overly politically correct people

[incrustwetrust]

i agree with a lot of the statements made here, but i definitley do not think its fair to cast these judgements on activists in general. there are good people out there putting in good work for things that need to be done that still remember to have fun too. and i dont think its unreasonable to request someone not use a certain type of language, but getting confrontational about it if the person is not actually a bigot is counterproductive. i have seen many punks become allienated from activist groups for not being pc enough, but ive also seen people become really allienated from friends who couldnt stop saying gay as a perjurotive term or something. its a balance. building a movement means being open to everyones needs, even when there in conflict i guess.

 

[Ravie]

know what i hate? those little hippy groups that preach of love and acceptance.... until they meet someone that has their own point of view and not theirs.

 

[Critical Rupture]

This is a pretty boring conversation, but hell, Im a hypocrite...

The US is by far (well, at least the most) PC place I've ever been. Though some European countries have similar tendencies. But in a nutshell, I think if you are to look at how things work elsewhere, like things in southern Europe, "identity politics" are not so important.

Hence the riots in Greece. Hehe.

Ok, so its not that simple, but... its a point to how things can work as opposed to "identity politics".

However, places such a that, Greece for example, are infamous for bad social oppressions. Machismo is pretty rampant for example.

So yeah, these "PC fascists" might be douchebags, and even too over the top with the way they uphold their politics. However, I do not think that necessarily is a reason to discredit their ideas.

Dogma is always a problem.

 

[Raging Bird]

hippies are alright, getting worked up enough over anything to not get along with people generally sucks.

 

[Dmac]

I hate people who hate.

 

[dVEC]

Simple tolerance is more A//E than a thousand rules of being PC...

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

One we werent going in throgh the street facing door two the neighbors were fine with us too. They even smoked us up! We were more discreet about ours though and we welcomed aybody in regardless if we knew them or not. Fucj being politically correct and fuck activism these days, you atleast have to admit that that CHICK was ignorant for getting her feelings all bundled up because someone called her that! But the past is past, man I can tell you one thing though, fuck getting into all this bandana wearing activist b/s Im just gonna ride the rails.

 

[veggieguy12]

"P.C." is ridiculous.
I gotta recommend a book called Snow Men, by Carolyn Chute. (I stole it from Barnes & Noble after I read Evasion. Kidding, Widerstand!)
The main character, some "Right-wing militia guy from Maine", says to a liberal wife of a Democrat Senator, "There ain't no Left or Right, there's just up and down, and we're down and they got their fuckin' boots on our necks." (I'm quoting from memory, so it's likely a lil' different.)

I mistakenly referred to a transgendered f>m person (who was very androgynous) as she during one of the trainings and got schooled on it.So I thought, o.k., I'll work on it.

Y'know, honestly, I might sound like an asshole/dickhead with a stupid hard line here, but I think changing gender is a reaction to societal conditioning of what Men are like and what Women are like, and the individual then feels that since he/she doesn't conform, he/she needs to have a "transition".
I don't believe it ought to be done, but rather, that the gender roles need to be disregarded and abandoned. And it couldn't be done if not for the high-tech industrial age (attaching a 'penis', reforming one into a 'vagina', implanting 'breasts' or 'growing' them with synthesized and extracted hormones).
And there's something self-important to me in people having to be called this or that - am I gonna complain if someone refers to me as "she" instead of "he"? How much does it matter, ultimately?

The next week I visit some old Lesbian friends and they go into a rant about how "Queer politics" is a betrayal of the liberating potential of radical feminism (because it implies fixed gender roles consistent with anatomy.) They see women becoming men as "running to male privilege.

That last one is an interesting point. And the prior one sounds similar to what I been thinkin', no?

i think over pc'ness is a distraction from the big fuckin picture, its not just factory farming we gotta worry about, or little trivial social drama in a squat.. its fuckin using oil to ship your goddamn goji berries raped from the hemalian mountains to you while the tofu truck rushes to provide a vegan meal while slotering animals on the highways..
instead of bickering about social ethics.. why not... use that energy to do something useful like, learn to skin, tan hides, process sinew, collect wild edibles, ask someone to teach you about wild plants in your area..

Here's a vegetarian saying: Amen!, I agree.
All the fuss about the "superfoods" and healthy-life-saver-miracle-fruit-of-the-day is Grade A bullshit. We ought to have what's in the bioregion we inhabit, and that's it.
Of course, I'll steal Goji berries and Venezuelan chocolate, as long as it's available in civilization... (hypocrite!)

 

[bote]

if you came and stayed at my house (and yes, squat's are "home" to some people, not just a trendier version of a youth hostel, for you and your friends to stay at while you're on tour) and got all bitchy because you were asked to respect the house rules, I would kick your ass out in a most un-pc fashion.
And then you come back and ruin their shit by posting up right next door? And then, you whine that they were too pc? Maybe they were, but it sounds to me like they kicked you out 'cause you had no respect for their space. You think having a fridge, electricity, bikes at a squat is a bad thing? Try living on the streets for a few more years, then come back and tell me how much you love the glorious depression of shitting yourself in the cold and dark and sleeping on concrete floors. I've been called out many times for saying un-pc shit and everytime, I've felt like crap. But just because you feel bad doesn't mean you' re in the right. It's a challenge to get along with some people, but we learn something in the process- tolerance, humility, something like that...
I'm glad I can get along with a wide variety of people, more than just drinking buddies, it means there's usually good food in the FRIDGE, a BIKE for me to borrow, and CHICKS that are worth hanging out with, rather than just some scumfuck kids with shithawks complaining about how hard-done-by they are.

 

[bote]

damn, I sound angry. i've calmed down now. I was just reading about the decline of the Power Machine in the east bay last night, good zine about exactly this sort of stuff.

 

[finn]

Well, it was already admitted that they were kicked out for differing viewpoints, not on failing to respect house rules or the lies on security culture, so it's not as if the PC kids were in the right here. Granted, it might not be mature to squat the house next door, but were the PC kids expecting a mature response to their passive-aggressive holier-that-thou elitism? Maybe both sides were being a bit stupid here, but apparently the houses were just temporary living areas for activisty stuff, so no harm done.

 

[bote]

i've met a lot of people who seem to think that if you act like you care about anything or don't get fucked up all the time, then you're not "punk", which is just another form of political correctness, and just as fucking annoying as any other nonsensical form of snobbery. but you're right, i have no idea what really happened here, and i shouldn't be so sensitive, that's some hippie shit. okay i'm going to get drunk now.

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

if you came and stayed at my house (and yes, squat's are "home" to some people, not just a trendier version of a youth hostel, for you and your friends to stay at while you're on tour) and got all bitchy because you were asked to respect the house rules, I would kick your ass out in a most un-pc fashion.
And then you come back and ruin their shit by posting up right next door? And then, you whine that they were too pc? Maybe they were, but it sounds to me like they kicked you out 'cause you had no respect for their space. You think having a fridge, electricity, bikes at a squat is a bad thing? Try living on the streets for a few more years, then come back and tell me how much you love the glorious depression of shitting yourself in the cold and dark and sleeping on concrete floors. I've been called out many times for saying un-pc shit and everytime, I've felt like crap. But just because you feel bad doesn't mean you' re in the right. It's a challenge to get along with some people, but we learn something in the process- tolerance, humility, something like that...
I'm glad I can get along with a wide variety of people, more than just drinking buddies, it means there's usually good food in the FRIDGE, a BIKE for me to borrow, and CHICKS that are worth hanging out with, rather than just some scumfuck kids with shithawks complaining about how hard-done-by they are.

Being homeless really has nothing to do with pc. If they were trying to keep their squat low key they really shouldnt have piled a bunch of bikes in front of an abandoned house and had candles right next to the window facing the street. squatting next door was stupid, yes but shit happens live and learn and deal with it thats what mama always said.

 

[sharks77]

i've met a lot of people who seem to think that if you act like you care about anything or don't get fucked up all the time, then you're not "punk", which is just another form of political correctness, and just as fucking annoying as any other nonsensical form of snobbery.

exactly.

i hate these fucking "punks" that look down their nose at you cause you don't dress the part, or something. i have no desire to shave my head or rip up all my clothes (not that there's anything wrong with it, i just don't want to do it myself) but all the time theres these punker-than-thou assholes that won't even talk to people who don't look punk enough. that's not punk. bondage pants and spikey mohawks don't make you punk... how about fucking accepting people regardless of their appearance or background or lifestyle? this elitism pisses me off so bad because these people think cause they sniff glue and dye their hair they're fucking changing something. they're not being non-conformist, they're just conforming to a different ideal. it's all the same bullshit but they're usually the biggest assholes about it.
the fact that they can claim to have these ideals and talk about it till they're blue in the face, and yet refuse to actually live by any of them, is absolutely incredible to me. PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

heh.
/rant.

 

[wartomods]

i prefer to stay away from categorizing. But often they do this because they become part of a scene, and although it becomes more difficult to blend in mainstream society they get the help and recognitions of others like them, but well each to is own and a person is a person

 

[wokofshame]

iv been in similar situations involving roadkill and people "actively protesting" its processing within 100 meters of them.. its fuckin food.. the great suv gods killed that squirrel or raccoon or possum or deer or bear, and for some reason the great god only kills for sport...

hey i went to jail for exactly that!!! (alright i had a couple beers too but the "gopher" was the real reason)

 

[drunken marauder]

I think I just got way more stupid for reading this thread!!!!!!!!

 

[seke]

i agree with a lot of the statements made here, but i definitley do not think its fair to cast these judgements on activists in general. there are good people out there putting in good work for things that need to be done that still remember to have fun too. and i dont think its unreasonable to request someone not use a certain type of language, but getting confrontational about it if the person is not actually a bigot is counterproductive. i have seen many punks become allienated from activist groups for not being pc enough, but ive also seen people become really allienated from friends who couldnt stop saying gay as a perjurotive term or something. its a balance. building a movement means being open to everyones needs, even when there in conflict i guess.

I agree so much with you. I was called out by a friend for saying "that's gay." I was a bit offended at first, but after I thought about what making that statement ACTUALLY meant I quit using it immediately. I also try to use language towards women that doesn't imply I'm just another guy interested in what theya re capable of sexually. As far as transgender things go, I call him/her what they are, unless it is requested I call them by what they feel like, then I respect those wishes. IT all depends on what is comfortable to people. Fighting for equality cant be two faced. Just respect other wishes like you'd like them to respect yours.

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

Well, I'm not gona go out of my way to bite my tongue around people I meet or change the way I speak. If I offend someone, they should tell me and I won't around them.

 

[seke]

And I feel sort of the same, but I don't say "that's gay" anymore just because I think it's not cool to say.