Is the term "redneck" politically correct ?

[duszek]

People who work hard in the fields deserve respect, don´t they ?

Today farmers drive huge air-conditioned combines (as I saw on TV) and don´t have to expose their body to the sun.

But is the term politically correct ?
Someone who works hard should not be made fun of.
Kain was the first person who worked hard in the fields, together with his mother Eve, while his brother Able was a shepard and had a less hard life that way. Adam was also a shepard.

Kain and Eve were the first rednecks.

[Walker]

Is the word politically correct?

That depends upon the politics of the one saying the word.

“Redneck” has traditionally always been a pejorative, as a way to label someone deplorably unsophisticated.

- For example, in the USofA, a big-time comedian with a big public voice said this about President Trump. On broadcast TV.

- And, because of the speaker’s politics, the people concerned about PC and who use it as a weapon only shrug and say, “Freedom of Speech.”

- However in the same context, if his politics were not approved by the PC, or if he said the following about a person approved by the PC (Obama), his career would be over, over.

"Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster."
- Steven Colbert

[duszek]

Yes, it´s o.k. to make fun of someone unsophisticated.

But is it o.k. to make fun of someone working in the fields ?

Or to make fun of someone working hard in a factory ?

"Prole" is not politically correct either, as far as I am concerned.

Calling someone a gorilla can be a problem too, for nature lovers. A gorilla saved a boy in a Chicago zoo, some years ago. We should show respect.

[Walker]

Yes, it´s o.k. to make fun of someone unsophisticated.

But is it o.k. to make fun of someone working in the fields ?

Or to make fun of someone working hard in a factory ?

"Prole" is not politically correct either, as far as I am concerned.

Calling someone a gorilla can be a problem too, for nature lovers. A gorilla saved a boy in a Chicago zoo, some years ago. We should show respect.

Yes, it´s o.k. to make fun of someone unsophisticated.
- No. That's not at all what I said.
- You said that. Right there.
- And, you are implying that was my meaning.
- The question is, are you projecting, being provocative, or being malicious?
- No matter.

- Anyone who can do what a farmer does, is not unsophisticated.
- However, if someone wants to label a farmer a redneck, it's not because of a suntan.
- It's because of a preconception, i.e., bigotry.

But is it o.k. to make fun of someone working in the fields ?
- It depends on your intent.
- If you also work in the fields you could probably get away with it, if you're the jester type.
- After all, people often make fun of each other for engaging in the same activity. Just look around.

Or to make fun of someone working hard in a factory ?
- Same as fields.

"Prole" is not politically correct either, as far as I am concerned.
- They don't use that word much down on the farm, as far as I know.

Calling someone a gorilla can be a problem too, for nature lovers. A gorilla saved a boy in a Chicago zoo, some years ago. We should show respect.
- Gorillas are unsophisticated, but that's no reason to disrespect them. As I recently read in an Emerson essay, animals aren't halfway creatures, and that in itself is reason to respect them, but it doesn't make them sophisticated. Or, does it?


Speaking of Russian holsters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsFR8DbSRQE

[duszek]

Walker,

you said that people use the word "redneck" as a way to indicate someone unsophisticated.

This implies that a person working the fields and risking skin cancer in order to feed his family is unsophisticated.

A stereotype is being used here.
If you work in the fields and come back home you are too tired to read Kant and Hume.

Are you with me so far ?

I am not cantenkerous, I wish to clarify problems in a friendly atmosphere.

Peace.

[Walker]

I understand what you mean.

However, calling someone unsophisticated does not make them so.
That is just the perception of one who sees a group and not individuals.

Plus, I think I’ve always looked at the word sophisticated in a bit of a different way.
Not so much to define an urbane person, but rather to define someone who has their ducks in a row.

- A sophisticated person is someone who can simultaneously hold two seemingly contradictory points of view.
For instance, a farmer values the lives of his animals and yet doesn’t hestitate to take those lives.
A farmer loves the weather, and hates the weather.

- In a complex world, a farmer takes big risks.
Usually that means borrowing against the next crop, and to successfully live on the edge requires sophisticated qualities of balance.

- A farmer’s life deals directly with elemental forces of nature.

- A farmer has to be sophisticated enough to know the worth and value the lifestyle.

- If the farmer’s lifestyle option is to go heavily into debt and go to college so he can get a job in some city sitting in a cubicle all day under artificial lights while his body slowly breaks down from sitting, then for him to see that’s not his cup of tea and not do it, is quite sophisticated.

- However, if it is a farm hand or a day laborer under consideration, look no further than Eric Hoffer, the working-man philosopher. He was a migrant worker and when he got older he worked the docks in San Francisco. He worked just enough to take care of his needs, which he could do with his union seniority on the dock. He valued the free time more than the money.

[thedoc]

Jeff Foxworthy has made a lot of money by corrupting the word "redneck" to something it didn't mean originally. I can't fault him for cashing in on a concept, but I can criticize him for corrupting the meaning of the word. It's a word that that has fallen into disuse so it's no surprise that he usurped the word for a new meaning.

[thedoc]

I understand what you mean.

However, calling someone unsophisticated does not make them so.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/r ... et-launch/

The guy in the blue plaid shirt is an astrophysicist, not very unsophisticated in my estimation.

The father, in the red shirt, used to work on the rockets that launched the men to the moon.

[thedoc]

Jeff Foxworthy made a few comments that apply to me, but I don't consider my self a redneck, but either definition.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

Jeff Foxworthy made a few comments that apply to me, but I don't consider my self a redneck, but either definition.

I suppose it refers to people like this.

[thedoc]

Jeff Foxworthy made a few comments that apply to me, but I don't consider my self a redneck, but either definition.

I suppose it refers to people like this.

Are you judging them by appearance, that is very unsophisticated on your part.

[Walker]

I’ve seen the picture before. Those aren’t farmers. Those are murderers.

They look like cracker hayseeds.

Unsophisticated is not knowing what you're looking at.

[thedoc]

I’ve seen the picture before. Those aren’t farmers. Those are murderers.

They look like cracker hayseeds.

Unsophisticated is not knowing what you're looking at.

Does being a murderer make you unsophisticated?

[Walker]

Here’s a farmer and his happy wife.

Whatta you know. They both look like philosophers.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... roject.jpg

[Walker]

I’ve seen the picture before. Those aren’t farmers. Those are murderers.

They look like cracker hayseeds.

Unsophisticated is not knowing what you're looking at.

Does being a murderer make you unsophisticated?

Absolutely.