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3 days ago

Political correctness in my opinion is directly related to the idea of using social harmony as a control mechanism. Lets make a few distinctions clear: there is a difference between social harmony and harmony as an ideological ends onto itself. Many who gather under this harmonic ideological template claim to be moderates (truth be told, there are many different types of moderates, this isn't a good type though). I see this trend of political thought to be a full frontal assault on democratic values. The drive for harmony always lends itself to covert forms of censorship, including self-censorship. This tyranny of harmony, when pushed to the extreme, leads to a life of fantasy that shuts out social reality.

This idea of political correctness grew concurrently with the rise of positive or pop psychology, especially in the 1970's and the 1980's. Both concepts are directly linked to each other by virtue of their focus on social harmony above all else. Positive psychology, which you see in a lot of HR training manuals in both the public and private sectors, is a soft version of forced conformity, an attack on the ideas of community and individualism. Psychologists, both inside and outside of government, have learned how to manipulate social behavior. The promotion of collective harmony is just another carefully constructed mechanism for achieving conformity to certain ideals. Positive psychology is all about banishing criticism and molding a given population into a weak and malleable unit that will take orders easily. Personal values, those nurtured by an independent conscience, are gently condemned as antagonistic to harmony. Those who refuse to buy into this broader ideal are ostracized and their opinions are deemed "outside the mainstream". Those who go along are rewarded, depending on whatever field they work in. In the business world, going along might mean pay raises and promotions; in politics, it might mean achieving a higher office.

There is a dark and insidious quality to the ideology promoted by those support positive psychology and political correctness. This form of political thought condemns social critics and iconoclasts, the dissidents and individualists, for failing to surrender and seek fulfillment in the collective lowering of the herd mentality. It strangles creativity and moral autonomy and it seeks to mold and shape humans into a compliant collective. Fulfillment is to be found in complete and total social conformity.

As Genghis pointed out in his comment on this item, this is a form of conformity that's found in all totalitarian and authoritarian structures that seek to dominate. Its false promise of harmony only increases internal anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. The nagging undercurrents of alienation is a trend that's common among most Western nations can be directly connected to this junk ideology that's really just a softer version of totalitarianism.

Positive psychology seeks to create a false sense of enthusiasm, where self-presentation and appearances are valued over authenticity. In this land of happy thoughts and harmony, there are no gross injustices, no abuses of authority, no economic or political systems to challenge, and certainly no reason to complain. That in my view is why political correctness is such an insidious force in the body politic, one that we must battle if we want to maintain a semblance of democratic values.
votes 3 Helpful / 0 Funny / 2 Agree / 1 Disagree

8 days ago

votes 0 Helpful / 1 Funny / 1 Agree / 1 Disagree

9 days ago

I always have this problem with those damn dirty Sith...
votes 0 Helpful / 1 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

9 days ago

Hell, I'm happy with anything these days. Have you seen my stats lately? They suck on ice. At least I can say I no longer get soft votes as has been the case in the past (a point of much gear grinding in some circles), but I'd at least like to pick off the Reverend Rovin' on the funny board.

UPDATE: Well, I picked off Rovin', but something more fun has happened. I am number one in a category this week for the first time in a long time, and the category is disagree. Y'all motherfuckers must not like Kwanzaa, I guess...
votes 2 Helpful / 6 Funny / 4 Agree / 0 Disagree

12 days ago

Some people are very sensitive to criticism of this country. But it doesn't elicit as much opposition as other topics like religion or Sarah Palin.

To reach "sacred cow" status, it must be a subject that no matter how clearly argued the position, it still elicits the dreaded "disagree" followed by ranting in the threads. Politics and religion are the two big spots for this and I suspect that's why a lot of people shy away from commenting in these areas.

After 9/11, criticism of American foreign policy and our tactics in the war against terrorist would yield relatively high opposition. For a time, it wasn't popular to be against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's changed somewhat over the past few years. Probably its because the focus has shifted away from national security and towards the economy and other domestic concerns. Another factor to consider is the high unpopularity of the wars. That makes it easier to be critical.

This is a great country, but it has a lot of flaws--many of its policies are ill considered and painfully short-sighted. I criticize not because I hate America or any such thing. As opposed, I'm greatly concerned about the country's direction and seek to bring some clarity to the situation (even if I can't really impact the situation here from my perch on RIA!!)
votes 1 Helpful / 0 Funny / 1 Agree / 0 Disagree

12 days ago

I think that the diversity of the reviewer pool could be a bit stronger. While there are a wide range of reviewers covering a variety of subjects, from consumer goods and local businesses to the more esoteric subjects like politics and religion, I feel like there are relatively fewer new reviewers coming around and sticking around like there were in the earlier years of the site.

My focus has always been social issues and politics. The site provides a decent platform to express these views. It's what has kept me coming back for nearly 10 years now (time flies!). But it would be nice to encourage a more ideologically diverse pool of reviewers to come in and review items of a political and social nature. A few years ago the political reviews/weblists in particular were a much stronger element of the site. Perhaps the exit of a lot of politically geared reviewers left a bit of a vacuum in its wake. Maybe the tone of the debate around here turned off some reviewers, or most likely a lot of people just plain old burned out. The point is, a lot of strong voices haven't been replaced on this site.

The challenge is clearly to ensure that we have a diversity of reviews that inform and entertain while maintaining user interest. Part of the winning formula is clearly to sustain and develop a wide base of diverse reviews.
votes 7 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

12 days ago

I've never even felt the impulse to block another reviewer. That kind of stuff is very grade school to me.

As for the disagreements that will inevitably boil up, I can take the heat just fine and will defend myself accordingly. You can't take things too personally in the long haul. You can't say the same for a lot of other people.
votes 0 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

12 days ago

Where the hell is pbeavr when we need him? Ain't no integrity in these parts and there never has been. Rabid political partisans, fan clubs, and other assorted jackholes come here for various reasons and everyone has a little bias here and there that messes up the sample. But as others have said, this place ain't academic, so untwist a bit and enjoy the show, kids.
votes 1 Helpful / 1 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

12 days ago

Where did the comments go?

Are they no longer going to appear in my "feed"?

UPDATE:

They're back.

Strange things are happening.
votes 1 Helpful / 0 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

14 days ago

Hell yes.
I could learn all there is to know about baseball and pick up some free psychoanalysis along the way.
Well...not "free", as I'm sure I'd pay the tab.
votes 2 Helpful / 2 Funny / 0 Agree / 0 Disagree

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