romille wrote:The PC brigade will never be happy, all they want to do is find ways where they feel they can claim the moral high ground and make others feel they should be apologising for the language they use. It really is just a game to satisfy their feelings of superiority, in their own mind.
This is undoubtedly true to a point. But, it is a bit too black and white for me(in the light / absence of meaning).
There are definitely some real issues out there. And, like most things in life, people come in shades of grey. There may be some that meet the above description, but there are many more who really care about specific issues either from discrimination they have suffered personally, or because they just simply want to see a better world.
You only have to look back at some of the TV programmes from the seventies to realise attitudes have moved on, and with good reason in many cases.
The question for me is how you best achieve real progress. The reality is that a lot of progress has come historically from conflict and not gentle persuasion. Yet, at the same time, some of the holier than thou attitudes surely are a case of one step forward, two steps back. None of us like to be spoken down to or patronised - even when we eventually accept we are wrong.
Further, as an example, even though I accept that a degree of racism is prevalent in society, I suspect all this statue toppling and BLM extremism is like to be more counterproductive than constructive.
I mentioned the film "Hidden Figures" up thread, and I think this is a good example of getting it right. It tells a story without patronising, and makes it clear to any fair minded person - which most are - that racism and sexism are wrong. For me, it sends a far more eloquent message than throwing a statue of Colston into Bristol harbour which only gets my back up.
We need to be careful, though, that we do not let our dislike of extremist political correctness blind us to the very real progress that can still, and should still, be made.