Is Political Correctness not just another form of censorship.?

Question

We are told by the PC brigade that we need to be more open to people by not using certain words, behaving in certain ways, by notcelebrating certain religious festivals in our schools.
Surely all the PC crowd are achieving is discrimination against the majority to postivly discrimainate for the minority. Does that action not wholly undermine the whole point of Political Correctness, which is too encourage an end to discrimination. Surely a far better function for the PC crowd would be to encourage those that feel discrimainted against to interact with the wider population instead of remaining huddled up in their own wee clans which by that function alone discriminate aginst outsiders trying to join in.

Jeff The Drummer. You can`t leave a sentence half finished. What is the point of Political correctness? As far as I can see it is to turn the country into a bunch of mindless borgs that have no thought of their own except for the official message given out by the chosen few.

June we have got to the position in the UK that it in some schools they are not allowed to mention the word Christmas in the run up to Christmas. Now the last time I checked over 90% of the UK population held some form of Christian belief. Is that not PC gone mad?

Bryce I am most certainly not racist, I give money from my wages to charity and I have friends who are from so called racial minorities. However I cant stand being told to do something by people employing double standards. We have the absurd position where the physical entry requirements to the Police are less for females than for males. Why? Do you think a criminal thinks, oh a woman PC, I better not hit her so hard because she ain`t a bloke. i don`t think so. A few years back some well known politicians were trying to tell us that refugess getting dumped into communities were good for those communities. Do you not find it strange that the politicians weren`t taking a refugee into their own home. It is the double standards of the PC crowd that i can`t stand.

Answer 1

A form of censorship taken from Stalinist Russia.

The truth is denied, freedom of speech is curtailed so that minorities, the inept and incapable can be favoured at the expense of the majority.

The policies of (so-called) inclusiveness, anti-elitism and prohibition on discrimination cause most of us to suffer from the consequences of these ill-conceived ideas when they are applied to public service employment policy, reducing the efficiency, effectiveness and value for money of services as they become staffed by the inadequate and incompetent.

Answer 2

The distinction is that censorship is when someone else steps in and changes your words (or art or lyric) after you have stated them.

Political correctness is society pressuring you to change the way you speak - making YOU change your behavior.

The positive side of correctness is that it does increase awareness of words that can be hurtful. If you are not aware, then the conscious act is not a deliberate one.

The negative side of correctness is that it empowers the individual and not the greater whole. One sole person can cry 'foul!' and bring another person down for the most minor of infractions.
Today, that single person is very much empowered and the claim of being offended by; say, a television commercial, can change the course of an entire show effecting thousands of people. In my opinion, this is way beyond what I would call reasonable.

Answer 3

Censorship has always and will always exist, and it is unrealistic to pretend that all forms of censorship are bad. For example, I'm not allowed to threaten to break your arms, or to label the pills I'm selling as a cure for both cancer and leprosy. Such communications carry stiff penalties, and our society is better off for it.

Yes, political correctness is a form of censorship. That doesn't mean it isn't a good thing.

You can drag up all sorts of examples where attempts at political correctness have been excessive, petty, stifling, or whatever. You can point out perceived double standards. There is usually some merit to those objections. But it's clear from your "question" that you simply don't comprehend the point of political correctness: you should always think, speak, and behave in ways that value and respect the feelings of other people.

That lack of comprehension always surprises me, because most people are skilled at being considerate of others, and make an honest effort. They simply have a blind spot when it comes to issues of race, gender, and sexuality. So it amazes me when otherwise normal, socially adjusted people are indifferent to how certain speech acts affect the feelings of others.

As white males (judging by your avatar), you and I don't automatically have the sort of experiences that would make us sensitive to these issues. We often need to be formally educated to watch out for these issues, just like an autistic person needs formal lessons on reading body language and interpreting peoples' moods. Thus, the need for the other conservative bogeyman: "sensitivity training".

Answer 4

fairplay mate political correctness has gone way too far, but however much i and many of the people i've spoken to about this before agree, the government will not allow people like us to say how we really feel, which to be honest, i feel like im being done over by this country while they wrap every non white up in cotton wool so as not to offend and wind up with a lawsuit which wouldnt of happened if we hadnt jumped on the immigration and EU band wagon in the firstplace.

Answer 5

Well said questioner.
yes it is censorship.A particular brand of censorship ,where schoolkids are brainwashed to abuse and ostracize anyone who fails to toe the party line.
Divide and conquer,the oldest trick in the book.

Incidentally,I am completely opposed to immigration,whats more,I can probably shoot any pro-immigration argument down in flames.But the important issue here is,Im not allowed to promote my argument,yet those who support immigration are.this is where I feel the resentment.I feel there are many others like me.the whole things going to go bang,fortunately for Blair,the architecht of the PC disaster, will be riding off into the sunset,saddlebags brimming.

Answer 6

Democracy is about serving the interests of the majority. PC is undemocratic; an offence against the majority and an offence against free speech. Ignore it. Rebel. You have nothing to lose but your job????

Answer 7

Political Correctness is out of control. that's perpetrated by the media. whilst can we provide up calling the rebels in Iraq, insurgents and start up calling them what they are truthfully... Terrorists who merely isn't satisfied until anyone interior the loose international is ineffective?

Answer 8

Yes it can not be anything else. the idea is if you disagree with me you must be racist, facist, sexist, a member of the BNP or stupid. So just be yourself and blow 'em. You will get into trouble but that is the price of being British

Answer 9

Stay away from MySpace since they are censoring the truth.

If you have to blog, do it anonymously and do not accept friends

the following made me unhappy and mad at the same time

US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ARREST BLOGGERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbn90lsum...

Answer 10

i don't think it is censorship,but we are pandering too much to people we shouldn't be.such as gays,and other such types allowing so called marriages that are not real marriages in the true sense of the word.ie(a man and a woman)which is what it is mean't to be.