Politically Correct
I am old, I am old, old, old.
Heh.
I suspect that it is the years that have worn away my edginess (if I ever had any) to find the soft and squishy center.
Or perhaps it is that there is a truly a generation of people who have come to maturity (of a sort) with a completely unregulated and unmoderated outlet for their Id, and rudeness and audacious ignorance are admired and rewarded over civility and educated discourse because they think that’s the way it should be? Is it outrageous censorship just to ask people to be polite when it’s appropriate? Should I admire someone who comes into my house and shits on my carpet just because he’s breaking a taboo? Are there no taboos that must not be broken, not by artists or thoughtful people, but by people just looking for an excuse to act like assholes? Maybe I’m really just get tired of trolls and trolling masquerading as irony or worthy humor. Of people so cowardly and limp-dicked that they have nothing better to do than to anonymously slam anything and everything just for whatever atavistic thrill they must get out of it.
There’s a bunch of sites, some funny most not, that blast a bunch of manufactured rage against what, to me, are the wrong targets. Especially against minorities, those with disabilities, or even, yes, web comic artists. I read some really savage and mindless stuff out there, and it’s as though I somehow wandered into a drunken frat party for redneck morons, even on supposedly mainstream news and social networking sites.
I think of the comics - the truly great, rude comics - who have always been funny. Guys like Carlin, Foxx, Leary, Pryor, Murphy, Chris Rock - funny guys who cuss and are clever, and talk about things that are absurd in daily life or else attack hypocrisy and petty or grand injustices with biting satire. Those guys always, in my opinion, piss off the right people: The smug, the cruel, the selfish, the powerful - the maliciously stupid, or the willfully ignorant.
I never saw them attack truly benign or harmless people or institutions, except to sometimes point up some silly or arbitrary thing that was just, well, funny. When Maher attacks religion, it’s because he sees something genuinely destructive in the institution or the practice of it. Agree or disagree, he’s at least got a point. When Carlin made his seven dirty words list, he was talking about the arbitrary nature of language and communication. He was breaking social taboos because he was making you think about why they’re there in the first place. When Pryor uses the N word (which I, after a lifetime of social conditioning, still can’t bring myself to type) he was using it in a truly ironic way, and also in the context of his own experience and culture. And these guys were so funny that even the people they pissed off couldn’t deny that they were funny. And they started conversations and arguments, not just flame wars.
Yes, sometimes the socially acceptable behavior is a bit oppressive. Sometimes people get offended too easily, and we go too far to avoid it. But words do have an impact, even in this cynical world where we can consider articulate speech to be little more than a smooth lie. True eloquence can communicate great ideas or profound concepts or motivate a generation to progress or to great deeds. Conversely, a racial or religious slur that isn’t in context can ruin more than someone’s day. Common decency shouldn’t be derided as being “politically correct,” especially if all you’re doing is acting out because you’re angry or ignorant and want to make someone else look stupid.
Anyway, that’s a bit of rambling, because it’s been in my head for a few days.
Also, naturally, I want to mention that you all are an extraordinary bunch, and it is always a pleasure to read your comments and conversations. I do insist that we keep things civil here, and I am very appreciative of your willingness to do that.
May 21st, 2010 at 4:23 pm
…Can I date you?
May 21st, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Couldn’t agree more
May 21st, 2010 at 6:10 pm
It really is too bad there are not more people like you out there in the world, the eloquence of your particular “rant” was truly appreciated and a joy to read. Would that you lived a bit closer and had an interest in hanging out with a group of people that not only like to table top roleplay, but enjoy debating and intellectual talks late into that night, but since you do live so very far away we shall have to simply compliment your art and story telling abilities and your “rants” when you share them with us. Have a great weekend my story telling friend and may your Muse always be kind.
Damion
May 21st, 2010 at 8:55 pm
agreed, seconded, etc.-I’m an artist of a different type, one that thankfully doesn’t call for anything like the ongoing net attention that webcomics get. Every once in a while a notion crosses my mind about trying this art form and I turn it away without a blink–I don’t think I have any great stories to share particularly, not long term anyway, and I know I don’t care to see the caviling and backbiting and dreck that comes to so many web artists “just because of lullz” or whatever bad rationalization floats the posters boat. Civility is what marks us most in our humanity in the face of dislike or disagreement, or confusion, misalignment etc. If we cannot be civil with one another when we have the choice, we abnegate the choices that might arise.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:06 pm
All this edginess has gotten to be boring really, anyone fool can act like a barbarian. It takes class, grace, and style though to be part of gentel polite society.
Paraphrasing Mr. Spock “It’s easier for a noble to act the savage than the savage to be noble.”
I would rather be remembered as a polite and humble person, not an arrongant jerk.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:07 pm
JED - I so agree! It seems in this current age that only ‘celebrity’ is important. That doing something outrageous - just to be noticed - is considered the pinnacle. And if one of those trolls can perform their outrageous behavior by latching onto a popular site, then it’s only because they want more people to see them. Little do they seem to care what a low opinion others have of them.
May 21st, 2010 at 11:02 pm
awsome idea Jean… he does put this very well doesnt he? jean do you mind sharing? lol… ah but then he probably wouldnt have the energy to do the comics…
May 21st, 2010 at 11:09 pm
I’m sure we’d make sure he had time, Nyx. (I have to have time for my own creation phases, myself.)
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:23 am
I honestly do not understand the concept of PC in art, either generally or as in this case specifically web comics. I mean if you find something objectionable why are you reading it? Can’t we at least take responsibility for what we choose to look at?
May 22nd, 2010 at 12:31 am
…Jean beat me to it. I think I love you.
May 22nd, 2010 at 3:07 am
yeah i am with you there calisto atleast on visual art if its not like made overly obtrusive to peoples lives… if a person has a choice in viewing something that IS considered ART which means it often thought differently of by different people… or event the same person at differnt points in life… well there is NO reason to bash the artist who is using it as a venue of self expression when YOU chose to look at it or not
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:24 am
You know, I’d like to see a comic with regular witty humiliations of these hate-junkies.
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:57 am
Wow…I don’t know what happened to make you go off like that, but…
YOU ARE SO CORRECT!!!!
Thanks.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:18 am
Why do you assume that your viewpoint makes you old? To me you seem to be an erudite and responsive original thinking person whom I am proud to acknowledge as an influence in my life. Wisdom is ageless just as ignorance seems to know no bounds.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:47 am
oh and hey zai…. you got two of us in line ahead of ya… lol…
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 am
It is a shame that the usual violent outbusrts of this nature have to come from drunks and that crowd of beer or liquor deluged idiots that follow the loudest voices. They believe in thier acoholically clouded minds that they are doing the world a service. They find it easier to attack something that they do not understand rather than attempting to find understanding in the unknown. Artists (especially if thier work is slightly contraversial[ I apologise for my lousy spelling]) are the easy first targets and if the artist is on the web it must be porn and therefore fair game for these idiots. BUT BE MINDFUL MY FRIEND THAT THERE ARE THOSE OF US WHO APPLAUD YOUR WORK AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE WITH YOUR EFFORTS. Reguards to P-Chan
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:43 am
@Jinx Perhaps Jed sees so much of the rudeness, ignorance, self-obsession and other traits of social friction more from young people, and in wanting to have some courtesy, feels that distancing himself from that friction by claiming age is the simplest way to do it?
As people advance in age and accumulate life experience, most gain an appreciation for the buffering and lubricating effects of formal courtesy on the frictions of day-to-day contact with their fellow human beings. Some of us were also fortunate enough to stumble across a comment by Robert Heinlein, in his book “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long” It reads as follows:
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as ‘empty,’ ‘meaningless,’ or ‘dishonest,’ and scorn to use them. No matter how ‘pure’ their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
May 23rd, 2010 at 4:51 am
I wish there were more people like you, as I agree 100%… I especially wish the parent of the current generation of young adults were more like you…
Whatever excuses people use for the behavior of this generation’s young adults, fact is that our generation(s) never were this rude, selfish and genuinely uninterested in the rest of civilized world…
(I think the word is ego(t)istical, something that used to be a demeaning judgement of some people, but which seems to be a badge of honor worn proudly by the majority of Young Adults nowadays…)
May 23rd, 2010 at 10:32 am
*shrugs* JED makes some very accurate points, and I agree with the majority of them.
So…applause, anyone? *clapclapclap*
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
thanks John….I have come out of a conservative religious background and now in my early 50’s am living with my eyes truly open. Thanks for the well put ‘commentary” and of course the story and fantastic artwork of ZONA.
May 23rd, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Couldn’t agree more.
May 24th, 2010 at 3:06 am
hear here.
you’ve managed to put into words what i feel regarding the juvenile imbeciles who populate most forums, well said.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Thanks, all, for your comments and approbation. I do feel a bit like I’m waving my rake and screaming “Get offa my lawn!” so perhaps, as some suggest, it really isn’t so much a function of age as it is the anonymous medium itself. Certainly I have friends and relatives of the younger - and, indeed, the youngest - generation whom I love and find to be perfectly agreeable online and off. It just seems as though when you have a consequence-free environment, “all the frogs come out of the mud,” as Claudius said. Perhaps, to put it in perspective, we ought to remember that Socrates said much the same thing I did about “kids these days” over three thousand years ago. “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” That eternal verity is, I guess, why I said I feel old - every generation thinks the next one is going to Hades in a hand basket. And I know that some of the biggest bastards I’ve ever crossed flames with have been my age. I think it really is true that the true test of anyone is what they do when no one’s watching, or when they think they can get away with something.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:03 am
“Common decency shouldn’t be derided as being “politically correct,”
No. But that is the logical consequence of its frequent use to stifle debate about political agendas - the devaluation of _real_ decency. Gresham’s Law doesn’t just work on money.
The solution is to strenuously protest both political correctness, and fundamental breaches of common decency. When BOTH are greatly diminished, decency and civility will flourish again.
In a 4th Turning world, you may have to wait a bit for this… but the good news is, it will likely come in time. We just may have to work for it.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:32 am
I’m not talking about “stifling debate.” In point of fact, I truly hate the whole idea of “politically correct” as well as “politically incorrect” because both of them give cover to moral and intellectual cowardice and/or outright boorishness. My girlfriend is Mormon. It’s not funny to her when someone refers to her temple garment as “The Magic Underwear,” and so I try to be sensitive. Is that Politically Correct? Does it mean that I can’t discuss her beliefs? No, it doesn’t. But if I choose to make that joke, I would *definitely* shut down legitimate discussion, not to mention shutting down a dear friendship.
I grew up in a town where the ANP and the KKK flourished. I went to Jr High and High school in an environment where we literally had race riots. My friends were Chicano, asian and black. Rick was a good friend in HS, and he was a black kid. He came over one afternoon, and I will never forget my mother, who liked him, said, “Rick! Hey, there, haven’t seen you in a coon’s age!” Rick was the first one to bust up, because he knew, he absolutely knew what my mother meant, and it was hilarious. Even funnier was to see her try to back-track it: “Oh! Oh, you - oh, you KNOW I didn’t mean THAT! ” Cracking up, the two of us.
Context is everything, truth and common sense.
May 24th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
JED fer Prez! R. Crumb for Secretary of Big Women! You speak truth, John. Keep it up.
May 25th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Your Mormon friend is an example of genuine courtesy. Your mom is an example of common sense and context, which is often sadly lacking. And this is certainly true:
“I truly hate the whole idea of “politically correct” as well as “politically incorrect” because both of them give cover to moral and intellectual cowardice and/or outright boorishnes.”
Well, yes. When the rules are stupid or oppressive, they give real troublemakers the moral high ground. Remove the concept of “political correctness,” and you remove them both.
But the key is so simple. Sometimes, beliefs will offend. The question is WHY. We cannot keep sensitive souls from all harm, or perceived slight. We can insist that if you are going to offend someone, there be a good reason. And that people be understanding of others, and willing to give the benefit of the doubt (good manners are a reciprocal thing - Rick obviously had them).
Being able to giggle about magic underwear isn’t a good reason, which is why it’s just rude. But there are issues where political or religious beliefs will collide, and some may feel hurt. That’s just reality in a free society, and necessary to the proper functioning of a free polity.
But this also explains why some subjects have traditionally been fenced from polite conversation. If the bounds of politeness are (properly) very stretched in such conversations, not allowing them in “polite society” only makes sense.
May 28th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I’m a genuinely old guy who has been following Zona for a long time and this is the first comment I’ve made.
To me, the Chinese concept of “face” is both related to and an explanation for the notions of politeness versus rudeness. If your “face” is essentially the socially endorsed version of your manifest persona, then it is neither solely your own construction nor solely that of the society around you. For that reason, and because we are all mutually vulnerable to, if you’ll pardon the expression, “defacement,” maximum benefit to all parties accrues when we act as though we had mutual respect.
The basis of society is, of course, social, and we can’t be social if we don’t have some kind of awareness of other people’s sense of themselves. I think it’s the awareness of this that make one either mature or old, depending on what generation you’re in.
May 28th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Now there’s a topic that’s going to make me break my long-standing vow of silent lurking.
In addition to agreeing wholeheartedly with your frustration at the lack of common decency, I will add that one of the worst things to watch is how parading one’s uncouth behavior seems to actually increase social status. Kind of the inverse of the adage “nice guys finish last.” I think I die a little bit every time I hear about a guy who treats his girlfriend like dirt but still gets more loyalty than I do.
I haven’t fallen too far yet. I bite now, but only if I like you.
May 30th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Amen to that, brother
June 20th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Well, if you’re old, then I’m old, too, JED. I think it’s more a matter of having learned manners and knowing the social rules(and playing by them).
The ‘circles’ I travel in do not approve of bad manners and trolls, quite the opposite. And I’m only in my mid twenties with many friends and acquitances younger than me. Of course there are some, who’s manners and civility is not always the best, but hopefully they will learn.
Girls, girls. Haven’t you ever heard of a harem? That should solve your problem.
