To think "politically correct" is one of the most over-used and misused terms around?

[Nennypops]

I keep seeing the term 'politically correct' being used all over the place as a catch-all terms of abuse by people who clearly have no idea what the term means but want to convey that whatever it is that they disapprove is in some way unnecessary, wet, lentil-knitting, left-wing, or even positively harmful.

For the sake of convenience, I'll adopt the definition of political correctness given in Wikipedia - "a term that refers to language, ideas, or policies that address perceived or actual discrimination against or alienation of politically, socially or economically disadvantaged groups. The term usually implies that these social considerations are excessive or of a purely "political" nature. These groups most prominently include those defined by gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability."

I accept that it can be valid to criticise over-sensitive concerns about discrimination, but I've seen the term used in defence when someone is called out for blatant racism/sexism/homophobia etc and richly deserves it. It usually signals to me, frankly, that the person in question is even more of an a*hole than their original conduct suggested - they are trying to suggest that they are in some way justified and that complaining is ludicrously over-sensitive.

If I see the term incorrectly used in support of what otherwise might be a valid argument, it instantly annoys me and changes the way I view the person using the term. It tends to be used in relation to things which seem to me to be self-evidently beneficial - e.g. breastfeeding, the right to a fair trial, the right of children not to be left with abusive parents, etc. It is also quite often used for things that have no conceivable element of political correctness at all; I once saw it used in relation to the suggestion that it would be an idea to take an umbrella out when it's raining.

Seems to me that it's time to make the term completely redundant. If you find yourself about to use the term "politically correct" just stop, and find some other way of expressing your views.

it was a little bit of humour ...although it's also a UKIPism

Yes, I would as long as it is not hate speech. Just as I defend the right of professors and academics to say that global warming dissenters should be thrown in jail or treated as traitors for being global warming sceptics.

Good question.
I don't know where the boundary is.

But you are only talking about PC as insults. It is more than that. I have shown the global warming orthodoxy and the word PC in books about it. There is the anti-competitive sports ethos in schools. It is in many aspects of our lives. It is not just about being rude.

There is the anti-competitive sports ethos in schools is there? not in my kids Primary (sports day, attendance and behaviour competitions etc) or secondary (house system with house points and inter house competitions)

“Political correctness is the natural continuum from the party line. What we are seeing once again is a self-appointed group of vigilantes imposing their views on others. It is a heritage of communism, but they don't seem to see this.”

That was Doris Lessing again and the following is P D James

I believe that political correctness can be a form of linguistic fascism, and it sends shivers down the spine of my generation who went to war against fascism.

Doris Lessing and P D James do not want the right to be rude to people and insult them. They are talking about much more than that, they are talking about the liberty to express thoughts that go against the grain of the political orthodoxy.

For me it would be global warming, for others it will be what they believe in and do not want to be prevented from saying under the threat of being thrown in jail or being treated as a traitor.

'There is the anti-competitive sports ethos in schools' not in my kid's primary

gordy, that is because with the help of the Daily Mail and its hundreds of articles on non-competitive school sports days, we are beating them at every hurdle. We are liberating ourselves from the tyranny. Can we beat them? YES WE CAN.

So let me get this straight. People think they are constrained by political correctness, so don't speak out. When they do speak out and discover that they are not "howled down" because they have misunderstood what political correctness means- and that is the fault of political correctness????

'People think they are constrained by political correctness, so don't speak out. '

Yes.

'When they do speak out and discover that they are not "howled down" because they have misunderstood what political correctness means- and that is the fault of political correctness????'

No

or because, again, a lot of right wing hysteria whipped up by the mail was based on very little actual truth

gordyslovesheep , the Mail do not make things up. They have enough follies to write about to do with New Labour policies without making stuff up about political correctness.

People underestimate how important the issue of political correctness really is to voters - apart from Lord Ashcroft who understands it.

It is tied up wth party spin and the party line and people want to be free of them. It ranks higher in importance to many people than mere policies. That is why Doris Lessing and P D James spoke so strongly about it. It transcends policies because it stifles freedom.

"I linked to an article that explained the leader of the Green party's statement that “every senior adviser who refuses to accept the scientific consensus on climate change shouldn’t be in their posts”."

Employing someone as a senior adviser advising on what? Science in general? Climate change? Employing someone to advise on either of those, who did not 'believe' in climate change would be like employing an adviser who believed the world was 4,000 years old and humans co-existed with dinasaurs. It's not politically incorrect to not believe in (man made) climate change, it's just incorrect. Which is what I said before.

"Well, the Green Party is proposing just such an assault on senior government advisers – not on the basis of whether they believe in God but on the basis of whether they accept the climate-change consensus. The party has published a 10-point plan on dealing with the current floods, and at the very top of the plan is the proposal that all senior advisers who do not accept the “findings of climate scientists” should be ditched, thrown out of office, expelled from public life effectively. This would apply even to advisers whose brief has nothing to do with the environment As Green Party leader Natalie Bennett makes clear in this pretty shocking interview with the BBC, “every senior adviser who refuses to accept the scientific consensus on climate change shouldn’t be in their posts”.

It is said that even Secretary of State for the Environment, Owen Patterson, is a climate sceptic? Can we beat them? YES WE CAN!

"Why Is Climate Change Denier Owen Paterson Still in His Job?"

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mehdi-hasan/uk-floods-owen-paterson_b_4767153.html

'Please - lots of schools had competitive sports days despite what the DM lead you to believe.'

Absolutely, but the Mail did its duty in reporting on those which didn't - togther with pictures of suitably sad children and disappointed parents.

Do not underestimate the lengths that Mail reporters are prepared to go to, to expose what is going on.

Claig, you seem fairly obsessed with the view that political correctness is all about political orthodoxy and that politically correct people seek to stifle politically unorthodox thinking - even though that is incorrect. Yet people with views similar to yours on matters such as climate change, the death penalty, Europe etc are free to express them and do. The fact that other people may robustly disagee with those views does not mean that they are being shouted down, or that those people are being politically correct.

It seems to me on a par with those idiots who post on things like Mail Online "I know what I think about this but I wouldn't be allowed to say so". Try it, FGS, you might be pleasantly surprised.

That's good as long as the ones who wanted to be competitive were allowed their chance to shine. Both are possible, there's no one way or the highway.

'There is the anti-competitive sports ethos in schools' not in my kid's primary

gordy, that is because with the help of the Daily Mail and its hundreds of articles on non-competitive school sports days, we are beating them at every hurdle.

Absolutely not. Competitive sports days have continued unabated and that fact has nothing whatsoever to do with the Mail, despite what they claim. The plain fact of the matter is that, in accordance with their usual practice, they misreported the arrangements made by a few schools, printed a few sadface pictures, and when it was pointed out that it was nonsense and that competitive sports were indeed allowed in schools and always had been they loudly proclaimed that as a massive victory for themselves.

I know because it happened in relation to a school near me. They had a non-competitive sports day for the tinies, but they also held competitive sports separately for the entire school including the tinies. The Daily Mail reported it exactly as I have described above.

Are you really so sure that the Mail doesn't make things up? Have you ever had a look at their Corrections page? The one that they don't allow people to comment on? Now there's a stifling of free speech if ever I saw it.

"Claig, you seem fairly obsessed with the view that political correctness is all about political orthodoxy and that politically correct people seek to stifle politically unorthodox thinking - even though that is incorrect."

Don't listen to me. Listen to Doris Lessing and P D James.

“Political correctness is the natural continuum from the party line. What we are seeing once again is a self-appointed group of vigilantes imposing their views on others. It is a heritage of communism, but they don't seem to see this.”

I believe that political correctness can be a form of linguistic fascism, and it sends shivers down the spine of my generation who went to war against fascism.

Yet people with views similar to yours on matters such as climate change, the death penalty, Europe etc are free to express them and do

Exactly and that is why they cannot beat us. Lord Ashcroft is right that a huge part of UKIP's siuccess is that it opposes political correctness. The bigwigs and the great and the good hate the Daily Mail, but the people buy it and make it the second best selling paper in the country.

Can they beat us? NO THEY CAN'T!