it's also just plain tactically wiser to be kind to people up until the point when they make it absolutely clear that they'll repay it with dickery.
HA. Yes. I've been thinking about that one lately myself. What the right refers to derogatorily as "political correctness" is actually a form of diplomacy. Would you walk into your first meeting with aliens from another planet and just pull out a gun? No? Then you recognize that when interacting with others whose relationship with you starts out as neutral, it's better to improve the relationship or maintain the neutrality, rather than aggravating the other party. You also realize that because you're a participant in the situation, part of the responsibility of keeping the relationship from going sour is on you.
So why would anyone consciously go around using words that other people don't like, changing neutral relationships to negative ones, and hiding behind the defense that it's weak to be "politically correct"? Either they think they have to antagonize others, or they really don't understand the causal connection between their own words and the other party's negative reaction.
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chiming
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Date: 2012-09-02 12:35 am (UTC)From:HA. Yes. I've been thinking about that one lately myself. What the right refers to derogatorily as "political correctness" is actually a form of diplomacy. Would you walk into your first meeting with aliens from another planet and just pull out a gun? No? Then you recognize that when interacting with others whose relationship with you starts out as neutral, it's better to improve the relationship or maintain the neutrality, rather than aggravating the other party. You also realize that because you're a participant in the situation, part of the responsibility of keeping the relationship from going sour is on you.
So why would anyone consciously go around using words that other people don't like, changing neutral relationships to negative ones, and hiding behind the defense that it's weak to be "politically correct"? Either they think they have to antagonize others, or they really don't understand the causal connection between their own words and the other party's negative reaction.