On Wed, Sep 03, 2014 at 06:31:59PM +0100, Ian Jackson wrote:
> Neil Gaiman writes:
>
> I was reading a book (about interjections, oddly enough) yesterday
> which included the phrase `In these days of political correctness...'
> talking about no longer making jokes that denigrated people for their
> culture or for the colour of their skin. And I thought, `That's not
> actually anything to do with `political correctness'. That's just
> treating other people with respect.'
This a fairly useful view of political correctness, and I approve of it
generally while also firmly believing that not all opinions are worthy of
respect. Elsewhere in the thread it was mentioned that organizations like
the KKK rant about political correctness to shield and justify their own
prejudices and hate speech - in the strictest sense, Gaiman's adopted view of
political correctness would also require treating members of the KKK with
respect, as the view as presented seems to be a fairly open-minded stance.
Perhaps I'm a hopeless primitive, but I don't see value in tolerating
intolerable things. While the KKK makes an extreme example, everything
exists on a continuum, and there will be things I don't wish to tolerate
or support - and I recognize in advance that other folks will disagree
with my criteria.
A relevant and pragmatic approach comes from a recent talk given by Linus
Torvalds at DebConf 2014[1] wherein he said,
"People are different, and some people take offense, and some people
give offense, and we all have to live together. But, the living together
is not by finding some lowest common demoninator."
In general I support the notion of a code of conduct. I've personally
witnessed the desperate need for a Code of Conduct in the various IRC support
channels that service Debian users, wherein I've witnessed users being abused
by those in power, and noted a closed-door policy regarding the discussion of
operator actions with no recourse to a uniform code of conduct.
I simply wish to suggest that we come at it from as unbiased a position as
possible - don't start off by seeking to be offended, and be quick to reset
to a neutral stance as often as possible, rather than driving up the level of
tension and riding it from crest to crest. I don't execute this plan
perfectly myself, but it's the goal.
It's summed up well in the Robustness Principle[2]:
"Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept."
[1]: http://t.co/jUSBbSAsrN
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robustness_principle
--
Mason Loring Bliss ma...@blisses.org Ewige Blumenkraft!
(if awake 'sleep (aref #(sleep dream) (random 2))) -- Hamlet, Act III, Scene I
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