I'd say Politically Correct really is doublespeak. It tries to focus on
words rather than actual ideas and obscure genuine thought on emotionally
charged issues - usually by making the issues more emotionally charged but
like a matador's cape it is manipulating the bull around by getting it to
focus on the flash and color not the substance of the guy wielding the cape.
Good Manners, on the other hand, is civility - the art of making it easier,
more graceful, more pleasant just to live in close proximity with eachother
and interact. Civil is NOT servile, a fact lost on many people.
I just got back from visiting a friend in a small Colorado town. Everyone
there knows each other on a first name basis - and they always stop and
smile, greet each other, introduce the out of town visitor. One always
smiles, says please and thank you, shakes hands upon introduction. It's the
culture there. And a very good one, I believe. In Delta County everyone has
to deal with each other all the time, there's nowhere to hide. And everyone
has to pull their weight, it's a poor county too, so everyone helps each
other out.
There is a modest tourist trade, localvour is the buzzword, as people come
to find farm grown eggs, meat, vintners who grow their own grapes and so on
- the producers always chat up their neighbors, "Are you interested in fresh
eggs? Well my neighbor across the way has chickens, shall I phone and see
if they're home to sell some to you?" and so on. It's a matter of common
sense, common courtesy, and good manners as well as good business practice.
The two vintners near my friend's farm are quite different styled, one being
a Swiss trained woman and her husband and two kids the other a retired
engineer who's picking it up as he goes along and is more California style
(whatever that is, I know little about wine but I'm assured they are
different philosophies and flavors to the wine) My friend made it a point to
be sure I visited both vintners, tried them both and was extremely
diplomatic in her explanation of the difference. She seems fond of both
families (and indeed they are quite lovely folks) and wants to help them
thrive. It's a pleasant change from L.A., genuine civility takes getting
used to and to develop the instincts to return it.
Dissing someone in the ghetto means getting killed or maimed, yet there
seems little mechanism for defusing what could have been simple
mis-understanding before it becomes conflict or correcting behavior before
it gets ugly. Indeed, here people seem bent on making as much of an
annoyance of themselves as possible with meticulous legislation trying in
vain to take the place of what should be good social training.
I don't like everyone; this is normal. Every social animal has 'us' and
'them'. 'This herd' is good, 'the other herds' are bad. Because the other
is competition, and it's strange, and it's 'not us'. Ok, but humans live in
far greater density than wild animals do, we need to recognize our basic
instinct for what it is, hard wired and NOT subject to change no matter how
much rhetoric is wasted on it, and focus on the very real mechanisms by
which we can get along.
Genuinely get along, not just make noises and continue to practice all the
subtle little bratty behaviors that cause life to be more unpleasant. Turn
down the volume on your stereo, let the other driver in, nod acknowledgement
to the other guy if you don't feel like smiling, Be Nice. You can always
rip their ears off later if the occasion warrants, but starting nasty just
makes the whole thing worse.
Elena
-----Original Message-----
From: OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com
[mailto:OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Joy McCann
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2008 10:10 PM
To: OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [OliveStarlightOrchestra] Re: First post of August?
How one editorializes about the term depends--clearly--upon how one defines
it in the first place, and whether it is to be a voluntary code of conduct,
or a one enforced by government dicta or university rules. In the latter
cases, one synonym might be "censorship."
--J
On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 11:10 AM, Domingo Zungri
<kdzungri_at_comcast.net>wrote:
> I don't know why everybody is so negative about the term "Political
> Correctness." As far as I can tell, "Political Correctness" is a
> pejorative term for "Good Manners" used by people who haven't any.
>
> --- In
OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com<OliveStarlightOrchestra%40yahoogroup
s.com>,
> "Georgie Hinklemyer"
>
> <samoolives_at_...> wrote:
> >
> > I guess everyone's been busy this summer.
> > Just gotta post something we got in the email. Apologies if you've
> > heard this already.
> >
> > The following is the 2007 winning entry from an annual contest at
> > Texas / A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of
> > a contemporary term.
> >
> > The term was _Political Correctness.
> > The Winner Wrote:
> >
> > "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,
> > illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream
> > media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible
> > to pick up a turd by the clean end."
> >
>
>
>
--
Joy Whittemore McCann
Goddess of Ink and Paper
(But pixels obey me, too.)
Copy Write Editorial Services
818/429-9806
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Received on 2008-08-17 11:26:41