Common Courtesy

[commonsense]

What happened to it? Is it dead? Who killed it? Why is it gone? When did this happen?

As life speeds up, courtesy winds down. Courtesy had been dissolving gradually until the advent of the information age. Politeness is a sign of weakness. Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

[henry quirk]

Civility lives, just not on-line or in certain RL company.

[Immanuel Can]

Politeness is a sign of weakness.

Or is the ability to remain calm and kind evidence of strength?

Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.

But PCness is a weakness: it indicates a lack of ability to think for oneself, and a susceptibility to irrational influence.

Our cultural conversation is bifurcated into the "good" and the "bad," the "us" and the "them," the "left" and the "right." This oversimplification can hardly reflect a strength of intellect. Countries afflicted thereby alienate half their own citizens, treating them as "pinkos" (on the onside) and "deplorables" (on the other) with whom reasoning is no longer possible.

How would it not be better, on both an individual and a collective level, if they were courteous and rational with each other?

[commonsense]

Or is the ability to remain calm and kind evidence of strength?

Good point. I suspect that everyday Joe's would take civility as a weakness, though.

But PCness is a weakness: it indicates a lack of ability to think for oneself, and a susceptibility to irrational influence.

Yes. I think the general populace would see it as an annoyance, a set of rules invented by the elite.

[FlashDangerpants]

Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

What does that really mean?
Has politeness been replaced by not using the words like darkie, kyke, dick-smoking-uphill-gardener, butch-mustachiod-shotputting-lesbo and the like? Were people genuinely more polite back in the days when they were quite allowed to put this sign in their establishment?


In your actual daily life, are you genuinely oppressed by people who get triggered by the presence of cisgendered white males and have to go and hide in a safe space if you don't complement them on their delicious rolls of back fat? Or are those people a handful of batshit crazy freaks that you only actually encounter via television and reddit?

All of this is just another round of rose tinted nostalgia for an era when people were actually just as rude and jugmental as they are today, and many people lived in dread of public bullying that this nasty PC stuff is supposed to prevent. the polite society of yore basically ganged up on people and was not at all polite to them. They also beat their wives a lot, and all agreed to not discuss it because that would be rude.

Obviously the phrase PC has been invoked, so we can assume somebody who disapproves of it will be along to issue a very predictable long sweary rant about that. Which I submit in advance only reinforces my point.

[Lacewing]

butch-mustachiod-shotputting-lesbo

Common courtesy seems to get lost when people are overwhelmed in their lives. They're simply too tapped out to consider anything more.

I don't think politeness is a sign of weakness. It can be genuine or phony. And it may not always be appropriate for the circumstances at hand. If someone is being dishonest or absurd, being polite to them doesn't call them on their behavior -- rather, it sort of agrees "this is acceptable and reasonable".

I think it's better in most circumstances to say, "Wait a minute, that's really messed up." There are nice ways to do that. But in the online arena, there are a lot of false and foolish people strutting around stroking themselves while making ridiculous claims, and there's no sense not having fun or being entertained while dealing with that. I think it's a gift to respond honestly to them, even if it's not recognized (right now) as such.

[Nick_A]

What happened to it? Is it dead? Who killed it? Why is it gone? When did this happen?

As life speeds up, courtesy winds down. Courtesy had been dissolving gradually until the advent of the information age. Politeness is a sign of weakness. Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

Courtesy is only valued by a person able to put themselves into the position of another regardless if they agree with it. The ability is being lost just as respect for individuality is being lost. It has become fashionable to be courteous to certain groups and condemn others because of conditioned attitudes. There is no logic in it but when has that stopped anything?

[Greta]

Courtesy is not dead, it just smells funny. Trump is a great example of showing how a person who doesn't give a damn can exploit and dominate those who are limited to politeness norms. By the same token, an unskilled street fighter can take out a boxer who operates purely by Marquess of Queensbury rules by kicking him in the nuts or using a weapon.

When politeness rules are consistently and flagrantly ignored then there is conflict. Politeness is a circuit breaker but it has been too exploited for too long, with the rude ever more riding roughshod over the polite, making reckless claims and generally taking control - and then screaming blue murder should there be the slightest retaliation. The way of the bully.

Thus, there needs to be those willing stand up to the new wave of glorified fascism. Such people will tend to be lambasted in the dominant Murdoch media.

[Immanuel Can]

Good point. I suspect that everyday Joe's would take civility as a weakness, though.

You might be right. But I think anyone with half a brain would realize that loud and right are two different things, so maybe the smart folks wouldn't be fooled.

But PCness is a weakness: it indicates a lack of ability to think for oneself, and a susceptibility to irrational influence.

Yes. I think the general populace would see it as an annoyance, a set of rules invented by the elite.

Those that recognize PCness as a form of elitism would be the opposite constituency, obviously -- not the "Everyday Joe" type. I would guess that "the general populace" just absorbs PC values "through the skin," so to speak, and gives them very little critical reflection. They tend to think PCness is some kind of "common sense," or at least some kind of "common niceness" with which one should go along uncomplainingly.

[commonsense]

Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

What does that really mean?
Has politeness been replaced by not using the words like darkie, kyke, dick-smoking-uphill-gardener, butch-mustachiod-shotputting-lesbo and the like.

I simply meant that the word “politeness” has been replaced by the term “PC”. Nothing very profound about the idea that PC is politeness.

[uwot]

What happened to it? Is it dead? Who killed it? Why is it gone? When did this happen?

When you grew up. Adults generally present children with a very distorted picture: that grown-ups are well-informed, wise, responsible, honest, courteous even. All splendid qualities that we would wish to engender, so the story of the adult world becomes a morality tale. But kids being kids, some believe it, and when they get older, some become nostalgic for a world that never existed.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

What does that really mean?
Has politeness been replaced by not using the words like darkie, kyke, dick-smoking-uphill-gardener, butch-mustachiod-shotputting-lesbo and the like? Were people genuinely more polite back in the days when they were quite allowed to put this sign in their establishment?


In your actual daily life, are you genuinely oppressed by people who get triggered by the presence of cisgendered white males and have to go and hide in a safe space if you don't complement them on their delicious rolls of back fat? Or are those people a handful of batshit crazy freaks that you only actually encounter via television and reddit?

All of this is just another round of rose tinted nostalgia for an era when people were actually just as rude and jugmental as they are today, and many people lived in dread of public bullying that this nasty PC stuff is supposed to prevent. the polite society of yore basically ganged up on people and was not at all polite to them. They also beat their wives a lot, and all agreed to not discuss it because that would be rude.

Obviously the phrase PC has been invoked, so we can assume somebody who disapproves of it will be along to issue a very predictable long sweary rant about that. Which I submit in advance only reinforces my point.

And of course the PC can't be rude arseholes too (they just make sure that their insults are fashionably PC ones). Cowards.

[Walker]

Politeness has been replaced by political correctness.There’s just no need for it.

What does that really mean?
Has politeness been replaced by not using the words like darkie, kyke, dick-smoking-uphill-gardener, butch-mustachiod-shotputting-lesbo and the like? Were people genuinely more polite back in the days when they were quite allowed to put this sign in their establishment?


In your actual daily life, are you genuinely oppressed by people who get triggered by the presence of cisgendered white males and have to go and hide in a safe space if you don't complement them on their delicious rolls of back fat? Or are those people a handful of batshit crazy freaks that you only actually encounter via television and reddit?

All of this is just another round of rose tinted nostalgia for an era when people were actually just as rude and jugmental as they are today, and many people lived in dread of public bullying that this nasty PC stuff is supposed to prevent. the polite society of yore basically ganged up on people and was not at all polite to them. They also beat their wives a lot, and all agreed to not discuss it because that would be rude.

Obviously the phrase PC has been invoked, so we can assume somebody who disapproves of it will be along to issue a very predictable long sweary rant about that. Which I submit in advance only reinforces my point.

You invoked the phrase but not the meaning.

The Meaning of PC

The PC police (not me) would call the posting of that picture there, a racist act.

They would say the context in which the picture was made public is irrelevant.

What is relevant is the feelings of vulnerable people who will see that picture.

They will naturally feel threatened, and you with your vicious microaggressions are the cause of their distress, for you posted that picture. Doesn't matter why you did, or even where the picture is from.

The PC police would say, you must immediately remove that picture and publicaly apologize for posting it. Even if you do those things, if it’s for a political purpose to destroy your life, don’t be surprised if demonstrators show up in front of your house with a news crew. You will be asked earnest, serious questions such as, have you always been an ignorant, bigoted racist?

Oh yes, and you will begin to receive anonymous threats too, even if you do apologize and remove it, as ordered.

If you are high profile enough, you will be mocked and attacked in public media.
You will be refused service in restaurants.


If you want immunity from all this nonsense, just call yourself a Democrat.


That’s a bit more like what PC is all about.

And everyone knows it, although pretending it isn't so is part of the PC.

If that truth reinforces your point, then consider yourself amplified.

[Greta]

Some more examples of PC.

Uproar when anything is done to the flag.

Uproar and claims of not supporting troops when a hare-brained war has been concocted by hawks.

Uproar about queer people teaching kids and in some cases, even going to the toilet.

Uproar about "bad language".

Uproar about birth control and abortion.

Uproar about saying anything negative about religion - even to the point where paedophiles were excused for decades.

There are so many more examples of PC preciousness, people forcing others to walk on eggshells because of their precious beliefs.

[Walker]

You're giving examples of of what you consider to be uproar, not PC.

Some of those judgments are rather sketchy, too.

Like, what’s similar between FDP getting PC attacked for a non-threatening educational picture, and your examples of legitimate disagreement?