Newsgroups: alt.politics.correct
Subject: Re: What is "politically correct" ?
From: mzener@eagle.wesleyan.edu
Date: 22 Jul 92 10:48:56 EDT
Organization: Wesleyan University

ivanov@vadier.gr.osf.org (Eric Ivanov) writes:
> 
> I am posting this for a friend who wants to know more about
> "political correctness". We both live in France where we don't
> hear much about this topic.

   Consider yourselves lucky.

> 1. What does politically correct mean?

   To be succinct, an idea is politically correct if it is "sensitive to
classically oppressed minorities."  Basically, if something is antagonistic
toward Western Civilization as a whole, it's quite P.C.
 
> 2. Who is politically correct? Who is not?

   Someone is PC if they agree with PC doctrine.  Jesse Jackson is PC. 
Clarence Thomas is not.  Jeremy Rifkin is PC, Exxon corp. isn't.
 
> 2.1 Are these people politically correct :
>     Dan Rather?   
	The media is usually more PC than not.  Every now and then a non-PC
story is run, though.
>     Bart Simpson? 
	Bart Simpson himself is un-PC, but everybody loves him because he is a
hilarious character on a show that is very PC
>     Mickey Mouse?
	I'm not sure anyone really cares about Mickey Mouse.  PCists might wish
he were the housemouse and not Minnie, though.
>     Mike Tyson?
	Tough call.  He's popular, black, and in trouble with the law, which
makes him PC, but he beat his erstwhile wife and raped someone, which makes him
un-PC.  Tyson supporters get out of this connundrun by saying that the White
Authorities framed him.
>     Michael Jackson?
	His fading skin-tone make some people think he "hates his black
identity," so that makes him un-PC.  He does however, sing and say that it
shouldn't make any difference whether someone is black, white, blue, yellow, or
whatever.  That _really_ makes him un-PC
>     God?
	The typical patriarchal Christian God, sexed male, is about as un-PC as
you can get.  In the states, Allah of the Islam faith is really PC;  it's not
that Islam isn't patriarchal (it's worse than Christianity in a lot of ways),
it's that it isn't a faith traditionally held here.  That's all it needs.
>     the UNO?
	Depends on what they're doing.  The PC line is that they should do
everything -- unless, of course, they start doing something that isn't PC. 

> 3. Who cares for political correctness anyway?
> Politicians? Voters? You?

   In order:  Yes, so the politicians think, and no.  I care ABOUT it, since it
impacts my life in every way;  there are many things that I cannot say or even
claim to think on campus without being ostracized or, in some sever cases,
punished for.  Similarly, if I tell a vaguely misogynistic joke within earshot
of my boos, I might well be out of a job.
   PC is largest, oddly enough, at liberal arts universities; the very places
which claim to be bastions of free exchange of ideals are the same places that
suppress ideas most harshly.

> 4. Is political correctness originated in the USA?

   Alas, we must claim it as our baby.  It has spread, of course, but its roots
are the hard-core social misfits from the '60s now having their PhD's and
teaching their ideology (not that teaching ideology is BAD, but they exclude
others, which is).
 
> 5. How strong is the political correctness feeling in the US?
> How strong do you think it should be?

   The strength of feeling varies from place to place.  It is strongest in
schools, government, and big cities, and weakest in small towns, countryside,
and business.
 
> 6. What is the jargon of political correctness? (abbreviations,
> other expressions related to the subject)

   "-ism."  Sexism, agism, lookism, racism, etc.  The PC mopde of attack is to
call an opposing idea an -ism so that nobody wants to claim to support it.
   "-American."  Black is African-American.  Oriental is Asian-American. 
Latino is Latin-American.  Some people now say Woman-American.  Anyone not
using an "-American" term _must_ be racist, according to PC doctrine.  An
important note:  whites are not European-American.  
 
> 7. Are there jokes about political correctness? about politically
> correct politicians? If so, please can you tell one?
 
   Q: How many women does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
   A: That's not funny, you sexist pig.

> 8. Are YOU politically correct?
 
   No.  Nor will I ever be.  I am exceptionally proud of this fact. 

   If you don't live in the States and don't understand the PC mind, I wish you
luck in trying to understand.  You  have a difficult task ahead of you.  It is
so utterly devoid of logic, so vacuous of morality, so completely lacking in   
common sense, and so ridiculously hypocritical that very few people who haven't
been steeped in it from an early age can begin to understand.  If you can
figure it out, I congratulate you.  If you never understand it, that's probably
becuase you _have_ figured it out, but can't believe people seriously promote
it.

Max Zener

by the way, I went to the Jefferson Memorial in DC the other day. 
Appropriately enough, the base of its dome has the following appropriate quote:
"I have sworn on the altar of God Eternal to fight every tyranny against the
 mind of man."
Powerful stuff.