PC thinking 'is harming society'
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PC thinking 'is harming society'
Britain's institutions are infected with political correctness which is damaging society, according to a book published by a right wing think-tank.
Civitas says political correctness has allowed the creation of "Muslim ghettos" which produce suicide bombers.
PC thinking now dominates schools, councils and the media, Anthony Browne says in The Retreat of Reason.
BBC home affairs correspondent Rory MacLean said the book's claims were unlikely to go unchallenged.
Mr Browne, a journalist for the Times, said PC views labelled some groups as victims, and banned dissent.
"It [political correctness] has now become a hindrance to social progress, and a threat to society," Mr Browne said.
"By closing down debates, it restricts the ability of society to tackle the problems that face it."
Relying on an argument's emotional appeal, and labelling one group as "victims" while others were "oppressors", political correctness had made some arguments almost impossible to refute, Mr Browne said.
'Moral cowardice'
Mr Browne said "soft totalitarianism" had led to "moral cowardice" and "intellectual dishonesty".
Political correctness once prevented overt discrimination but now "causes more harm than good", he said.
It caused censorship as some views were being suppressed simply because they caused offence or aroused emotions such as hatred, he said.
He said it had affected crime, education and community relations.
Terror impact
"The most overt racism, sexism and homophobia in Britain is now among the weakest groups, in ethnic minority communities, because their views are rarely challenged, as challenging them equates to oppressing them," Mr Browne added.
Mr Browne said terrorism and the economic rise of India and China could see the end of political correctness.
As Western democracies felt more vulnerable, their inhabitants would be "more hard-headed about the real benefits and drawbacks of Western civilisation", he said.
"The West will no longer feel inclined to indulge in self-loathing, but will seek to reaffirm its sense of identity."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4576528.stm
Britain's institutions are infected with political correctness which is damaging society, according to a book published by a right wing think-tank.
Civitas says political correctness has allowed the creation of "Muslim ghettos" which produce suicide bombers.
PC thinking now dominates schools, councils and the media, Anthony Browne says in The Retreat of Reason.
BBC home affairs correspondent Rory MacLean said the book's claims were unlikely to go unchallenged.
Mr Browne, a journalist for the Times, said PC views labelled some groups as victims, and banned dissent.
"It [political correctness] has now become a hindrance to social progress, and a threat to society," Mr Browne said.
"By closing down debates, it restricts the ability of society to tackle the problems that face it."
Relying on an argument's emotional appeal, and labelling one group as "victims" while others were "oppressors", political correctness had made some arguments almost impossible to refute, Mr Browne said.
'Moral cowardice'
Mr Browne said "soft totalitarianism" had led to "moral cowardice" and "intellectual dishonesty".
Political correctness once prevented overt discrimination but now "causes more harm than good", he said.
It caused censorship as some views were being suppressed simply because they caused offence or aroused emotions such as hatred, he said.
He said it had affected crime, education and community relations.
Terror impact
"The most overt racism, sexism and homophobia in Britain is now among the weakest groups, in ethnic minority communities, because their views are rarely challenged, as challenging them equates to oppressing them," Mr Browne added.
Mr Browne said terrorism and the economic rise of India and China could see the end of political correctness.
As Western democracies felt more vulnerable, their inhabitants would be "more hard-headed about the real benefits and drawbacks of Western civilisation", he said.
"The West will no longer feel inclined to indulge in self-loathing, but will seek to reaffirm its sense of identity."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4576528.stm
Maybe the government should stop spoon feeding us fear then. I mean what is this article realy trying to say? Seems to me that this is just the usual push before the shove.
There is only one group of people telling us to be afraid or cautious and they are the ones who wrote this article.
This is nothing new is it? so you have to ask why they bring it up on the day most will be returning to work.
Just the usual double edged sword with hidden meanings. Blah blah.
There is only one group of people telling us to be afraid or cautious and they are the ones who wrote this article.
This is nothing new is it? so you have to ask why they bring it up on the day most will be returning to work.
Just the usual double edged sword with hidden meanings. Blah blah.
About f
g time!! People have been saying this for YEARS! What makes this bloke different? I think it all started in the days of the GLC and the loony left with the Camdon? Council. We should have ignored this rubbish and just used our common sense. It is always used to quell an argument, with "you can't say that".
i blame the "mercans" personally!
I watched some movie the other night "the human stain" with Tony Hopkins in it, all about how political correctness and that crapola!
I like where i work, no PCness at all, were totally racist to each other, pull no punches or anything, yet we all get along, funny that eh!
I watched some movie the other night "the human stain" with Tony Hopkins in it, all about how political correctness and that crapola!
I like where i work, no PCness at all, were totally racist to each other, pull no punches or anything, yet we all get along, funny that eh!
More detail is given in some of the newspapers.
What they are saying does have some credibility - essentially that debate is stifled by promoting politically correct views and as a result anyone attempting to state facts, however unpleasant they are, are pilloried.
The current political class also use political correctness to stifle debate in areas which they don't want the actual seriousness of the situation to become apparent or to prevent embarrassment as policies /initiatives backfire.
For example does anyone remember the outcry when a previous Commissioner of the Met stated that most petty street crime in London was committed by black youths. An accurate fact at the time but he was attacked by media and government for being racist.
Another relates to the dramatic rise in HIV cases in the UK which the Gov and Gov friendly media imply is due to increased promiscuity in the young population. But the truth is that it is mostly due to immigration and the high numbers entering this country with HIV and getting diagnosed and treated.
Political correctness just hides the true facts and without facts and debate proper solutions that work are unlikely to be forthcoming.
All IMHO of course !
What they are saying does have some credibility - essentially that debate is stifled by promoting politically correct views and as a result anyone attempting to state facts, however unpleasant they are, are pilloried.
The current political class also use political correctness to stifle debate in areas which they don't want the actual seriousness of the situation to become apparent or to prevent embarrassment as policies /initiatives backfire.
For example does anyone remember the outcry when a previous Commissioner of the Met stated that most petty street crime in London was committed by black youths. An accurate fact at the time but he was attacked by media and government for being racist.
Another relates to the dramatic rise in HIV cases in the UK which the Gov and Gov friendly media imply is due to increased promiscuity in the young population. But the truth is that it is mostly due to immigration and the high numbers entering this country with HIV and getting diagnosed and treated.
Political correctness just hides the true facts and without facts and debate proper solutions that work are unlikely to be forthcoming.
All IMHO of course !
When facts "must" be overlooked because they are not "politically correct" then this is a form of insanity.
It wasn't politically correct to believe that Jews were being loaded into trains and taken off into the country to be gassed to death. The PC view of the time was that they were off to do some "work" of some kind.
Now I'm making a point with an emotive argument, I accept. And it could be said that the population of Europe at the time was being duped into, rather than being complicit in having, these PC views. Nonetheless I think it stands.
It also appears to be PC to believe that Chicken comes in clingfilm from Sainsburys.
When we can delude ourselves that something is true or is not true, despite the facts, then this is when PC thinking becomes dangerous...and may yet prove deadly.
It wasn't politically correct to believe that Jews were being loaded into trains and taken off into the country to be gassed to death. The PC view of the time was that they were off to do some "work" of some kind.
Now I'm making a point with an emotive argument, I accept. And it could be said that the population of Europe at the time was being duped into, rather than being complicit in having, these PC views. Nonetheless I think it stands.
It also appears to be PC to believe that Chicken comes in clingfilm from Sainsburys.
When we can delude ourselves that something is true or is not true, despite the facts, then this is when PC thinking becomes dangerous...and may yet prove deadly.
Egbert Nobacon said:
Political correctness just hides the true facts and without facts and debate proper solutions that work are unlikely to be forthcoming.
There is no difference between that and the fabricated facts and statistics of totalitarian regimes.
Political Correctness is the enemy of reason and freedom. It is a poison destroying western society.
I don't think this is news at all - but the more people that say it the better.
A couple of years ago an eminent sociologist wrote a book claiming that the biggest threat society faced was "A fast breeding degenerate underclass". Needless to say he was villified by the PC brigade.
Of course he was right also, but that seems to be irrelevant.
A couple of years ago an eminent sociologist wrote a book claiming that the biggest threat society faced was "A fast breeding degenerate underclass". Needless to say he was villified by the PC brigade.
Of course he was right also, but that seems to be irrelevant.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Totally agree with the first bit; as far as warnings of an "underclass" in British society, I can remember reading an article in the Sunday times magazine about 15 years ago, written by a prominent American sociologist whose name I've forgotten (and I never bothered to buy the book
) who predicted the rise of the chav generation in UK, just as it had happened in the USA. I think it was this author who coined the term "underclass". The article wasn't attacked at the time, but things have changed now! The author of this current report was on 5Live this morning, and gave a good account of himself, despite not being allowed to debate the wider issues he has written about - only the racialist aspect was discussed with the leader of the Muslim Coucil of GB - who focussed on using the word "ghetto" as an incorrect term to describe the areas of towns with high ethnic poulations of one sort or another. But surely that term has been in use for years for exactly that purpose? Or should Elvis be called a racist for singing about black ghettos?
Hopefully this will stimulate a much more open debate on the destruction of freedom of speech. It's about time!
Couldn't agree more: the whole of society is now being ruled by the need not to upset anybody.
There have been many recent examples of taking political (with a small p) correctness just too far.
The police force who advertised for new recruits, got 169 applications but employed none of them because none of the applicants were black - em sorry "of ethnic origin". So in a bid to be seen to eradicate discrimination, they discriminate agains (potentially) 169 perfectly satisfactory candidates? How is that sensible? Does that help to eradicate racial mistrust? I would argue that it doesn't - it promotes resentment and discrimination.
George W Bush was told he couldn't send Christmas cards, for fear of offending non-christians. He had to send "happy holiday" cards, without mentioning why the holiday exists. Does that help to merge society into a single brotherhood? If it does, then it's a faceless boring society of non-individual morons with no original thought or action and it can right off as far as I'm concerned.
I was involved in voluntary work with kids, and we were told that if one of them accidentally grazed his knee, for example, you could say "Aw shame there there there" but you couldn't put a plaster on because that was defined as "treatment" and we weren't trained to do "treatment" and if the wee lad's leg fell off in 20 years' time you might be held liable. I can see some sense in that, but at the same time it leads you to wrap kids in cotton wool, not stretch their abilities, exercise them, or show them new things. No, it teaches them to play safe, to take no risks, and be ready to sue at the first opportunity, and perpetuates the madness.
PC takes us all to hell in a handcart - and the point is that it's rarely the "ethnic minorities" or the kids who are offended, more often than not it's some shiny-trousered muppet sitting in a local authority whose job is to look for these things, and if he doesn't find enough then his job might not exist next year - he has to show there is a problem.
I was reading recently that "PC" began in the post-war Soviet Union, where support for the Party was everything, and any dissention "discouraged" - so various Orwellian terms were invented to ensure that no offence was caused. Over 50 years it has spread almost universally, to what we have today. Who in government is going to stand against it? It has become so "inbred" that surely a dissenter would be committing political suicide.
"We're all doomed... doomed!"
There have been many recent examples of taking political (with a small p) correctness just too far.
The police force who advertised for new recruits, got 169 applications but employed none of them because none of the applicants were black - em sorry "of ethnic origin". So in a bid to be seen to eradicate discrimination, they discriminate agains (potentially) 169 perfectly satisfactory candidates? How is that sensible? Does that help to eradicate racial mistrust? I would argue that it doesn't - it promotes resentment and discrimination.
George W Bush was told he couldn't send Christmas cards, for fear of offending non-christians. He had to send "happy holiday" cards, without mentioning why the holiday exists. Does that help to merge society into a single brotherhood? If it does, then it's a faceless boring society of non-individual morons with no original thought or action and it can
right off as far as I'm concerned. I was involved in voluntary work with kids, and we were told that if one of them accidentally grazed his knee, for example, you could say "Aw shame there there there" but you couldn't put a plaster on because that was defined as "treatment" and we weren't trained to do "treatment" and if the wee lad's leg fell off in 20 years' time you might be held liable. I can see some sense in that, but at the same time it leads you to wrap kids in cotton wool, not stretch their abilities, exercise them, or show them new things. No, it teaches them to play safe, to take no risks, and be ready to sue at the first opportunity, and perpetuates the madness.
PC takes us all to hell in a handcart - and the point is that it's rarely the "ethnic minorities" or the kids who are offended, more often than not it's some shiny-trousered muppet sitting in a local authority whose job is to look for these things, and if he doesn't find enough then his job might not exist next year - he has to show there is a problem.
I was reading recently that "PC" began in the post-war Soviet Union, where support for the Party was everything, and any dissention "discouraged" - so various Orwellian terms were invented to ensure that no offence was caused. Over 50 years it has spread almost universally, to what we have today. Who in government is going to stand against it? It has become so "inbred" that surely a dissenter would be committing political suicide.
"We're all doomed... doomed!"
Anyone hear the discussion on Radio 4's Today programme this morning between a guy saying PC was unhealthy and stifled discussion and a hysterical liberterian lady who seemed intent on shouting down a reasoned argument.........I didn't need convincing in the first place but she just reinforced the argument so well......
Cheers,
Tony
Cheers,
Tony
We reached a stage now when teachers are not allowed to say blackboard anymore, the term black has been replaced by the patronising "coloured",and the word failure has been changed to "deferred success" at school.You can't express an opinion these days without being labelled, left wing , right wing , middle wing or homophobe.
Xmas in a predominatly Christian society has taken the back seat in favour of political correctness by a bunch of elitist/out of touch retards who are doing more harm than good to race relations in our society, and to top it all, sometimes I feel I am the only "straight" in the village! when politicians spend more time ignoring fading family values and engaging on more pressing needs of allocating more funds to groups here and there so as to appear en vogue.
Xmas in a predominatly Christian society has taken the back seat in favour of political correctness by a bunch of elitist/out of touch retards who are doing more harm than good to race relations in our society, and to top it all, sometimes I feel I am the only "straight" in the village! when politicians spend more time ignoring fading family values and engaging on more pressing needs of allocating more funds to groups here and there so as to appear en vogue.
apache said:Yes I've heard that one, it's sometimes referred to as a chalkboard now but blackboards are mostly obsolete anyway, though they're banned in Personchester and Svaginahorpe
We reached a stage now when teachers are not allowed to say blackboard anymore, the term black has been replaced by the patronising "coloured"
you can't be serious! who is insulted by calling a blackboard black?
apache said:
We reached a stage now when teachers are not allowed to say blackboard anymore, the term black has been replaced by the patronising "coloured"
you can't be serious! who is insulted by calling a blackboard black?
You tell me mate! Some customers of mine who are teachers confirmed this rule.
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