The psychology of political correctness

It's the silly categorizations.Too many liberals see the world in a very 'compartmentalized' way - actions and their motives belong to specific binary groups and there is no grey area. These compartments are very often based off of current pop-sociology 'research' (= political correctness indoctrination) and the kind of bastardizations of Karl Marx's ideas you would expect to get from a field dominated with people who 'majored in Chicano/Black/LGBT/etc. studies because they're Latino/African American/Gay/etc.' whose expertise amounts to little more than their aptitude for 'identity politics' sloganeering.This mostly stems from the 'us/other' (false) dichotomy that seems to serve as the cornerstone of most modern sociology studies. For the millions of liberals who have found themselves entranced by this worldview, perhaps after an optional college course or participation in a 'protest', this binary outlook on the world clouds their perception of people's actual motives as they attempt to view everything in these 'academic' terms.When you add to this the Multiculturalism notions of cultural and moral relativity - we're really all the same, deep down - it is not hard to see why so many liberals often misjudge people's motives by assuming everyone is just like them despite the fact that people are not all the same and motives vary from person to person and values from culture to culture. (Consider: Muslim terrorists murder people because of political/economic/etc. reasons and not for their god. This nonsense gets thrown around repeatedly, even when we as a society are inundated with actual statements from actual terrorists who describe their motives very clearly to be religious in nature.)Reality is shut out and conformity to theories is all that matters. Bingo. I think you understand what is going on, even if you can't put your finger on it.Consider when I recently asked for evidence that seas would rise to outrageous levels. I was outright attacked. Referred to off-handedly as a 'denier'. Or when I questioned the efficacy of BLM and, despite repeatedly declaring my motives to be understanding the best way to improve the lives of African Americans, was shouted down as a racist.The sociologist's false dichotomies completely unrelated to reality can only be maintained through great effort of ignorance, denial, and forced conformance. And that last one is very important, because it is PC in a nutshell (consider the historical meaning of the word): Anyone who questions the prevailing political stance, even just to understand it, is against it and immoral; dismissed as a monster, lunatic, or both. I have heard this referred to as something like the 'villainization of dissent'. Hyroglyphx mentions it in his post upthread. But it is really just political correctness taken to the technical levels of the term's meaning.And this violent dismissal of contrary opinions is not just silly, but it's toxic in terms of maintaining open communication and meaningful discussion. But closing one's mind to the world is the only way to maintain the false worldviews that underpin the majority of the political and academic left's ideologies. Everything they believe is at stake, and that tends to bring out the worst in people.Now the sad part: I consider myself liberal, and so this behavior really troubles me. It impedes good conversation and exists only to keep people in step with the party line. Worse, it prevents us from solving real problems, helping people, and moving the world forward, which should be the ultimate motives of any good liberal - not the tired attempts to 'spot the bigot' or strip everyone of their unique characteristics to fit them into bad molds. To an extent, yes, but I think it comes down to this: Instead of trying to fit everything into academic stereotypes like 'class struggles' and 'identity politics' or write everyone off who disagrees with you as immoral and unworthy, folks on the right might be more likely to base their opinions of others on their actions or words, and so are better able to define and understand those actions and words.Liberals, on the other hand, in trying to fit everything into their false categories, misjudge everyone - including other liberals. This probably comes from the fact that many on the right lack the indoctrination in political leftism that often results from obtaining a four-year college degree in America. They simply don't have as many of the tools that allow liberals to misjudge others and so naturally misjudge people at a lower rate.

For an example of the kind of thing folks have been talking about here, check out this post by Theodoric.Though Faith asks a perfectly legitimate question in a perfectly academic fashion, Theodoric responds with a typical pathetic Left round of 'spot the bigot' to avoid addressing the question by trying to paint Faith as a bigot for daring to ask it so as to declare himself the winner on some trumped up 'moral superiority' grounds because he would never even think of asking such a thing, the good little Leftist PC soldier he is.Is this any different than the attitudes in many fundamentalist churches, where even innocent questions are punished merely because they are questions?This is the kind of horribly destructive and unproductive behavior I was talking about in my posts, and I think others mentioned as well.

I didn't say any of this. I don't think people should be criticized for asking questions, no matter what the questions.But the 'declare your opponent a bigot and count yourself a winner without addressing any of the content' is pretty much SOP for Liberal PC behavior.Conservatives don't typically do this, instead having their own methods for silencing opposition and relieving themselves of the responsibility of offering thoughtful responses. I don't know what you want to call that, but I don't think many would call it Political Correctness.And I did see several members pile on Theo for this, which gives me some hope for liberalism. He hasn't backed down, though, which gives me little hope for Theo.

It's an example of the topic.You're reading too much into my post and missing that I was just providing an example of the kind of 'PC behavior' we've been talking about. And that's good of you.The point is, when Liberals do this, it's called PC. I don't know what it's called when conservatives do it, but conservatives do do it too.

Call someone a 'bigot'?Not that I'm aware of, no.

Why would I address any of the content? This thread isn't the place to discuss gay speech patterns.I was offering an example of the behavior that has been discussed in this thread.

Why would it seem suspicious?We have a term for when Liberals ignore the issues/people/questions and just focus on spotting bigotry, etc.: Political Correctness.Conservatives engage in similar behaviors but aren't as concerned with spotting bigots; they might be more likely to dismiss someone as a 'socialist' or something like that. But I don't know what it's called when Conservatives do this.Perhaps we can call it 'kids being kids'.

You're a bore, Nukes.And a dangerous one at that, with your pitiful concepts such as 'unacceptable' speech.You are just another example of the pathetic political Left.Edited by Jon, : No reason given.

Technically true, except I think the overwhelming majority of people associate the P in PC with the politics of the Left, so much so that it would be potentially misleading to use the term to describe Conservative behavior.ABE: At least this is my observation based on a life surrounded by U.S. politics. Maybe it's different elsewhere.Edited by Jon, : No reason given.

What is the 'content' you want addressed, Percy?Please be specific.

Please point out where I said this was 'something conservatives don't do'.

I see.You got to your misunderstanding by taking what I said out of context. Let me put the context back in and help clear up your confusion.The relevant portion of the message reads:

quote:

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Jon in Message 182:

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But the 'declare your opponent a bigot and count yourself a winner without addressing any of the content' is pretty much SOP for Liberal PC behavior.

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Conservatives don't typically do this, instead having their own methods for silencing opposition and relieving themselves of the responsibility of offering thoughtful responses. I don't know what you want to call that, but I don't think many would call it Political Correctness.

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I thought it was pretty obvious that 'do this' was in reference to declaring people bigots, and that I stated unambiguously that I believe conservatives also sidestep addressing the content when I said they have 'their own methods for silencing opposition and relieving themselves of the responsibility of offering thoughtful responses'.And if this wasn't clear, it should be now.

Most Americans are Christians.Edited by Jon, : No reason given.

People who consistently misinterpret everything they hear should just be ignored.Nobody should feel obligated to couch everything they say in special terms just so a bunch of nincompoops don't 'take it the wrong way'.