but there is something wrong with being too scared to say anything out of a fear of offended a protected group.

I agree that this would be wrong but I know of no instance where this is the case. Perhaps you could see fit to offer an example.

Political correctness is when good manners crossing the line into just plain icky. For instance, as a woman I don't like being told that something is 'offensive' to me as a woman. I will decide when something is offensive to me, thank you very much. I won't be lumped into any 'group'.

[Obvious Leo]

As a white, middle-class heterosexual man I understand perfectly well what it means to be a member of a protected clique within our society. I have never seen any evidence that people are too scared for reasons of political correctness to draw attention to the fact that the privileges which I enjoy as a member of this clique are undeserved. Is this not the sort of protected group you had in mind?

[Skip]

It's mob rule.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Mob rule is a term usually associated with the breakdown of law and order; the absence of legitimate government. It's generally associated with lynching and looting, and that certainly has not happened - yet - in Canada. I don't believe it's ever likely to be the result of anyone's refraining from ethnic or other collective slurs.

People are scared to say what they really think, because it doesn't happen to be 'politically correct'.

If the people are afraid, then the people are presumably not the mob. You still haven't identified "the mob".

It has nothing to do with being 'left-wing', although the ignorant label it as such.

The ignorant we have always with us.

'Politically correct do-gooder: an insincere person who is so desperate to appear virtuous and politically correct that they end up doing more harm than good'.

This would be your personal opinion? The mob has obviously allowed you to express it. So far, so good!

Political correctness is why those poor sods in Sumte have to suck it up when they are swamped with 1000 asylum-seekers.

I don't know these poor sods you seem so terribly concerned about. If they are not allowed to speak, it is not I who have prevented them from doing so. Do you attribute the presence of 1000 unwanted people to the - as yet unidentified - "PC mob"? I still haven't seen the connection between refugees and child poverty... unless you mean that the refugees are in need of help and placement and thus will inevitably swell the ranks of the poor in rich countries. That's a standard consequence of destabilizing regions for power and profit. But I haven't done that, either.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I've been bothered about this practically all my life. But then, I've been everything from a bleeding heart liberal to a tree-hugger to an enemy of progress. Really, just an old-fashioned socialist. I believe the propose and function of government is to take care of the country and its citizens' needs. But then, I'm a dinosaur... like Bernie Sanders.

Its time for us to rule the earth again.

Unfortunately the world is becoming increasingly right-wing, thanks to the PC mob hijacking the 'left' and giving it a bad name.

Oddly whilst it is becoming right-wing, it is also becoming more left wing. Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.
Neoliberal economic is thoroughly discredited with the second major crash since it begin in 1980, with MMT now gaining ground and respectability.
So there is hope. If hope, is followed by effort there is not reason things cannot change.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

As a white, middle-class heterosexual man I understand perfectly well what it means to be a member of a protected clique within our society. I have never seen any evidence that people are too scared for reasons of political correctness to draw attention to the fact that the privileges which I enjoy as a member of this clique are undeserved. Is this not the sort of protected group you had in mind?

That's probably because you are PC. It's only visible from the outside.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

It's mob rule.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Mob rule is a term usually associated with the breakdown of law and order; the absence of legitimate government. It's generally associated with lynching and looting, and that certainly has not happened - yet - in Canada. I don't believe it's ever likely to be the result of anyone's refraining from ethnic or other collective slurs.

People are scared to say what they really think, because it doesn't happen to be 'politically correct'.

If the people are afraid, then the people are presumably not the mob. You still haven't identified "the mob".

It has nothing to do with being 'left-wing', although the ignorant label it as such.

The ignorant we have always with us.

'Politically correct do-gooder: an insincere person who is so desperate to appear virtuous and politically correct that they end up doing more harm than good'.

This would be your personal opinion? The mob has obviously allowed you to express it. So far, so good!

Political correctness is why those poor sods in Sumte have to suck it up when they are swamped with 1000 asylum-seekers.

I don't know these poor sods you seem so terribly concerned about. If they are not allowed to speak, it is not I who have prevented them from doing so. Do you attribute the presence of 1000 unwanted people to the - as yet unidentified - "PC mob"? I still haven't seen the connection between refugees and child poverty... unless you mean that the refugees are in need of help and placement and thus will inevitably swell the ranks of the poor in rich countries. That's a standard consequence of destabilizing regions for power and profit. But I haven't done that, either.

PC is insincerity. Goodness is sincere. As I just pointed out, it's only visible from the outside. No one is ever going to proudly announce that they are politically correct. Think about 'hate speech' laws, and how they are stifling free speech. The term is so vague and subjective it's dangerous. It's about trying to control how people think, and what others think they should be allowed to say. PCness isn't static either. It's as subject to fashion and trends as anything else. Just look at the way people say 'the N word' lol, as if the word itself has magical powers, yet street-wise black Americans (am I allowed to say 'black'?) use it all the time, and the PC don't bat and eyelid. Apparently they are using the word 'correctly' haha.

[Skip]

I AM POLITICALLY CORRECT!
I abhor hate speech, the yahoos who promulgate it for want of a viable social vocabulary, the retrogrades who defend it on the grounds of parity with freedom of political expression and the asshats who condone it because they don't know the difference between the tools of oppression wielded by the oppressor and those tools seized by the oppressed.
I'm not mad keen on bad manners, either.

[Obvious Leo]

As a white, middle-class heterosexual man I understand perfectly well what it means to be a member of a protected clique within our society. I have never seen any evidence that people are too scared for reasons of political correctness to draw attention to the fact that the privileges which I enjoy as a member of this clique are undeserved. Is this not the sort of protected group you had in mind?

That's probably because you are PC. It's only visible from the outside.

Most of the political, legal, and social structures which regulate the society in which I live have been specifically set in place to protect the interests of a small and privileged minority, of which I happen to be a member, and if I brand myself as being "politically correct" by acknowledging this then it is a badge I will wear with pride. Are you suggesting that the world would be a better place under a system of social Darwinism where the interests of the few are safeguarded at the expense of the many, whose status in society is determined solely by an accident of birth, or are you simply suggesting that it is hypocritical of me to suggest that this is in fact the case and that in fact I am insincere in my desire to wish it changed? In other words do you claim that being PC is synonymous with being a hypocrite? If you are then I could go a small way towards agreeing with you but I can assure you that, in this country at least, I am in a minority. Most people who share the privileges that I do have managed to convince themselves that they do so solely as a consequence of their own merits and that those who don't only have themselves to blame.

[Obvious Leo]

I AM POLITICALLY CORRECT!
I abhor hate speech, the yahoos who promulgate it for want of a viable social vocabulary, the retrogrades who defend it on the grounds of parity with freedom of political expression and the asshats who condone it because they don't know the difference between the tools of oppression wielded by the oppressor and those tools seized by the oppressed.
I'm not mad keen on bad manners, either.

I reckon the terms are synonymous, Skip. Using our hard-earned right to free speech by asserting the rights of "us" whilst being contemptuous of the sensitivities of "them" is simply an example of bad manners, let alone a want of humility and humanity.

[Skip]

I think the political use of those words has been considerably more sinister than bad manners.
Hurt feelings and offense are only the beginning.
All propaganda of oppression is based on name-calling, which convinces the willingly gullible that those labels are accurate; it then goes on to identifying the group thus labelled (and libelled) as either enemies or subhuman - either way, fair game; it entitles the wielders of those words to start throwing tomatoes, fists, rocks and finally fire-bombs at the wearers of the label.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

As a white, middle-class heterosexual man I understand perfectly well what it means to be a member of a protected clique within our society. I have never seen any evidence that people are too scared for reasons of political correctness to draw attention to the fact that the privileges which I enjoy as a member of this clique are undeserved. Is this not the sort of protected group you had in mind?

That's probably because you are PC. It's only visible from the outside.

Most of the political, legal, and social structures which regulate the society in which I live have been specifically set in place to protect the interests of a small and privileged minority, of which I happen to be a member, and if I brand myself as being "politically correct" by acknowledging this then it is a badge I will wear with pride. Are you suggesting that the world would be a better place under a system of social Darwinism where the interests of the few are safeguarded at the expense of the many, whose status in society is determined solely by an accident of birth, or are you simply suggesting that it is hypocritical of me to suggest that this is in fact the case and that in fact I am insincere in my desire to wish it changed? In other words do you claim that being PC is synonymous with being a hypocrite? If you are then I could go a small way towards agreeing with you but I can assure you that, in this country at least, I am in a minority. Most people who share the privileges that I do have managed to convince themselves that they do so solely as a consequence of their own merits and that those who don't only have themselves to blame.

Where on earth did you get 'social Darwinism' (a despicable slur on the man) from anything I wrote? Of course the PC are hypocrites. You will find them at the moment preaching 'tolerance' towards the muslims that are swarming into the 'West', yet at the same time they make damn sure they live as comfortably far away from 'minorities' as they can possibly get. Of course, it's not just muslims they feel the the need to show how virtuous they are with regard to, it's just that muslims are the latest 'in' cause. I will fully admit that I don't want my country swamped with angry, displaced muslims. It's the US and its bitches England and Australia that should be taking all of them.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

''Yesterday newly-appointed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed the members of his new cabinet. Comprised of 15 men and 15 women, the cabinet is the first ever in Canadian history to have an equal gender ratio.

After being sworn in yesterday, Trudeau announced, “It’s an incredible pleasure for me to be before you today … to present a cabinet that looks like Canada.” When asked by a reporter why gender parity was a priority for him, Trudeau reportedly shrugged and added, “Because it’s 2015.” '

How very PC. In the accompanying photo Trudeau is wearing a very PC (at the present time) red poppy. The PC are not genuine. They go with whatever flow is in vogue at any one time. Do you think that same man would have been wearing a red poppy in the sixties, at a time when being anti-war was the 'flavour of the month'? Of course not. At least I don't alter my views with fashion. I've never at any time worn a red poppy, because it's a symbol of pro-war propaganda, and he's a giant twat for wearing it. Yes, the PC are hypocrites by definition.

[Skip]

Well, I'm glad we covered the topic of child poverty so thoroughly.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

Well, I'm glad we covered the topic of child poverty so thoroughly.

I really don't see that it's such a difficult concept to understand. Then again, I don't think evolution is either, but try explaining it to a creationist.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

I AM POLITICALLY CORRECT!
I abhor hate speech, the yahoos who promulgate it for want of a viable social vocabulary, the retrogrades who defend it on the grounds of parity with freedom of political expression and the asshats who condone it because they don't know the difference between the tools of oppression wielded by the oppressor and those tools seized by the oppressed.
I'm not mad keen on bad manners, either.

I reckon the terms are synonymous, Skip. Using our hard-earned right to free speech by asserting the rights of "us" whilst being contemptuous of the sensitivities of "them" is simply an example of bad manners, let alone a want of humility and humanity.

I'd love to know who the 'them' is. Could you make a list, and at the same time please provide a detailed description of what 'hate-speech' is? After all, it's part of law now, and we wouldn't want anyone to go to prison for simply expressing an out-of-vogue opinion, or stating a fact.