I'd take it to its most ridiculous extremes, then explore why it can be a bad thing, and that moderation and commonc sense needs to be applied.
Also, 'stoned' becomes 'chemically inconvenienced'? to me that's do exactly what 'black' and '******' does, placing a negative overtone on what was a simple descriptive word. (not that black is an ideal description, but lets face it, you say 'black guy' everyone knows what you mean. That replacement tells me that the person who created it is against drugs and feels they're inherently bad. 'Stoned' we all know means 'affected by drugs'.
(Note I'm not saying drugs are good, and in the most they're not exactly 'performance enhancing' but as Bill Hicks said, they sure helped a lot of artists create great things.
My trouble with the anti PC side, it seems to be mainly populated by the **** Richard Littlejohn, and his type, who want a return to good ol' values where you can call gays faggots and anyone who's a bit dusky a raghead terrorist, and any woman that won't blow you a fat lezza.
I do think that renaming manhole covers and blackboards is a bit silly, but considering many of the stories we hear are entirely ficticious, such as the ban on EU bananas that were too bendy, and the 'ban on Christmas in case it offends muslims', I'll happily call that metal disc in the road an 'access cover' if it helps stop people being abusive to other people just because they think it's freedom of speech to act like a Littlejohn.
Note: Littlejohn is a new swearword I'm going to try to get started as it's obviously offensive to women to use the C word as something derogatory when most men spend their whole lives trying to get even near one. Though it's a bit long, maybe a 'Piers' would work too.
As recently as 1964, a political seat was lost in Birmingham, England, to a Peter Griffiths, running for the Tories, whose campaign featured the infamous 10-word slogan: "If you want a ****** for a neighbour, vote Labour."
I'd like to think we've moved on, and don't want to slip backwards. However, there's a constant pressure even now by the press to make the words muslim and terrorist synonymous. Along with the phrase 'Eastern European' and 'benefit thieving lazy immigrant', and of course, they still love to continue the old ones about the French and white flags, the germans and no sense of humour, and being power crazy, the italians all being sex mad, etc.
Stewart Lee on PC:
Here's one thing to confuse my entire point tho, how bad is it? I'm thinking back to when Cheryl Cole violently assaulted a black female bathroom attendant in a nightclub, and the papers went wild, as she'd apparently said 'black *****' while punching her in the face.
I can't help but feel in that attendant's place, I'd have found the being punched in the face the worst part of the attack. Even escalating it to ****** *****, I'd take that and no punch over the punch with no racism.
Of course, I'm not black and maybe it does hurt some more than genuine violence.
My stance really is, it'd be good to get rid of the more offensive words, but in the end, intent matters more than the actual words. What's worse, yelling 'you stupid black fucker' at someone who brakes suddenly in front of you, or using the word ****** as part of an ironically offensive joke? Surely 'black' is worse, as it's used in hate.
Also, 'stoned' becomes 'chemically inconvenienced'? to me that's do exactly what 'black' and '******' does, placing a negative overtone on what was a simple descriptive word. (not that black is an ideal description, but lets face it, you say 'black guy' everyone knows what you mean. That replacement tells me that the person who created it is against drugs and feels they're inherently bad. 'Stoned' we all know means 'affected by drugs'.
(Note I'm not saying drugs are good, and in the most they're not exactly 'performance enhancing' but as Bill Hicks said, they sure helped a lot of artists create great things.
My trouble with the anti PC side, it seems to be mainly populated by the **** Richard Littlejohn, and his type, who want a return to good ol' values where you can call gays faggots and anyone who's a bit dusky a raghead terrorist, and any woman that won't blow you a fat lezza.
I do think that renaming manhole covers and blackboards is a bit silly, but considering many of the stories we hear are entirely ficticious, such as the ban on EU bananas that were too bendy, and the 'ban on Christmas in case it offends muslims', I'll happily call that metal disc in the road an 'access cover' if it helps stop people being abusive to other people just because they think it's freedom of speech to act like a Littlejohn.
Note: Littlejohn is a new swearword I'm going to try to get started as it's obviously offensive to women to use the C word as something derogatory when most men spend their whole lives trying to get even near one. Though it's a bit long, maybe a 'Piers' would work too.
As recently as 1964, a political seat was lost in Birmingham, England, to a Peter Griffiths, running for the Tories, whose campaign featured the infamous 10-word slogan: "If you want a ****** for a neighbour, vote Labour."
I'd like to think we've moved on, and don't want to slip backwards. However, there's a constant pressure even now by the press to make the words muslim and terrorist synonymous. Along with the phrase 'Eastern European' and 'benefit thieving lazy immigrant', and of course, they still love to continue the old ones about the French and white flags, the germans and no sense of humour, and being power crazy, the italians all being sex mad, etc.
Stewart Lee on PC:
Here's one thing to confuse my entire point tho, how bad is it? I'm thinking back to when Cheryl Cole violently assaulted a black female bathroom attendant in a nightclub, and the papers went wild, as she'd apparently said 'black *****' while punching her in the face.
I can't help but feel in that attendant's place, I'd have found the being punched in the face the worst part of the attack. Even escalating it to ****** *****, I'd take that and no punch over the punch with no racism.
Of course, I'm not black and maybe it does hurt some more than genuine violence.
My stance really is, it'd be good to get rid of the more offensive words, but in the end, intent matters more than the actual words. What's worse, yelling 'you stupid black fucker' at someone who brakes suddenly in front of you, or using the word ****** as part of an ironically offensive joke? Surely 'black' is worse, as it's used in hate.
