[thechat] More Pledge news

[Joel Canfield]

> Political correctness is the concept of finding new
> ways to label things (preferably with as many multi-syllable
> words as possible) so as to make them sound more official,
> legitimate, sympathetic, or forgivable than they may or may
> not be.
[ . . . ]
I think the danger here is that as we become more worried
> about finding phrases that don't hurt someone's feelings, we
> could actually muddle our words beyond meaning and stifle the
> exchange of good ideas and/or creative thinking.
[ . . . ]
> I'm saying that the phenomenon
> of political correctness is NOT just an invention of the
> "right of center" - it's an example of how our whole society
> is moving toward a more indirect form of communication.
> Personally I find it incredibly frustrating.

Very well put, Janet. I've had conversations with people who truly believe
that the concepts of 'right' and 'wrong' have no place in modern society.

The issues you mention are exacerbated by people who *do* think that
'speaking your mind' allows tactlessness, rudeness, whatever. It makes it
even harder for someone to disagree politely without being lumped into a
group with those offensive mannerless cretins.

joel