Esau Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Here's a question we were discussing last evening,and thought that it would be a good one for here,written by a friend and figured/was a good one to be asked online. ---------------------------------------------- Question: Has political correctness led to a dilluted emotional life? Where we ourselves in many regions are a two-faced society, an example being the assumption that police should protect us in public if we find ourselves under threat but should leave us alone in private even if we are breaking the law; has this masquerade of dispassion in public led us in your opinion to a lackluster emotional life? Many further specific social examples of duality can be put forth such as cultivating private racist sentiment while publicily remaining polite. Our society seems to deem high individual investment in critical passions (ie. grief, fear, shame, anger) anywhere along a broad spectrum from quaint to "crazy" and dangerous. A rather absurd and widespread fondness (I would say thirst) for irony seems to lend itself directly to dispassion. I don't think anyone ever senses irony in a "life-altering" way, it is more a realization of wit and whimsey. A rather cheeky example would be that I have never had someone tell me that they experienced "mind-blowing irony" and now they were going to become a missionary for peace in the Andes Mountains. Is this the model that is going to continue in society? Is it leading to a more chilling, grey existence? How can a process which has evolved to such an extent be reversed if that even is the best answer. Only through our own vehemence can we truly know this world and ourselves in my/our opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bONES Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Originally posted by Esau: Question: Has political correctness led to a dilluted emotional life? you fuckin' hippie white boy, what are you some kind of flaming intellectual philosopher?? I'm ALWAYS politically correct, and my emotional life is anything but dilluted you do know i'm joking, right everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kung Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Masquerade of Dispassion- great sentiment/ great name for a band. There are alot of relevant and good ideas flowing around in that passage. I think it's very true in many ways. Cultivating private racism against a public backdrop of civility. Our society's distrust of intense emotions, our hunger for irony- one would have trouble denying these points. The connection gets a bit tenuous when trying to assert that our widespread fondness (I would say thirst) for irony seems to lend itself directly to dispassion. I also don't know that there isn't something such a thing as life altering mind blowing irony but I know what's trying to be said. It raises some really interesting thoughts and gives some shape to something I think we sense but leave unarticulated. To bring it back to music a bit I've read something Stanley Gemmel, a poet friend of the Slip's, wrote about Irony in a similar light. Essentially how irony is a snarky way of distancing yourself from rather than bringing yourself towards revelation. Also I think that Ween was placed on the planet to sodomize the shit out of this whole public/private political correctness dichotomy. I think they're acutely aware of this dangerous drift in our culture and are pissing upstream to reverse the tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questcequecest? Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 ive read this question twice, and im still pretty sure my answer would be, no. sure, there are a number of dualities/paradoxes present in our world. many people are confused by them (ie. george bush fighting for peace). and yes, its true that the irony of such paradigms does not motivate me to action on most occasions... but, how does this lead to a diluted emotional life? im happy, most of the time. when im not happy, i focus on what makes me happy the rest of the time, and im thankful for it... friends, family, health, music and the dank... the pursuit of money and things can only lead to disappointment, stress, and other 'critical passions.' perhaps its my personal disposition that keeps me smiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Musicface Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Wow Esau, nice question! quote: Our society seems to deem high individual investment in critical passions (ie. grief, fear, shame, anger) anywhere along a broad spectrum from quaint to "crazy" and dangerous. A rather absurd and widespread fondness (I would say thirst) for irony seems to lend itself directly to dispassion. I don't think anyone ever senses irony in a "life-altering" way, it is more a realization of wit and whimsey.... Is this the model that is going to continue in society? Is it leading to a more chilling, grey existence?I was looking at this question, and I couldn't help thinking about the turn of the (previous) century society as depicted in, among other places, the movie The House of Mirth (from a few years back with Gillian Anderson.) I'm not sure how much fictionalized accounts of that world represent the reality, but THAT society was certainly one where social and a different kind of political correctness were definitely taken to an extreme that created a "chilling, grey existence". If we look at our time as progression from that period, we're far better off and in fact seem to be moving in the right direction. PC-ness, I believe, is a phase whereby truths such as "one man can love another man and not be a pervert freak" or "black people are not below other people" or "in every important way, women are just as capable as men" can be reinforced to the point they are, simply, accepted as truths. When some people make a racist joke, for instance, they are often forgetting the the old equation that tragedy PLUS TIME equals comedy. For most things that are not considered PC at this point in history, it's simply a case that not enough time has passed for them to be considered funny. I'm also reminded of the fictionalized forward of Margaret Atwoods' "The Handmaid's Tail", where historians of the future are joking in exceptionally politically incorrect and misogynistic language about the events of the book as if they had taken place in the past. I always thought of this as a warning that the pendulum can swing back the other way. Personally I hope not because frankly I think (not withstanding occasionally set-backs such as the current middle east situation) we are moving in the right direction. Peace, Mr. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorgnor Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Political anything leads to bullshit and hurt feelings. Correectness can do the same if we act as if there is an incorrect way of being. Right action versus wrong only leads to right thought versus wrong... And yes we do have thought police now. They're called psychologists and they search for a "normal" way of being and thinking. The "Normal" human being has 1.2 vaginas, 0.97 penises, is Chinese or East Indian and lives in a shanty town. It's bullshit already. I think this mode of behaviour reflects the idea that in a nation ( or two) historically made up entirely of oppressive immigrants and the dissaffected native we need to publicly feel bad about the plight of the impoverished and downtrodden, as well as those sad people who were used to build these great nations. However, this does NOT mean that the powers that be are willing to give up their power to these same heathens. Matter of fact, FUCK'em(sarcastic face) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.