"Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them."
- Aristotle

So I'm sitting down next to John Tillman (who played with Lou Reed) and Lee (last name escapes me) who plays with Michelle Wright (if we have any country fans in here, I'm sure the name will be recognized) and I'm strummin' away on my brand new American Strat. And I get to thinking about Aristotle for some reason.

Aristotle argued that it is not enough to do good; one's natural impulse must be to do good. Or rather, he argued that there is a distinct difference between the two. Aristotle would say that one who is faced with a tough choice on a matter between good and wrong, while they may end up choosing the good, is not as "good" or "vrituous" a human being as one who would not even consider the bad/wrong choice.

So then I move on to thinking about political correctness. And I'd like to start off by saying I mean common, not-retarted political correctness. I'm not talking about the bullshit of spelling woman without the "man" part or about that retarted desire to change the word history. No, I'm talking about the kind of political correctness where I can get thrown out of class for arguing that women, on average, are less intelligent than men (please note this is an example and, while I have argued this point, it is not one I wish to debate at this point nor one I necessarily (or, entirely) agree with). So, where was I? Ah yes, my question. My question is; does political correctness actually have the potential to succeed in the point it wishes to address, does it have an entirely different point than we are told or is it going backwards on itself?

The stated point of political correctness, as I understand it, is to make the people and the society itself more open, compassionate and, most importantly, less racist/sexist and any other 'ist' the people deem unacceptable (the people generally being upper-middle class white christians or their crusading teenage green-peace children). By imposing on the masses the rule that we can't use certain language do we actually make a person "open", "compassionate" or "less racist/sexist..."? Or does it mearly force us to make the tough choice? Or perhaps that is the real intentions of political correctness?

Perhaps it is a realized fact that we cannot force people to be "good", the best we can do is force them to make the right choice. Although, that gives a little too much credit to the intellect of those who implemented political correctness, doesn't it?

So you tell me. Does political correctness have any possibility of making us "good"? That I stop in class before saying "Women are less logical and more emotional than men on average" despite that I may want to; does that make me good?

Please feel free to debate Aristotle's view, as well. Tell me - is it just as good to have to make the tough choice when you would rather do the "wrong", "bad" or "politically incorrect" as it is to have no choice, truly, in your own mind? And furthermore, if I do not consciously make the choice, but rather become a programed robot, am I any less good?

If it is my impulse because of years of political correctness being shoved down my throat, and not because of my own innate goodness (what this is a result of could also be argued), am I less good?


"It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more."
- Woody Allen

Hmmm...

In my opinion, political correctness is politically incorrect. You're right in saying that it aims at making society more open, tolerant, etc.. But on the whole, its become a disease. Not because it doesn't fix the problem but because it fixes the problem in a manner that creates other problems. Like blowing up a comet set to destroy the earth. Large chunks will still fall from space causing even greater damage.

Instead of basing my conclusions based on what it doesn't accomplish, I'm going to try to do so based on what it does. In short, it places restrictions on what we cannot say and uses those restrictions to breed tolerance. Ideally, this would "fix" the problem. Though it does do so in ways, it creates more destrucctive problems. Its even been used propogate hate(I'll bring up some examples later - right now I'm a bit short on time).

Anyways, I dont think political correctness is the "way to go" perse since it doesnt adress the problem. The best means of neutering problems in society is by chopping off their balls (lol I dont mean to be offensive to anyone). In other words, educating the people and fostering a greater self awareness.

-Peace

Yeah, I'm' back with time to spare.

Example.

This one happened in Sweden. On a dark night (thats' right, dark), a lady was walking down a street. Suddenly she was ambushed by a lebanese gang that intended to rape her. Well, let's just say they did (they did by the way). Anyways the guys are caught and taken to court. After the trial, the judge ruled that although the Lebanese gang was guilty of the crime, it was also partially the fault of the Woman who was raped. How you ask? Quite simple (sarcasm). According to their multicultural beliefs(and politically correct ways), the woman should have been wearing more clothing. She wasn't exactly scantily clad at the time, but a burkha would have done quite nicely. Apparantly, not doing so showed her willingness to be...uh... raped. In other words, it was partially her choice, and the gang could not be held in full responsibility for the crime. As such, the scumbags got away with a slap on the wrist.

Let me ask the diverse group of sciforumers a question. In which culture and under what circumstances is it acceptable to rape a woman? Should multiculturalism and political correctness get in the way of Justice?

I think political corectness is a good idea as a whole, but has gone a step too far. For example, When African American Leaders got on TV in referance to Trent Lott's Statements about Strom Thurmond, they said that they KNEW Trent Lott meant it in a rascist way. But when Jesse Jackson called New York "Himey Town" (something which is a far more OBVIOUS bigot statement), they forgave him easily and called it a slip of the tongue. Now i don't consider what trent lott said right by any means, but if they can forgive one person for saying something he shouldn't have said, why not extend that same forgiveness to others?

Another thing, Parades. Parades are littered with "gay pride marches" and "black pride marches". This is fine, its great to celebrate your herritage and your sexual preferance. But why is it ok to have gay pride, or black pride, but if someone wanted "straight pride" or "white pride" march's, that would be politically incorrect and every minority leader and GLADD would come out of the woodworks in protest.

I consider myself a liberal, but I don't think political corectness should supercede common sense in respect to fairness and equality.

I'm sure I have written large posts on this subject before, me being the rabid anti-"political correctness" chap that I am. I'll write something more substantial later, when I'm not so busy.