Stand up comedian on Political correctness.

 

I shared a video of a stand up comedian talking about political correctness. It got lots of “likes”, but it also got a few dissenting comments about disenfranchising people. I saw this vid as a joke, but not everyone found it funny. Some saw it as being pro-discrimination, or at least perpetuating stereotypes. I saw the video making a statement about people lacking resilience, being thin skinned, and the modern day situation where just about everything you say is bound to offend someone out there.

 

Definitions of PC

 

Merriam-Webster:

agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people

 

urbandictionary.com

A way that we speak in America so we don’t offend whining pussies.

Only pathetically weak people that don’t have the balls to say what they feel and mean are politically correct pussies.

 

Wikipedia

a term which, in modern usage, is used to describe language, policies, or measures which are intended not to offend or disadvantage any particular group of people in society. In the media, the term is generally used as a pejorative, implying that these policies are excessive.

 

The concept of PC is interpreted differently by different people.

After a bit of investigation, it seems that on average conservatives view PC as people being overly sensitive and thin skinned. Liberals see PC as preventing the perpetuation of stereotypes and discrimination.

I believe there is a middle ground to be found. We can treat people with dignity and respect. And those who are so easily offended can suck it up cupcake, the world don’t revolve around you. The issue of people being easily offended will be discussed as a separate topic because it’s worth a podcast of it’s own.

A couple quick examples of mind mentions of people being coddled too much:

http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/15/even-obama-is-annoyed-by-whiny-college-students/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

Here is a list of PC words: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_politically_correct_terms

I included these words as an example of how PC can get silly. Snowperson, really?

Political correctness could be discussed as a single topic for an entire podcast or series of podcasts, but today’s focus is on perspective.

Another example of different interpretations is the rebel flag, the southern civil war battle flag. Some see it as a symbol for slavery and oppression. Others see it as a piece of history, a symbol of rebellion, an icon of the south. It is popular with country music and country like southern folk. I have seen kids drive around with the flag in the back window of their pickup. For the most part I saw southern kids view the flag as a symbol of “rebellion”. Kids rebel against whatever generation of adult authority there happens to be when they are coming into their own. Back in the day it was James Dean in a leather jacket on a motorcycle. However I can understand how some people can associate the flag with slavery, something that is understandably offensive. So we have 2 groups who see the same object (a flag) and interpret it completely differently.

Confirmation bias is what causes us to form an opinion based on already existing beliefs. We will discount information that disagrees with what we already know and give more credibility to information that agrees with our existing beliefs. An example of confirmation bias is when we see the news, we watch it with the filter of all the experiences we had in our lifetime.

Cognitive dissonance is the inability to hold opposing viewpoints concurrently. We can’t believe that fire is both good and bad. It has to be one or the other. If we take into consideration nuanced points, then we can begin to see that there are shades of grey rather than seeing everything as