Political Correctness is counterproductive

I do not deny that the PC movement has been beneficial in some ways, I simply contend that *overall* it has done more harm than good. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but for the purpose of this debate you must provide proof of this actually happening. I understand there is no statistical support but here is what I am looking for: A less obvious example would be the use of petrol. A lot of good comes out of using petrol, the worlds output depends on it. But every day there are more and more harm done by using petrol and the evidence becomes clearer and clearer. Watch Zaitgaist. Then there is polution etc. I hope now my opponent understands what I mean by “provide the evidence”. The reasons Twain used the word were to make the story believable (that is how people spoke in that time period), and to highlight the bigotry prevalent in those times. The fact that the book needs to be edited so that students are allowed to read it shows that an astonishing ignorance of context, irony and lack of critical thinking, which bolsters my point about our intellectual well-being. It is obvious that you are not black, otherwise you would not care of characters being believable. I don’t see how a book being reprinted with a word change in it suddenly puts our intellectual well being at risk. Ridiculous. The book “Intelligent Investor” has been revised and updated two times and No intelligence has been put at risk. "Belittle" isn't the word I would use, but in a sense, yes. Again, Ridiculous. In your opinion a ban on the N word belittles Black people. Read the following and in the next round I expect a similar evidence of a black person fighting for the preservation of the N word in the book. You have NO RIGHT to say what diminishes Black people IF YOU ARE NOT BLACK. In schools that are predominantly African American, students may feel more comfortable with the word, although not necessarily with its repeated use by white characters in a "classic" text. When African American students are in the minority, however, they often feel embarrassed and singled out. Said one African American student in Cherry Hill, "Every time the word came up [during oral reading], everybody turned around to look at me." Words are among the most powerful things there are. . . . A grown-up, middle-aged white woman using that word gives another level of meaning than a 15-year-old African American student. I think I could hurt students by using it, and I don't feel that my minority students want to hear their white peers use that word either. . . And if it turns out we're sacrificing a little academic rigor in the service of not adding to anyone's pain, maybe that's okay. . . . http://www.bishops.k12.nf.ca... “Political correctness doesn't prevent discrimination. All that the PC movement really does is force people to censor themselves”. 1 Political correctness does not prevent hate, but it DOES reduce the discrimination. Censoring a racist or sexist person who would otherwise walk around offending all that he or she hates, thus creating tension and more hate, is PC at its best. It cannot force them to change their ideas. Take racism, for example. We can ban all racial slurs from use, but the people who once used them will still be racists.......discrimination will remain. Very naive statement. Of cource it will remain. 2) Robikan, in the near future and perhaps some time after, nothing will stop that hate. As Chris Rock has put it, “Racism will never die, it will only multiply”. It is time we realize the true nature of human beings. Yes we are ashamed, but let’s admit it, to this day, Political Correctness is the most we could do. Not to stop, but as you put it, censor the hate. If we want to prevent discrimination, we need a better approach than censorship”. 3) Sounds amazingly good. Im hundred percent for it. Now let us hear your ideas. “I'm saying that the only way to achieve true equality is to *actually* treat people equally. Pointing out our differences does not lead to equality, nor does pandering and patronizing”. You are making one mistake after another. I guess by treating people equally and not pointing out their differences you mean – Not calling them N words, Fa$$ts, Crippled, Providing women with positions predominantly occupied by men, not referring to Muslims as extremists and so on and so forth. Well hold on a second……. isn’t that what Political correctness IS ABOUT. This is just one short list of books that have been banned or censored in the name of political correctness, many of which have strong moral messages *against* racism, sexism and other forms of bigotry. I think it's pretty obvious that banning or changing educational literature is damaging to society. http://www.time.com...... My dear, NONE of the books have been banned (apart from Mark Twain) and hardly any of them have been censored. Please go back to the link you have provided and re-read the information. Almost NONE OF THEM have anything to do with political correctness. They DO NOT OFFEND anyone. Some of them have been censored for promoting violence and being too sexually explicit for 11 year olds. Robinka what on earth does that have to do with racial, religious, gender abuse? It seems you are against something you do not understand, which is my initial point. "It is not the political correctness that creates tension in the society but the lack of knowledge of what PC means." Can you elaborate on this claim? "We are not educated enough as to what is a right thing to say and what is a wrong thing to say." How did you reach this conclusion? How do you propose we get this education? Who ultimately decides what is right and wrong speech? I hope the link I have provided would help you understand what I mean by “lack of knowledge” http://searchwarp.com... How to get this education? Communicate. “In other words, we must communicate with each other if we ever hope to make this world a better place. In lies the problem. To improve communications, it is important to be PC so as not to offend. But it must be balanced. Too much PC can backfire and limit communications. That's where courage comes in. You and I must be courageous enough not to allow PC to limit our dialogue with others. Is there a greater possibility of offending someone through our courage? Absolutely! Will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely!” http://searchwarp.com... Couldn’t put it better myself. The problem is, political correctness does not prevent or reduce discrimination and bigotry. The only way to do that is through knowledge and wisdom, and the PC movement has actually made that harder to attain. 1) Define prevention of racism through knowledge and wisdom and I bet you a nickel you will arrive to the same conclusion as mine. The only difference is that you want to get there without the use of political correctness. Freedom of speech as you call it. 2) You are saying that there is another way of reducing racism and a ban on using a language offensive to others makes it harder. Ridiculous. To back up your statement you must: 1) Find a way of defeating racism (good luck) 2) Prove that PC makes it harder to implement it (again, good luck) Otherwise the above statement is your own opinion completely unsupported by any facts. I hope that those who read this debate understand that Myself and Robikan have essentially decided on the same desired outcome supposably arrived to by our naive ideas. The only difference is that I believe we must be careful with what we say to each other and communication is a way to a better society. But we cannot communicate without being PC as we all know where that leads to. For instance: http://www.metro.co.uk...