Is political correctness damaging?

[Blast!]

Haven't people grown tired of calling certain groups one name one year and another name the next!

Also, is it me or does it look like the people claiming for freedom of speech the first to say you cant call someone that?

I might just be me though!

 

[Brandon]

I would have to agree with you. People should be allowed to say whatever they like. The 1st amendment does not say anything about freedom of speech unless you hurt someone's feelings.

 

[w.harbaugh]

I was watching the colbert report recently, there they showed a clip from the senate about flag burning and one of the senators stood up and said "don't we have better things to discuss?"

another very sternly told him "no"

How does our country suffer if someone burns a flag? It doesnt.

How does our country suffer if we are going to war for the wrong reasons?

 

[Brandon]

The act of burning a flag hurts no one. Freedom of speech also applies to symbolic speech as well. Just as a nazi can walk down a street with a swastika on his arm, so can a group protesting burn the flag.

Burning a flag is dissent and dissent should always be legal.

 

[vicki2]

I think there's a big difference between the right to dissent, and the current backlash against so much political correctness which is much more subtle and has different meaning.

We were force fed alot of politically correct behavior to conform to in the last ten years, and it was too much. It was an unrealistic notion, and is rapidly becoming history!

 

[capitalist_junkie]

This makes me think of the final lines from a song called "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" from the musical Avenue Q.

"If we all could just admit
That we're all racist a little bit
And everyone stopped being so PC
Maybe we could live in
Harmony!"

 

[sushimonster]

People certainly have their prejudices. And they are most likely not going to go away anytime soon. No one is free from generalizing something in there life.

 

[OneofaKind]

Ideally people should be able to say whatever they want, but the reality is people say things that are insulting and hurtful which means that people have to be limited.

The problem is that we see to be so unbalanced

 

[Word2Action]

It absolutely is damaging. If people were actually allowed to say what they wanted too, more things would get done.

 

[Brandon]

For some strange reason some people you would not think of, have weak sensibilities are the ones that get offended the easiest.

 

[OneofaKind]

True.

All we really need is some good old fashioned respect for each other and a little bit of sensitivity.

 

[Furious George]

I think Political Correctness to some degree is useful. Like everything in life, nothing is infinite. That even includes our freedoms. Everything has limitations, and so should free-speech.

 

[Furious George]

It absolutely is damaging. If people were actually allowed to say what they wanted too, more things would get done.

Somewhat true. Take oppressive regimes for example. They qwell free speech because it is very damaging when you have something to hide. Free speech also can be damaging to cultural identity. Look at current American society. Kids today openly throw around words such as 'nigger' and 'gook', as if it meant nothing. They think because afro-Americans openly call each other 'nigger', it's O.K. for them to do so. Racial slurs, under any circumstance should be strictly regulated.

 

[palefrost]

I have to agree with word2action and capital. If you depower words and actions....we would then find something else to moan and cry over :banana:

 

[vicki2]

I think the current political correctness has done it's work and now borderlines on being obnoxious. We got the message! Insofar as racial slurs, I hate them, but they are also the ultimate taunt and people are going to use that.