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by rmc 4954 days ago
This can become a no true scotsman argument. What's the difference between political correctness and anti-discrimination? Is saying "spouse" or "partner" (instead of "wife") to a man you know is married politically correct or anti-discrimination?

Mostly PC is not about avoiding "offence", but about ensuring under-represented minority is not felt left out purely for being in that group. Despite what right wing tabloid newspapers print, very few people are actually offended by the mention of the word Christmas. Instead saying "Happy Christmas" implies you aren't thinking about the non-christians, and/or that there is nothing wrong with not thinking about non-christians. Saying "Seasons Greetings" is a code for "We are aware there are non-christians here, and we want to let them know we think you're just as welcome here as christians".

1 comments

Why should I be aware of everybody's likes and dislikes? I'm just living my own life and that's it.

Are we going to call meat "animal-sourced food" next? Just to let vegetarians know we're aware of them...

Why should I be aware of everybody's likes and dislikes?

Because empathy towards your fellow human beings is a virtue and not giving two flying fucks about anyone except number one is not very nice. You may choose to live your life that way, but plenty of people in the world actually care about people aside from themselves.

Are we going to call meat "animal-sourced food" next?

Apples and Oranges. A more apt analogy is like a company having a meal outing and having no vegetarian options. It sends the signal to the veggies that they aren't fully welcome.

I don't think empathy and acknowledging is the same as going out of my way to make sure any possible minority is pleased if I accidentally meet them on my way.
A cursory level of respect for other humans is enough.