Politically Correct

[The_Dark]

You know... I was going to lighten the mood.. make a statement based on all the crap going on... then I remember that if I did that certain people would get offended, complain and try to get me banned from the board....

fuck it

torn... can you be any more of a pansy?

[torn asunder]

I fail - laughingly - to see how my choosing not to use racial slurs or otherwise alienate or belittle others makes me "the bad guy" when compared to some racist bigot who sees everyone around them as nigger, spick, polack, dago, wop, mick, etc.

Judgment? We ALL judge. By saying what you did there, you're judging ME - and others who think like me. Does that fit in with your oft-proclaimed enlightened way of thinking? (And while we're making these sorts of distinctions, let me say that's also a general expression of MY thoughts.)

And maybe we all - in some ways - deserve judgment. And I'm going to judge someone who chooses not to use such language as being ABOVE someone who chooses the opposite. Tells me exactly the type of people they are. Some people ARE offensive, rude, inconsiderate, etc. And some people are polite, considerate, sensitive, etc. I'll choose to be around the latter over the former any day.

Sorry, but you will never convince me a person isn't defined by their actions AND their words.

And I stand by what I said initially. If you aren't against it, you haven't dealt with it enough to understand why some of us are. Either that, or I'd question someone's own capacity to feel - period.

choosing not to use racial slurs, etc., doesn't make you a bad guy at all - never meant to imply that. and yes, we all judge, this is true, but we can "judge" others (which is also called having an opinion) without condemning them for whatever we think. ("i don't like the way that person is acting" [opinion - internal] "and that makes them a bad person" [condemnation - external]) they are doing the only thing they know how to in life - no more, no less, and they will grow and learn at their own pace, in their own way, (just as we all will) and being angry at them will in no way help either of you.

as for people being "above" or "below" others, well, if you take a clan member, and put him in a room with other clan members, and he goes about being his 'racist" self, his "peers" will think very highly of him, and he'll want to be around those people because he and they are in agreement. you know how you want to be treated, and you know how you treat others, and you will naturally gravitate to others of like mind, which is fine. i wish more people agreed with us on how to treat others with respect, but the world is what it is. thing is, you can't change hate with hate, only with love, and how can one offer another love, when you feel anger towards them!? am i making any sense?

as for the "If you aren't against it, you haven't dealt with it enough" issue, to be bluntly honest, you don't know me or any of my background, so how can you know that? you can't. and as far as not having the capacity to feel, i prefer to look at it this way - i've gained an understanding of my emotions, and i know which emotions will help me through life, and which will have a negative impact, and i choose to not dwell on the negative ones. yes, i may occasionally feel anger, or sadness, or irritation, etc., but i don't dwell on it, and i don't blame anyone else for my having felt it. if someone calls me an asshole, (or a nigger, spick, polack, dago, wop, mick, etc.) i have *choices* about how i can react to it. here are a few - 1) i can get angry, and use the same abusive attitude towards the other person, which more than likely will escalate it into a physical confrontation), 2) i can hold my anger in, and stew over it for days, letting that person's actions ruin my happiness, 3) i can ingore it, and try to forget it even happened, 4) i can laugh at them (internally, if necessary) for being so silly as to call me a name. make sense? so, why do you choose anger? why bother? does anyone see my point, or am i just talking for my own sake? :erm

[torn asunder]

You know... I was going to lighten the mood.. make a statement based on all the crap going on... then I remember that if I did that certain people would get offended, complain and try to get me banned from the board....

fuck it

torn... can you be any more of a pansy?

i can try to be, if it'll make everyone happy!! :innocent

:laughing :laughing

[Blackmail]

I think Family Guy is hilarious, the most un-pc show ever.

Oh and you people can call me Polack, I don't mind. One guy even reffered to a specific forest where poles were slaughtered in WW2 and told me he wanted me to go there. I laughed, it was pretty clever. Me and a black guy I just met were driving to do a side job I was told about, the black guy called me a "little spoiled white brat" within 5 minutes of meeting me. I laughed. We became good friends after that, even though he told me not to look at black chicks (he was serious). I guess I shouldn't tell him that I wouldn't mind a roll in the hay with Beyonce Knowles - if I was single of course.

[Fierce Critter]

TA - to answer both of your posts...

I find such people offensive, and I also find them pathetic. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be hated than pitied. And I do pity such pathetic excuses for human beings.

I see offensive behavior for what it is - offensive behavior. I react to offensive behavior in a very human fashion.

And then I move on.

You're, perhaps, overestimating the effect such people have over me. Yes, true, I get offended. But rather than "dwell" on the situation, I simply use the encounter as a means of learning the person I am dealing with. If I can deal with them in some aspect where such behavior doesn't make itself present, that's one degree. If they are consistently offensive, well, I don't know about you. But I, too, like to keep as much negativity out of my life as possible. So if a person is consistently a major asshole - bye bye.

For the record, I do try to lessen the amount of negativity in my life. However, emotions of all sorts are, in some way, good. If it weren't for "negative" emotions such as hate, anger, sorrow, etc. well, there'd be a hell of a lot less poetry & music in the world, you know? It's all in what you do with it.

[torn asunder]

...It's all in what you do with it.

with this statement, i couldn't agree more! =)

[Marblez]

duplicate post.

[Marblez]

The reason that I think terms like "thats so gay" and "nigger" are hurtful is that the people that identify with those very same terms that they are considering taboo for others to use.

Don't like a word? Stop using it. Get away from it. I am told that "nigga" is used by black people because it is them taking the power away and "owning" the word. What does this do? It keeps the word around, perpetuates it and makes it even MORE offensive if someone else uses it. Just drop it already.

Do people actually use spick spook wop and dago anymore??

I have a considerable amount of Native American "Indian" and Polish blood. Do offhand jokes about either of these offend me, No they don't. Do a large percentage of individuals with similar heritage have a problem with them? I really don't think so.

Am I a dumb pollock? No. I have a Polish heritage and I am sufficiently intelligent. Are my family members dumb pollocks? Nope, not them. Am I red skinned, injun drunkard? Nope. Not me either.

If I got all stressed out at every joke about the pollock and the indian screwing in a lightbulb, I am thinking that I would just be a big old stressball. There are plenty of other things in my life to worry about.

[Blackmail]

Am I a dumb pollock? No. I have a Polish heritage and I am sufficiently intelligent.  Are my family members dumb pollocks? Nope, not them. Am I red skinned, injun drunkard? Nope. Not me either.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

After reading this I realize that not only am I a dumb polack, I perhaps have some Indian blood in me too.

[n0Mad]

Do people actually use spick spook wop and dago anymore??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I use Spook, but for an entirely different purpose with an entirely different meaning.

I'm pretty much against ethnic slurs and the like. I believe in showing respect to everybody. The PC that I'm against is stuff like, it's not "janitor", it's "sanitation engineer". And I still call waiters and waitressess by those titles. Fuck this "server" crap. You know, pretty much all the ego stroking and pussyfooting stuff.

And on the topic of "That's so gay," homosexuals shouldn't be offended because the real meanings of gay are:

# Showing or characterized by cheerfulness and lighthearted excitement; merry.

# Bright or lively, especially in color: a gay, sunny room.

# Given to social pleasures.

How it came to mean "homosexual" I'll never know.

And "faggot" is:

1. A bundle of twigs, sticks, or branches bound together.

2. A bundle of pieces of iron or steel to be welded or hammered into bars.

Or British slang for a cigarette.

If I'm out with friends and yell across the bar for one to toss me a faggot and some homosexuals get offended, then I figure it's their fault for misusing the word and not mine for using it correctly.

[sass_in_the_pants]

So, my friend told me that she went to a party and someone said that someone "jewed" them out of some money.

She was royally offended.

And she said to me, "Why couldn't he have used a non-offensive word, like 'gypped'?"

And I said "Um, well, that's offensive too. It refers to the gypsies."

And she said, "Well, that's just retarded."

Double sigh.

[kellygrrrrrl]

So, my friend told me that she went to a party and someone said that someone "jewed" them out of some money.

She was royally offended.

And she said to me, "Why couldn't he have used a non-offensive word, like 'gypped'?"

And I said "Um, well, that's offensive too. It refers to the gypsies."

And she said, "Well, that's just retarded."

Double sigh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:laughing exactly :laughing

[n0Mad]

So, my friend told me that she went to a party and someone said that someone "jewed" them out of some money.

She was royally offended.

And she said to me, "Why couldn't he have used a non-offensive word, like 'gypped'?"

And I said "Um, well, that's offensive too. It refers to the gypsies."

And she said, "Well, that's just retarded."

Double sigh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a really awesome comment for this, but I forgot it. Oh well. I agree with your *sigh* though. And remember, having two flags is a double standard.

[Der Nister]

The human race will never get it right.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

Nobody should disagree with the state. The state takes care of you and makes sure that you are happy. You should disply enthusiasim when telling others about how much you love the state. If you have any thoughts that contradict state policy or ideas, they should immediately be placed into the memory hole.

(That was an Orwell joke for those of you who did not get the reference)

[Fierce Critter]

I had a wonderful conversation with my 80-year-old parents and my 90-year-old aunt over Easter. All 2nd generation Poles. I asked them about this sort of thing, to get more feedback on the subject.

Let's just say this much - don't use the expression "Polack" around Poles of their generation and expect to leave the room unscathed.