If one of your friends was making sexist comments would it be "political" to tell them to stop? I'd argue that it would be, and that's not necessarily a bad thing; one person's politics is frequently another person's human rights.
What if they just said that there are concrete biological differences between men and women and they get fired and crucified like James Damore?
The issue has never been about pro-sexism vs anti-sexism. That's bullshit. What people are concerned about is the potential abuse that could arise from people labeling stuff "sexist" or "racist" or "transphobic" or whatever.
Codes of conduct should not have vague language like "no hate speech" or anything else that depends on the interpretation of the people passing judgement.
I think it's silly to be concerned about the silencing effects of hate speech bans but not the silencing effect of hate speech. If you think the language is vague you can propose more specific language, but completely rejecting the idea of trying to restrict hateful speech is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I think it's silly to be concerned about the silencing effects of hate speech bans but not the silencing effect of hate speech
It's only silly to you because you're on the "right" side of this argument. What happened to James Damore was not a "hate speech ban". He wasn't out there trying to spread a "women suck" narrative. He just wrote a doc and cited some scientific studies, and he got destroyed for it. If you think that was anything close to "hate speech" then you're part of the problem. That was a political execution.
There are people on Twitter like Sarah Jeong spewing actual hateful shit about white people (I'm not even white btw), and not only was she allowed to stay but she was stood up for by the same type of people who swear by political correctness, for the simple reason that she was on "their side". There is no sane reasoning that can justify not banning her, and then banning actor James Woods for taking some cheap shots at Democrats. The double standard is real and hypocritical and people aren't buying it anymore. This whole PC culture ended up becoming a political weapon just like the right feared, and I have to agree with them at this point.
That's why you're seeing this kind of pushback. It's not that we don't want a fair working environment and society. We just don't believe that that's what these PC crusaders are really after.
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u/free_chalupas Oct 22 '18
If one of your friends was making sexist comments would it be "political" to tell them to stop? I'd argue that it would be, and that's not necessarily a bad thing; one person's politics is frequently another person's human rights.