Politically Correct Liberals on Social Media

Politically Correct Liberals on Social Media

It started with Thanksgiving, one of the few national holidays that haven't been totally corrupted by marketing even tho this year's controversy was opening stores on the holiday instead of waiting for "Black Friday," thus making underpaid store help miss this family oriented event. Of course there were enuf liberal commenters on FB complaining about that affront and asking ppl to boycott the stores on that day.

But then there came the naysayers, posting all sorts of negative things about those who celebrate Thanksgiving are somehow demeaning Native Americans, who were conquered and oppressed by the European newcomers invading this continent. (Forget that this was the way it was done EVERYWHERE in the ancient world, from the Persians, Romans, Mongols etc.)

I couldn't see how celebrating a brief moment of camaraderie among disparate ppl some of whom gave thanks to their deity for just being alive, should be scrapped because of the ensuing dreadful history and betrayal.

Still, it is an unusual holiday for a vegetarian Agnostic to enjoy, but I have always thot Thanksgiving a worthy concept.

I did celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Of note here is that I was the only "white devil" present in a gathering of all black Americans - who I suppose should get an exemption from the scourge of being Native American oppressors. Fact is, I don't feel I was a part of the oppression of black ppl in this country either. IT'S HISTORY - Learn From It and MOVE ON!

Then, just two days later, popular movie actor Paul Walker of the Fast & Furious franchise died in a fiery car crash. He was young and handsome, just 40 years old, had a pretty girlfriend and a 15-year-old daughter. He was a good man who personally helped ppl stricken by disasters and started Reach Out Worldwide. He was actually coming back from an event for that charity when he died on November 30th.




By the next day the criticism started. The politically correct naysayers on social media seemed to think that to acknowledge the death of an exceptional and popularly known man should not get such attention when he is not the only one who died. These complaints were made by some of the "liberal" friends on FB.




At least there are ppl who understood the dynamic of focus on someone we knew of even if we did not know them and they responded.





Altho I am usually considered liberal on my social views, I have had run-ins with many libs who go overboard on political correctness and seem to have as narrow a focus on the realities of life as the ppl on the other end of the spectrum.

Now there are some of my liberal friends complaining that Mandela's death is a worthy acknowledgment, but an actor's is not.

I didn't know either personally - just knew of their good works.

 

I consider myself liberal and absolutely not politically correct.
However, I do not idolize celebrities.

 

This just in today:

 

IT'S HISTORY - MOVE ON!

As a white man, you don't get to make that call. Lemme bust out what's probably your least favourite 'liberal' word, but you're privilege is showing. Just because you're not seeing the problem, doesn't mean it's still not out there and being blind to it and whinging ranting does make you apart of the problem.

 

Thanks for pointing that out.

IT'S HISTORY - Learn From It and MOVE ON!

 

I used to consider myself a liberal, because I thought that liberals were the compassionate, open minded, fair minded, tolerant "good guys". Though I think that there are many people who call themselves liberals who have those qualities, there are many more who call themselves liberals who don't.

I made the mistake of going to one of the most liberal colleges in the US. There I discovered that many liberals were liberal only to the extent that liberal policies were in their self interest. I found that most of the self-proclaimed liberals and radicals were among the most selfish, malicious, bigoted, dogmatic assholes I'd ever encountered. The rest would just cower and conform, because they knew that there would be retaliation, threats, and violence if they didn't.

Thanksgiving is a fine holiday. I think that the us in particular should acknowledge the crimes committed against native americans better than it has, and treat native americans better.

I don't think that attacking thanksgiving does any good though.

I think that there are good people and bad people in every demographic and ideological category. I don't see the world in terms of "liberal vs conservative". I don't think that someone is aware of paul walker and not nelson mandela is "without question, part of what is wrong with the world".

As I see it, the problem with the world is assholes, and the failure of people to work things out.

 

You are not entitled to declare someone unworthy of a right because of their race or gender. My guess is that you are against discrimination against women and non-whites, yet you embrace discrimination against whites and men. In other words, you philosophically embrace racism and sexism, you just don't want it directed at groups that you identify with.

I'm sure it's easier to tell someone to "move on" from history if you don't feel that your group was wronged.

On the other hand, I would say that there is no one opressor or oppressed group. All of us have been victimized, and have participated in victimizing others, in some way. It's just a matter of degree. You can't know something about a persons character or their personal history just by knowing their demographic category.

Just as an example, Shale is bi. I suspect that there are plenty of "oppressed minorities" who haven't had to deal with the threat of being beaten for being gay or bi. I suspect that there are plenty of them who have engaged in fag-bashing themselves.

 

Some are, some are not. Why should this surprise anybody?

No two people agree 100% on everything.

 

I would have to agree with OP to some extent.

I consider myself to be pretty liberal as well but this whole social justice warrior thing is annoying and I think it's doing more to turn people OFF of open-mindedness than it is helping people to tear down barriers. Nobody wants to hear that they're guilty of things they didn't personally do, or that they don't have a right to say this or this, or that all of the work they've done to get where they are today was meaningless.

It's not like every single white person in the world is going home every day to sit on a huge pile of money while non-white slaves walk around the house, doing their chores and telling them they're pretty, and then getting their kids a job at a Fortune 500 company by sending them a picture of their white face... but this seems to be the narrative that a lot of these extreme 'check your privilege' liberals are peddling.

I think its important to acknowledge the past as an example that we can learn from, but if someone keeps bringing it up over and over even though there's nothing anyone can do to change any of it, it's not a constructive step in the right direction, it's a guilt trip designed to convince someone that they're evil/wrong because of the color of their skin.

You don't build bridges by guilting people into hating themselves... you build bridges by setting positive examples.

 

Shale, in general I love your contributions to this forum. The problem with this post however, is that what happened in the past is something that you are benefitting from today. What happened in the past is something many others are suffering from today. Celebrating a moment in history in which horrible atrocities followed and more importantly that are largely ignored and even lied about in terms of education, is like a slap in the face.

I don't agree with getting angry about it or blaming anyone for what happened then, but I do believe in activism, speaking out and bringing awareness to the truths that people blindly ignore in order to stay in their comfort zone.

Privilege is real. The reason it's been used all over the place lately, is that people who have privilege rarely see is as such. It is just normal to them. It's not their fault, but it makes you a hell of a lot more sincere and virtuous to actually be aware of your privilege, because the way the stories and news constantly portray issues from one privileged perspective is wrong. That is why people are finally and vigilantly fighting through social media, against mainstream media, to a less biased position.

That is the point of social media. To share information with people freely, without the limitations of mainstream media. If you don't like it, you're free to ignore it, but you can also just not take it personally. Some people are overly dramatic about it, sure. But just think of the disparities in this world and you might understand why.

How many people in this world have no voice because they don't have 1st world privileges? Some of us choose to at least speak out to bring awareness to these people and the many layers of stories that are not told.

 

It is history to many of us, but not to those who still struggle as a result of these historical events.

 

usedtobehoney,

I don't think the issue here is that privilege isn't real or that speaking out about these things is wrong, it's that the guilt tactics and criticisms and complaints are so relentless that it's like some people don't think that any white person should ever be happy about anything. And it's stuff that we're pretty much powerless to change as well.

I don't own a business, so I can't give minorities jobs. I just lost my job so I can't afford to give very much money to charity. I'm probably not going to be able to support myself in retirement, and I have literally less than $5000 worth of possessions. I don't own a car, a house, a boat, a plane, a huge pile of money, or land. I have only ever rented and none of my apartments have been large or luxurious. I don't have a wife or children or even that many friends. THIS is the epitome of easy living? Seriously? I'm sure there are black people out there who have a lot more money than I do, who have more things than I do, and who have much happier lives as well. If it's so easy for me to be rich and attractive and have such a fantastic life, then where exactly do I need to go in order to collect my benefits? If I was a minority, I could just tell myself that this is all because of white privilege, but since I'm white, it's obviously because I'm a loser.

And seriously what exactly are white people supposed to DO about all of this? What specific action or phrase or gesture will make everyone shut up and let me have a little happiness in my evil, privileged life? Yes, okay, thank you for telling me how privileged I am... now what?

It's seriously gotten to the point where these people just look like children who enjoy being angry, and want to hold this over my head forever. There is literally nothing you can do to make them happy, because they don't want to BE happy.

I can't enjoy Thanksgiving because of the First Nations. I can't enjoy Christmas because it's Christian or because it's too commercial. I can't enjoy my job because I only got it by being white. I shouldn't tell people to stop shitting on the few times each year that people are supposed to STFU and enjoy themselves because of something that someone I don't even know did in the 19th century... even though, surprise surprise, my family was dirt poor like the rest of the world and couldn't even AFFORD slaves, and probably didn't give a shit about anything except staying warm and finding enough to eat.

I couldn't possibly be poor or lonely or ugly or deserving because I'm white. I wake up in the morning, and I'm oppressing someone. Why must every single aspect of my life be so negative and shitty and wrong?

Honestly, just tell me what to do to get these people to shut up and I will do it.

I'm pretty sure that the world's problems aren't about race-- they're about money. The race issue is a distraction... if money were distributed equally, then there would be no imbalances anywhere. It doesn't matter if you're white or black or gay or whatever... you can't change any of that stuff and it's largely irrelevant. There are rich people of all colors and backgrounds. Who cares if most of them are white? A poor white person has more in common with a poor black person than a rich white person.

I have travelled all over the world and I can say for sure that all that really matters and all that really defines who you are is how much money you have. And I can't give people what I don't have... I literally cannot spare anything if I want to continue to support myself. The mega-rich have notoriously pressured the middle class to give up their money to the poor... and they use racism and political correctness and accusations of privilege to do it.

But the truth is, they're the only ones with any real power and they want you to think it's a race issue because that way you're not looking at them... you're looking at the average white guy who doesn't have anything to give, because they know he'll feel guilty because he wants to do the right thing. You're looking at the people who make 70k instead of the people who make 250 million... because all you see is the color of their skin, as if that makes them the same.

If these people want to change the world, they should go after the rich people. Going after people based on the color of their skin is a mistake and it's distracting people from the real issue, which is wealth imbalance.

 

I already agreed that the negativity is unnecessary and yet it does help people to open their minds in some cases. Some people are more motivated by negativity. What I'm saying is people can and should speak out about things that are important to them, maybe they are just learning and testing the best ways to do so.

I don't think anyone is trying to make white people feel guilty. Privilege isn't something that only white people have. Practically every person who uses a computer is privileged. And I think the people who consider themselves to be activists aren't going after people just by talking/bringing awareness to a subject. They are not going after anyone based on the color of their skin, they are bringing awareness to a societal issue.

Wealth imbalance is a big part of it, sure. But I have to disagree that is all it's about. Rather you have money to give is irrelevant. No one is asking for your money.

The thing about many poor white people, by the way, is that they still see themselves as better than a poor black person and benefits from the fact that in most cases they can blend in and not be profiled.

Honestly, these people are not asking for anyone to give anything to anyone else, except to acknowledge what's going on. You can say that oh they should go after the people with power, but the fact is, there's not enough people or power to go after the people with power. People who are not experiencing these things have to stand up and say they disagree with it too before people with power will do anything but dismiss or subterfuge what the minorities, "extremists", or whatever other label they want to put on people who speak for the simple fact that not enough people are willing to speak out.

The people who do speak out, do it in order to bring awareness and create solidarity among us...all of us, the everyday people. This is NOT a black and white thing. This is a humanity thing. Anyone who is really into this is talking about ALL kinds of issues, not just black and white, so maybe some of you are feeling guilty but if you are, maybe that's not such a bad thing, after all, you are trying to ignore the fact that these problems exist and that you benefit from them.

I know I have felt guilty as well, its not anyone's fault. But while we have privileges that benefit us, we also have privilege that holds us back. We have the ability to be more aware of what's going on rather than ignore or be convinced that only extremists speak out, so what they're saying must not be true. The dismissive media bias is a privilege that anyone with a television can accept rather than to think and make their own decisions. To live in this world, you oughtta feel guilty sometimes or else you're just ungrateful and heartless, unless you're dying on some corner or in the desert somewhere, we all benefit from from classist societal structures.

P.S. A lot of the liberals you're talking about who speak out on these things ARE white people who are confronting their own privilege and in the process trying to learn. I see more white people arguing with each other than not. It is the people who claim racism doesn't exist and that everyone already has equal rights and no one has the right to complain that these people are arguing against.

 

Also. You can enjoy anything that you want to enjoy. No one is stopping you. If you don't like what people are saying, ignore them. I promise you they are not out there to make you feel guilty or not enjoy your life. What they're saying is think of those who can't. Think of those who died and let's not pretend that shit didn't happen by turning the whole thing into a way to parade the commercialism that came about only from killing and stealing and enslaving. Maybe your white ancestors were also killed, stolen, enslaved. It wasn't something that only happened to Natives or blacks, no one is trying to say that...what they are saying is the commercialism is a way of dismissing the truth and it's negligent and offensive for everyone to go along with that and have no acknowledgement of what really went down.

I know many people who speak out about these things and they may have "celebrated" Thanksgiving, it doesn't make them a hypocrite to get together with their families, they can do that and also say, what we were told this day was about is a lie and that's not okay. It's not about YOU. It's about a history of lies and a future where lies are still constantly being told in order to suppress the truth. It's about the mainstream media feeding people sugar and poison and those people happily asking for more.

 

I think you were right to raise the issue of wealth distribution. Why is it that this massive guilt trip is being put on you because of your race? Well, because there is a class that enjoys fantastic privileges from it. If you are from a wealthy background but are a member of an "oppressed minority", you get college admission privileges, scolarships, hiring preferences, government contract and business privileges, etc. And in any confrontation you may have with a white person, they are always in the wrong. Why give that up? Why not just milk the system as much as possible? As long as you can get benefits in the name of poor minorities, and you can keep whites cowering in fear of a race guilt trip, the gravy train keeps rolling.

 

Please show me some real life examples of minorities government, scholarship, hiring or admission privileges that were simply due to the fact of being a minority and had nothing at all to do with that person getting up there, doing the work, qualifying and the institution of choice deciding that that one minority person could be allowed into a vastly majority construct. Please show me how you have been hurt by a tiny few minorities benefitting from any of these things.

 

usedtobehoney,

I would love to agree with your idealistic interpretation of the 'check your privilege' phenomenon, but to me it just seems like a way of invalidating someone's input based on the fact that they're too 'privileged' to understand a certain situation. And yes, white people can hate themselves... I didn't mean that only minorities use the phrase.

Maybe poor white people see themselves as better than poor black people. Do you think the majority of poor people think this way? If they do, do you think it really changes anything for black people?

Don't you think that maybe there are poor black people who see themselves as superior to poor white people? Why is one of these things somehow evidence of 'privilege' whereas the other isn't? And who cares about a bunch of racists anyways? Why do you think that their nonexistent social influence is suddenly important? This is another thing that social justice warriors are big on-- actively seeking out things to criticize as if they're the rule instead of the exception.

And awareness is fine, but it doesn't really seem to be the biggest problem. I don't think there is anyone out there who hasn't heard all of the usual BS... and if they've heard it already, they've probably also made up their minds about whether or not they believe it, or whether or not they care.

No, the real issue most certainly IS wealth imbalance. Money IS power. Money IS influence. It's also security, education, etc. People will always treat you differently if your standard of living is higher. If your standard of living is the same as theirs, then they will treat you as an equal.

You're never going to get rid of racism-- you can't tell people what to think and you can't make people blind to racial differences. But getting rid of the wealth imbalance IS possible and will truly make for a better world. And if people could agree on that instead of bickering about whose feelings are the most hurt or who is the biggest victim, then we might actually start to see some real positive change.

 

Who do you think you're kidding?

Who do you think you're kidding?

Ok, so maybe there are some poor white people who see themselves as better. I'm not sure what your point is.

I think that you're more likely to get profiled if you're a white hippie than if you're black. If the cops search a hippie for drugs, or beat/harass a hippie, they can get away with it. Much more likely to face protests, law suits, political flack, media scrutiny, and riots if the profiling is of a minority.

Imho, this is a giant steaming pile.


I certainly think that there are wrongs in the world that we should all try to fix. Poverty, human rights violations, and environmental issues all are important areas of concern. I think it's a huge mistake, however, to try to lay on these race/gender based guilt trips, or to see the problems of the world in terms of these demographic categories.

A lot of these PC people seem to imagine that their perspective is free from bias. They seem to imagine that they are spreading awareness to the ignorant masses, without much willingness to consider that maybe they've got it wrong.

UTBH, it seems like you have good intentions, but much of what you are saying strikes me as likely being the stuff you got spoon fed in school.

 

Oh please.

 

Shale, I don't really see how the things you pointed out were an example of political correctness, per se. White/male/American privileges aside, I think some of the things you saw on Facebook are important issues that certainly should not be ignored.

Fuck Black Friday and all of the mindless consumerism it fosters. I think the "correct" thing to do in this society is go out and shop, shop, shop, at the expense of those low wage workers, people laboring in factories around the world, and the dwindling resources of the earth at large. I would venture a guess that it is not politically correct to call people out for participating in this grotesque side effect of capitalism.