When does Political Correctness go too far?

Discussion in 'Discussions' started by Cutter, Mar 30, 2014.

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  1. Cutter

    Cutter Member

    I'm curious how many people here are easily offended these days? One of the mods removed my sig which read....

    "Midget soothsayer robs bank. Small medium at large."

    I've used this for 20 years now and no one, and I mean no one, has ever said anything about it....until now.
    Community Mod Daynab removed my sig with the following post....

    "Hey there, just wanted you to know that the word "midget" is a slur (more on it here if you didn't know) and we strive to be inclusive in these forums, which means not using terms/language that would make minorities uncomfortable. I had to remove your signature, but feel free to write a new one."

    Show of hands? How many people are deeply offended by that? A slur? Seriously? It's like George Carlin said so aptly about "soft" language.....

    "You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth. I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't like words that conceal reality. I don't like euphemisms or euphemistic language. And American english is loaded with euphemisms. Because Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent a kind of a soft language to protect themselves from it. And it gets worse with every generation. For some reason it just keeps getting worse.

    I know I'm a little late with this, but I'd like to get a few licks in on this bogus topic before it completely disappears from everyone's consciousness.

    First, I want to be really clear about one thing: as far as other people's feelings are concerned -- especially these "victim groups" -- when I deal with them as individuals, I will call them whatever they want. When it's one on one, if some guy wants me to call him a morbidly obese, African-ancestored male with a same-gendered sexual orientation I'll be glad to do that. On the other hand, if he wants me to call him a fat nigger cocksucker, then that's what it will be. I'm here to please.

    If I meet a woman who wishes to be referred to as a motion-impaired, same-gender-oriented Italian-American who is difficult to deal with, fine. On the other hand, I am perfectly willing to call her a crippled, Guinea dyke cunt if she prefers. I'm not trying to change anyone's self-image. BUT! BUT! When I am speaking generally, and impersonally, about a large group of people, especially these victim groups, I will call them what I think is honest and fair. And I will try not to bullshit myself.

    OK, so, who exactly are these victims? Well, first of all, I don't think everyone who says he's a victim automatically qualifies. I don't think a homely, disfigured, bald minority person with a room-temperature IQ who limps and stutters is necessarily always a victim. Although I will say she probably shouldn't be out trying to get work as a receptionist. But maybe that's just the way it oughta be.

    I'm more interested in real victims. People who have been chronically and systematically fucked over by the system. Because the United States is a Christian racist nation with a rigged economic system run for three hundred years by the least morally qualified of the two sexes, there were bound to be some real victims. People who've been elaborately fucked over.

    The way I see it, this country has only four real victim groups: Indians, blacks, women, and gays. I purposely left out the Spanish and Asians, because when you look at what happened to the Indians and blacks, the Spanish and Asian people have had a walk in the park. It's not even close. Not to downplay the shit they've had to eat, but in about one hundred years the Spanish and Asians are going to be running this country, so they'll have plenty of chances to get even with the gray people.

    Let's get to some of these other non-victims. You probably noticed, elsewhere I used the word fat. I used that word because that's what fat people are. They're fat. They're not large; they're not stout, chunky, hefty, or plump. And they're not big-boned. Dinosaurs are big-boned. These people are not necessarily obese, either. Obese is a medical term. And they're not overweight. Overweight implies there is some correct weight. There is no correct weight. Heavy is also a misleading term. An aircraft carrier is heavy; it's not fat. Only people are fat, and that's what fat people are. They're fat. I offer no apology for this. It is not intended as criticism or insult. It is simply descriptive language. I don't like euphemisms. Euphemisms are a form of lying. Fat people are not gravitationally disadvantaged. They're fat. I prefer seeing things the way they are, not the way some people wish they were.

    I don't believe groups deserve extra-special names. For instance, midgets and dwarfs are midgets and dwarfs. They're not little people. Infants are little people; leprechauns are little people. Midgets and dwarfs are midgets and dwarfs. They don't get any taller by calling them little people. I wish their lives were different. I wish they didn't have to walk around staring at other people's crotches, but I can't fix that. And I'm not going to lie about what they are. The politically sensitive language commandos would probably like me to call them "vertically challenged." They're not vertically challenged. A skydiver is vertically challenged. The person who designed the Empire State Building was vertically challenged. Midgets and dwarfs are midgets and dwarfs.

    Also, crippled people are crippled, they're not differently-abled. If you insist on using tortured language like differently-abled, then you must include all of us. We're all differently-abled. You can do things I can't do; I can do things you can't do. I can pick my nose with my thumb, and I can switch hands while masturbating and gain a stroke. We're all differently-abled. Crippled people are simply crippled. It's a perfectly honorable word. There is no shame in it. It's in the Bible: "Jesus healed the cripples." He didn't engage in rehabilitative strategies for the physically disadvantaged.


    So, leaving aside women and gays for the moment, I've narrowed it down to blacks and Indians. Let's talk about what we ought to call them, and let's talk about what the language commandos would like us to call them. And remember, this has nothing to do with the people themselves. It has to do with the words.

    And, by the way, when it comes to these liberal language vandals, I must say I agree with their underlying premise: White Europeans and their descendants are morally unattractive people who are responsible for most of the world's suffering. That part is easy. You would have to be, uh, visually impaired not to see it. The impulse behind political correctness is a good one. But like every good impulse in America it has been grotesquely distorted beyond usefulness.
    Clearly, there are victims, but I don't agree that these failed campus revolutionaries know what to do about them. When they're not busy curtailing freedom of speech, they're running around inventing absurd hyphenated names designed to make people feel better. Remember, these are the white elitists in their customary paternalistic role: protecting helpless, inept minority victims. Big Daddy White Boss always knows best."

    So, while I respect this is a private board and GLG sets the rules, but there's such a thing as an overreaction. And CENSORSHIP is never the answer. We all political correctness has gone way too far these days and is absolutely insane. But where is it written your free to live a life without being offended by anyone or anything....ever? How about growing a thicker skin and not being so easily offended? Remember sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me?
     
    OmniaNigrum likes this.
  2. OmniaNigrum

    OmniaNigrum Member

    Sadly, whether it gets me banned from this forum or not, I agree with every word you have used. I have been banned multiple times from this forum for speaking liberally about the closet groups that prefer I either shut the fuck up or use their preferred designations only. Fuck that. Ban me again if it means something to you. Fat is fat. Homosexual is homosexual. Midget is midget. None of these are negatives until you yourself decide it must be. And if you do, then you are the one responsible for deciding that. I used words that describe people accurately. If you do not like being fat, chain yourself to a tree until you are able to slip past the chains. Problem solved. I will not be held hostage by language of crazy people in denial of who they are any further.

    Thank you Cutter.
     
  3. Daynab

    Daynab Community Moderator Staff Member

    Usually, forums have a policy of not discussing moderator actions (especially about private conversations) but you would likely consider that censorship as well so I'll engage with you.

    First, as you said yourself this forum is a private space, so we can enact policies. One of ours is not using slurs and language that ostracizes minorities.
    This isn't a case of not using words that some random person one day might suddenly read and have their feelings hurt by. It's not using language that marginalized communities themselves agree are bad, in this case as per the source I linked you in the PM. You can read on the history of why.

    Heck, that same source even says dwarf is acceptable so you don't need to use horrifying hyphens or spaces if you don't want to!

    More generally, it's about being nice and polite to each other. If you have no problem calling individuals what they want to be called, as you say, you certainly can call a group what that group wants to be called.

    You certainly can call people whatever you want, nobody's gonna stop you. You just need to deal with the consequences of doing so like you would anywhere else.

    For the larger debate about "political correctness", I'm not going to get into the discussion since it's not my place as a moderator, my actions only remain consistent with what we want the forums to be and our policies (who include no political or religious discussions, by the way.)
     
    OmniaNigrum likes this.
  4. dbaumgart

    dbaumgart Art Director Staff Member

    What Daynab said.

    Gaslamp Games pays for hosting this forum. We're not interested in, essentially, paying for a billboard for anyone to write what we may judge (completely arbitrarily) to be offensive or annoying or even slightly awkward. We'll be like, nope, we're not paying to display your message, take that elsewhere!

    If the government quashed your free speech, that'd be censorship. If you were shouting in the middle of a McDonalds about "political correctness", you'd be politely escorted off the premises and it'd be pretty clear why that happened and why that isn't the same thing as censorship. Same deal here - we want to create a welcoming and supportive community where people can enjoy their games.

    Omnia: Getting banned from an internet forum is not the same as being taken hostage. Don't be absurd. Go start your own blog if you feel a need to rant about this stuff. Here isn't the place for it.

    And let's lock this post down, shall we? It's fallen outside of the scope of what this forum is intended for.
     
    OmniaNigrum likes this.
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