I keep thinking about the "too politically correct" thing and I'm not sure it really makes that much sense. If it's OK for somebody to say that a race or a minority are inferior, why isn't it OK to call them inferior in the exact same way? If one doesn't think they owe equal respect to others, why should they expect any respect to be given to them at all?
Because what does "society is becoming too politically correct" really mean? That most people are not willing to accept one's ideas and that is also and important part of free speech.
I find it quite amusing that the same racists that are calling other people snowflakes are willing to play the victim for political correctness which is nothing more than wide-spread disagreement with their ideas. If one is saying FU to a race or a minority, they shouldn't be surprised when the majority of people return the FU right to their faces. And I don't think they have any claim to victimhood in this case.
In the way I was describing political correctness, I feel that society has reached a point where they are allowing themselves to be vicitmized by small groups of individuals simply to try to not offending these small groups of individuals.
Rather than suggesting that a group stands up and acts in a positive way for the group, instead of that group standing up and claiming to be a victim, society is letting the group claim to be a victim and nothing changes.
Pulling yourself out of any situation is always going to be more successful than saying "Hey, look at me. feel sorry for me because of my situation. Now you have o help me get out of it because I've been placed here by the big bad man." Granted, some people need a little push, or a bit of support to get out of really rough spots, but after that LITTLE push, you have to prove that you can do the rest on your own in this world.
You can't continue to play the victim card and expect other people to do everything for you. Everyone is fighting some sort of battle; just because you don't know what it is doesn't make your battle more important than theirs.
In my opinion speaking out against political correctness in a way puts you in a bit of a vicious circle. Political correctness is criticizing speech. What you are saying is criticizing speech too. If you are OK to criticize it, it should be OK for other to engage in it as it is essentially the same thing - criticizing somebody else's speech which is indeed speech and should be something people are free to do.
Free speech is not about having zero consequences, it's about you having the right to say what you want. But others are also free to react as badly to it as they feel appropriate as long as they don't somehow violate your rights doing so. You certainly don't have the right not to be disagreed with.
Additionally, I think you are wrong while rationalizing where does the political correctness thing stem from for most people. When people are reacting negatively to racism or homophobia and are deeming it offensive, they are not doing so because they thing something should be given to somebody else for free - people are speaking out because they disagree with your assessment of the situation and because they think people are unjustly discriminated against. That's a very different motivation from what you are describing.
For instance, when I say that I support LGBT rights like same-sex marriage, I'm saying it because I see an inequality, not because I think people from the LGBT community deserve equal rights, not more rights than others. My attitude about this issue has nothing to do with giving somebody something that they don't deserve and/or haven't earned and has nothing to do with individuals members of that community and their actions, it's simply about seeing discrimination and speaking out against it. What is wrong with that even if you somehow disagree with my assessment?
I think the main reason many people are annoyed by "political correctness" is the fact that they don't enjoy being a target of criticism. But that's always an option for others and all you can do is try to convince them of your point of view's correctness. But to do so effectively you have to understand that they do not want to give something to somebody, they want to fight discrimination, so your main point of disagreement would be if there is reasonable equality or not and whether the particular act being criticized constitutes an act of discrimination. If you are just telling them that they want to give additional rights to some group, they will reply that they don't and the conversation will break down.
Hmm, I don't think any of my statements have directly criticized free speech. If they have, it was unintentional.
I'm going to come back to my initial statement and call it a day. I can't honestly tell if you're trying to convince me of something, or just tell me that your opinion is more correct than mine. In either case,
If you don't have the same view as me, I have every right to disagree with you. The same as you having every right to disagree with me!
Some groups who feel like they are being slighted (when in reality, they are overwhelmingly not being slighted at all) and these groups want "special rights". I don't have any sympathy for those people. Those who are truly being slighted, and in an overwhelming way, I can see an argument for ensuring a "level playing field".
However, everyone is judged by everyone else at some point. There's no way for you to fix that by complaining, or enacting laws for every little specific group. That's fixed by action, and most likely, education. If we start enacting laws for every specific group, you will start infringing on the rights of the other groups who you did not support by law. It's a slippery slope and it should not be followed.
In Conclusion: Speaking out against discrimination is not the same as "Political Correctness". Political Correctness is the act of not trying to offend anyone else because they're going to get into an uproar if you tell them that you don't like the shirt they're wearing and their immediate response is that you must not like them because you're a bigot or racist or whatever else, as opposed to the fact that you just don't like their damn shirt!
I'm saying that you are criticizing their expression which is something that falls under free speech, not that you are trying to limit their free speech. I was trying to say that that's a fair thing to do and that's what political correctness is (unless somebody is trying to write it into a law - then, it would be a low limiting free speech).
Oh, I'm just trying to share my opinion and to hear your thoughts on it. This is honestly an issue where I'm not even sure I've gotten it right which is more of a reason for me to engage in this.
Absolutely. We have zero disagreement here.
I think this is where our disagreement lies. You feel like this is common, I feel like this is marginal at best. That's what I was trying to point out in my contrived way. I think that's the point worth discussing.
Additionally, I don't think that the political correctness you are describing is that common either and I feel most of the people that speak out or even most of the people that get angry do so for valid or at least defensible reasons. Limiting free speech by law is not something you would find me advocating. We see how problematic something like this can be here in Europe where you can get sued for libel for things that I believe everyone should be free to say, even if most of us would find them outrageous or horrible.
Keeping an open dialogue (and an open mind) is always good :)
I don't disagree with you that the political correctness which I described is uncommon. However, it does seem to me that while uncommon, it gets the most media coverage and "political attention". That's probably where my greatest frustrations are rooted.
I try to do that though I don't know if I'm always as successful as I'd like to be.
I guess it gets a lot of attention because it's an easy target and an good way to paint the other side as unreasonable.