Politically Incorrect

Posted by $ MikeMarotta 7 years, 5 months ago to Humor
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BTW, meeting with a government staffer in equal rights for a job interview, I identified a certain phrase as "politically incorrect." I was told not to use "that phrase", i.e., it is it politically incorrect to identify a statement as politically incorrect. Political correctness has fallen on hard times. It is one thing not to name a sin (like homosexuality which previously dared not speak its own name). Now we cannot even identify apparent virtues.

Q: What is the politically correct term for someone with a handicap?
A: There is none because political correctness is politically incorrect, or would be, if we could call it that.

(OldUglyCarl's link to "Drain the Swamp" inspired this. You can't make this stuff up...)


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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 4 months ago
    Me dino sez "politically correct" and "politically incorrect" are fabrications of reality.
    Such fabrications of reality can be applied to the la-la land of unicorns lib heart that is used for a brain, but that only applies to misled well-meaning libs such as one of my four brothers, the poor thing.
    Then there are the end justifies the means fascist libtards who think less with their hearts and more with their control freak butts.
    Yeah, like the Jackass Party ain't above quite often showing off their commie collective anal orifices.
    That goes for that (save for up until now for hee-haw vote recounting) almost totally ignored Green Party too.
    Me dino has spoken.
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  • Posted by $ 7 years, 5 months ago
    We have an equal and opposite problem with "capitalism." Ayn Rand called it "the unknown ideal" but many libertarians stretch for phrases such as "personal enterprise" or "open market" rather than the love of money that dares not speak its own name.
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    • Posted by freedomforall 7 years, 5 months ago
      Money is a tool, not a goal.
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      • Posted by $ 7 years, 4 months ago
        I understand the point: pursuing money for its own sake is not balanced or healthy; it's an obsession. That said, it is important to step back and consider that we all have toolboxes. I have four: one for the car; one with just mostly screwdrivers; one with just mostly wrenches; and one for electronics and small work. Nothing like a good tool...

        So, too, with money. It comes in many forms and each one serves a purpose.

        Following the advice of my co-workers, I bought a Benchmade knife. I learned a lot about knives. Long, long ago, the Whole Earth Catalog ("Access to Tools") taught that in an earlier day, a mechanic was hired on the basis of the tools he made for himself.

        Have you ever made your own money? I have. Several times.

        (Interesting topic... I think this bears discussion...)
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      • Posted by mminnick 7 years, 4 months ago
        To some it is a goal. They want more and more but have no plan to use it for anything,. Not a tool , just something to be held and worshiped.
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        • Posted by $ CBJ 7 years, 4 months ago
          Years ago as I was passing by a panhandler, he asked, "Do you worship God or money?" I replied "neither" and walked on. Looking back, I wonder if that was his standard opening line and what kind of responses he typically received from those passing by.
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          • Posted by $ 7 years, 4 months ago
            God invented money, the same way that He invented geometry: it is the fabric of the universe.
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            • Posted by JohnConnor352 7 years, 4 months ago
              God did not invent money, geometry, people, or a single speck of dust. He doesn't exist. If he did, and you followed his judeo Christian iteration as I suppose you do from your other comments, then you would only be able to come to the conclusion that selfishness and capitalism are anti-God. As has been discussed many times, Christianity is incompatible with capitalism because it advocates altruism as its moral ideal, not rational selfishness, which is the philosophical basis for capitalism.

              But that is not the main point I wanted to make, not why I wanted to comment on this thread to begin with.

              What do you mean by equating homosexuality with sin? By what rational thought process did you come to this conclusion?
              Was your comment "which previously dared not speak its name" a lament for a time when gay men and women feared to come out of the closet?
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              • Posted by $ 7 years, 4 months ago
                You are making a mountain out of a molehill. You are also jumping in to a discussion that did not involve you. My reply was to CBJ who was asked, "Do you worship God or money?" If God created the universe - apparently the assumption of the panhandler - then he created money, also. It was a quip. Don't read too much into it.

                (But I do believe that like the universality of geometry, economics is a study that applies to any sentient being, regardless of species.)

                Similarly, as you can read in the comments, "capitalism" has a bad reputation. So, does "selfishness." But, socially, we all seem to have gotten over the stigma of people self-identifying as homosexual. If we who are selfish capitalists refuse to cower in the face of social disapproval, we might make similar progress.

                I have always made enough money, but never much more. I am just not greedy enough. I once went to a counselor to see if I could find out why and maybe change. We hit a roadblock right away because the therapist did not like the word "greedy" or see why anyone would want to be materialistic. ... though she did still charge me for a full session, ironically enough...
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                • Posted by JohnConnor352 7 years, 4 months ago
                  I appreciate the clarification, and I see where I misinterpreted your statement. I agree with your sentiment.
                  However, you are posting in a public forum, so you should expect some interjection from people who were not involved in the original discussion. :-)
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              • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 4 months ago
                You miss the point. I get the distaste for mystical simpletism (just invented that word...I'm a word god...laughing).
                However existence came to be, your existence and the existence of money, geometry, capitalism or anything else was a result of that process. That at the lowest common denominator is what the pagan mystics call "god". Again, you have to understand the meme and the brain set of the times.

                As far as 'homosexuality' going against all rational behaviors...Besides biology, just think of North attracting south or positive flowing to negative...this process creates electricity and magnetism...without which existence could not exist...it's quantum physical. If we call the implications of this an image to reflect, then why would someone choose to ignore the very process that brought about existence.
                It's really not that complicated.

                Again, I too, detest the pagan, mystical, mindless expression of these things...it's embarrassing...but then again, mankind thought differently during those times, and 2000 years from now...we might think the same of us in these times.
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                • Posted by JohnConnor352 7 years, 4 months ago
                  Just because you can find examples of opposites attracting in physics does not mean it is either "unnatural" or most especially unethical for two humans of the same sex to be attracted to one another. Human beings and the human mind and heart are not magnets and are not bound solely by the laws of magnetism. To use that particular line of logic as the sole reason for determining the ethics of homosexuality would be like using the laws of thermodynamics to determine the best strategy for winning poker, or claiming that because the earth is round, therefore all things must also be round, or that since a water molecule has three atoms and it is essential to human life, then all molecules that have three atoms must be good for humans (Carbon dioxide). This is an example of what Rand liked to call context dropping.
                  I can give a much more relevant answer in the realm of human behavior, which is the actual topic we are discussing. You are on this forum instead of a forum for the Green Party because you are more similar in thought to the people on this website than on a Jill Stein fan page, correct? So would that disprove that opposites attract in human behavior? No, it doesn't. There are far too may factors to take in, including what types of attraction we are talking about, and what types of characteristics we consider to be relevant in determining who is alike and who is opposite. I hope this reveals some of the oversimplification and fallacy of your point.

                  Now, to counter some common points I have heard made against homosexuality in anticipation of you dredging them up:

                  1) Procreation: Human nature is to have children, and two men can't have a baby, and neither can two women, so the same sex getting married or having intercourse is anti-nature.
                  -This is wrong in its most basic assumption: human nature is to procreate. While this may be part of our physical bodies, the desire to reproduce, not all people feel this desire equally (do you have 19 children?), and not all people are physically capable of it. Do either of these characteristics make them less ethical of a human being? If someone has no desire to ever have a child, does that make them a bad human? Is a woman who sacrifices her own health, happiness, and future to have 15+ children under the command of her religion a better human being? I know your answer to these is "no," so therefore the level of morality and ethics of a human is not related to procreation. Therefore, homosexuality cannot be considered unethical based on procreation alone. Humans are not breeding stock.

                  2) Children: Kids need two parents of opposite sex to raise them properly, therefore a same-sex couple is immoral. Think of the children!
                  -Adults who do not have children do not need to sacrifice their own happiness under the guise of "for the children." If we wish to discuss gay adoption, etc then that can be a separate thread, and I will contribute to that as well. But the point here is that you cannot paint one person as unethical because of the possible implications in the future to people that are unrelated to them. As Rand is famous for saying: A potential is not the same as an actual.

                  Can't think of any more off the top of my head right now, but go ahead and suggest some if you wish.
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                  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 4 months ago
                    I was pointing out "Where" the idea that this is un-natural came from, never mind the biological issue. I can see where this behavior, taken too far, may have psychological and quantum consequences...emphases on the "may", for now. It's not about all things that oppose.


                    I get the harm that the "organization", (religion), has done to the philosophy of how thing are or should be... judged by introspection of behaviors of the past and present.
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                    • Posted by JohnConnor352 7 years, 4 months ago
                      Thanks for the clarification Carl.

                      My question originally, though, was not out of genuine curiosity but a challenge to MikeMarotta to support his claims. He has not done so. I am glad you engaged, though. It gave me a chance to vent a little. :-)
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 7 years, 4 months ago
      I wonder if it's because -ism and -ist sometimes mean abuse of the thing: e.g. Islamism, racism, alcoholism.

      I could see how it could sound like capital is the means of production and capitalism is abusing the means of production by having them privately owned. I obviously don't advocate changing the language in favor of euphony as in 1984, but I personally like the sound of "free enterprise" better than "capitalism".

      My favorite PCism along this vein is calling privatization "personalization", which sounds much cozier.
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      • Posted by $ CBJ 7 years, 4 months ago
        The phrase "free market" carries much less baggage than the word "capitalism", which has been degraded by its avowed enemies and alleged friends alike. I never use the word "capitalism" as an ideological term when discussing economics or politics.
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        • Posted by $ 7 years, 4 months ago
          I agree that many other labels carry the same meaning (generally) and also bring forward a "nicer" nuance. "Personal enterprise" is easy to propose and hard to oppose. I don't like "free market" (though I do use "free enterprise") because "free"
          can mean "no cost" which is confusing in the "market" sense. I prefer "open market.

          The thing with baggage though - capitalism and selfishness in particular - is that it certainly opens the door to discussion as you and your interlocutors "take out" and "inspect" each "item" in the baggage.
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          • Posted by $ CBJ 7 years, 4 months ago
            I agree that the two terms generate more interesting discussions, but they are less effective tools of persuasion than the alternatives.
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        • Posted by mccannon01 7 years, 4 months ago
          Screw the "avowed enemies"! I call myself a capitalist and am proud of it, even if it does raise a few eyebrows in these PC times. I may not be a super producer like Hank, Dagny, or Howard, but I can identify very well with producers like Howard's electrician in "The Fountainhead" or that train techie that let Dagny take the truck in "Atlas Shrugged".
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      • Posted by ScaryBlackRifle 7 years, 4 months ago
        I always thought of "personalization" as having your initials engraved on something or getting one custom made to fit your physiology. Like a blouse with darts made to fit a particular woman.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 4 months ago
    Naming what's not to be named is not to be named?That's funny. Also, that's sad. When satire is taken seriously, you know that the subject of the satire has moved into the dangerous realm of the doublespeak so prevalent in totalitarianism.
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  • Posted by term2 7 years, 4 months ago
    As far as I am concerned, there is nothing that should NOT be said if its what you are really thinking and if the saying of it serves some purpose that you identify and are OK with.

    Personally, I dont really think of "handicapped" as needing some label. People are all different actually, with varying degrees of abilities relative to other people. Some people cant remember well, and others cant get around without a cane. Some people are smarter than others. Whats the sense in labeling people then.
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    • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 4 months ago
      So you're fine with a volleyball player with only one arm?
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      • Posted by term2 7 years, 4 months ago
        wouldnt be as good as one with two arms if the goal is to win at volleyball. Obama seems to have half a brain when it comes to performing as president. Maybe we should call him handicapped?
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        • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 4 months ago
          The goal should always be to win...
          As to Obama, he's smart enough to have done tremendous damage to the country, which was his stated goal. He has been quite clear about his hatred for America in his book; he has not been hiding it. His one big mistake, perhaps in retrospect, is that executive orders can be easily undone. But he was counting on Hillary continuing the damage, so that the executive orders would have been deeply ingrained. The "handicapped" was not him, but the American nation for electing and re-electing an open hater of the US - basically, a terrorist.
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  • Posted by Eyecu2 7 years, 4 months ago
    I once heard the term " Politically Correct" defined as trying to pick-up a turd by the clean end. It made a strong impression and I have often used it since.
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  • Posted by chad 7 years, 4 months ago
    Language, as any tool, needs to sharp, to the point and mean exactly what it means. The fact that someone is something; i.e. handicapped, dwarf, Caucasian, does not infer anything other than what has been described. The term used to be crippled, then it became handicapped, then mobility challenged and so on. However you describe a condition, person, or attitude does not change the attitude and confuses the language and the ability to communicate. If you point out that I am short, I am. The statement partially identifies me, it doesn't hurt me. If it does hurt someone it is because you are immature and assuming that someone is trying to hurt you emotionally. GET OVER IT.
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    • Posted by ScaryBlackRifle 7 years, 4 months ago
      Now it's "differently enabled" in order to keep things positive but still point out that someone is a paraplegic retard who won't be able to find the boys room without some help.

      Every time.
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  • Posted by DrZarkov99 7 years, 4 months ago
    Handicapped was replaced with disabled, until someone objected to that as having negative connotations, so now the acceptable term is "differently abled." Don't wait too long, though, as I'm sure someone will object to this new term as being too separatist. Hopefully, with our President to be, a lot of this idiocy will subside, or at least become less important.

    I have no doubt that if Clinton had become the President, and dragged enough down ticket people to gain control of the Senate, we would soon find the use of politically incorrect terms being declared "hate speech," and a federal felony. I look forward to the demise of such terms as "microaggression" and "cultural appropriation."
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    • Posted by term2 7 years, 4 months ago
      I would categorize Obama is disabled, in that his brain doesnt work well enough to see that socialism doesnt work. In his case, HE has disabled his own brain.
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