From: banerjeeadda1234@gmail.com   
      
   On Tuesday 6 February 2024 at 09:25:25 UTC+11, Ilya Shambat wrote:   
   > The proponents of political correctness like to portray anyone who takes   
   objection to political correctness as a bigot or a neanderthal. Any expression   
   containing even a hint of anger brings on that response. I am responding now   
   to political    
   correctness in a manner that is fully reasoned and that cannot be portrayed   
   credibly as any such thing.    
   >    
   > Political correctness not only fails to achieve its stated goals of   
   tolerance and respect; it prevents them from being made possible at all. In   
   order to actually respect or tolerate the next person I need to understand   
   their perspective. For me to do    
   so the next person will have to be able to tell me their honest opinions   
   however offensive these may be. And if the next person cannot tell me their   
   honest opinions because someone may find them offensive, then I will never   
   understand the next person's    
   perspective, and I would not know whether or not to extend to that person   
   actual tolerance or actual respect.    
      
   There is a shloka is Sanskrit, meaning that pleasant (deceitful) lies and   
   unpleasant (harsh) truths should not be uttered.   
   An honest opinion is usually an unpleasant truth. One who receives it already   
   knows it - so no point telling them they are fat, old, bald (as I am) or   
   stupid and mean (like most people).    
   The whole point of democracy with secret ballot is that one does not know what   
   the next person's perspective really is. That is a great boon, really, when we   
   need to work together without friction rising from unnecessary talk.   
      
   Cheers,   
   Arindam Banerjee   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)