This is a massive post and I don't mean to be dismissive... but what am I supposed to take from all this? It almost seems like it's directed towards someone else... I'm confused as hell about how we got here when I was specifically talking about a vocal little group of insane people. It feels like you think we're on opposite sides of some discussion about American society when I'm not arguing for or against anything at all. I'm talking about a tiny group of loud and insane people who create pronouns and genders out of thin air and yell at you for assuming a dogs gender...
I respect that. Now if I may I will attempt to clarify.
You started out by saying this pertaining to SJWs:
It's a joke. These people are idiots and I really hate that it's spreading the way it is.
Then followed with this:
Well yeah, of course there's more terrible things happening, but that doesn't mean this isn't a problem. I don't give a flying **** about the Boy Scouts either, but I care about what this means in general and how this shows that the problem is continuing to grow and effect bigger things.
Also, this is the kind of **** that helped Trump get elected, and I know you hate that. I can't even tell you how many people say that one of the main reasons they voted for him was because he's "anti-SJW/anti-political correctness". This stupid stuff getting way out of control is causing other, bigger problems.
You established your belief that the various actions of SJWs and the expanding PC culture in America was beginning to bleed over into areas that effect us all. I would agree with you on this. You also established that certain extreme sections of the PC culture were idiots.
You went on the say this:
Like I said, I couldn't care less about this specific instance.
I was just talking about that general type of thinking that's all over the place these days (if it had been a move out of fear/pressure).
Indicating that you didnt really care about the Boy Scout situation specifically but the parameters of which were symptoms of a larger movement (PC culture/SJWs) of which you were worried
So, you stated your problem with SJWs was that their brand of activism would have an effect on larger issues in society. My argument was that’s the entire point in the first place and I tried to analyze what some of those larger issues might be. Racism, sexism, etc. all being interconnected and systemic as is known.
Then you went on to say this:
Well sure, but there's a whole lot of middle ground in between.
I hate the hyper-political-correctness and the SJW garbage, but saying that makes it sound as if I agree with the people who are discriminatory. In reality I didn't like either candidate because I think both are absolutely atrocious godawful people who can't be trusted for a second (on a different level than the normal untrustworthy politician). Honestly I don't even know if I'd be considered more of a liberal or conservative based on my views. Probably somewhere in the middle but it feels like I'm pretty alone there based on what I see around me.
Indicating that there’s an equivalency to both polarities. This I don’t agree with. So I explained that PC people act the way they do, ostentatious and in your face, because they don’t have power or the ability to affect change besides causing a stir in the public eye. This is a tactic to raise awareness of their particular issue and get people thinking. Which is better than the alternative because, since they don’t have power, the masses will just ignore them.
The opposing side of the spectrum, hyper conservatives and white supremacists, have power, money, and influence. They utilize them every day and indeed the nation’s history is built on these ideals. Both sides are playing with different sets of rules and resources. To think of them equivalently ignores both the context of history and the present day. Once again, Trump is an example of this in play.
My main point is that the extreme end of the SJW side is innocuous. It has no power to achieve its goals and minimal support even from the populations they advocate for. People often equate the spread of PC culture with a vice grip on free speech but its not that at all. Its a movement, at least its aim, is to introduce a greater sense of accountability across racial and class lines to our shared history as Americans. No more ignoring racism, denying sexism, and enabling homophobia. These are good things. These are movements that have been gaining steam across the world since the end of the Dark Ages. It isnt just millenial rage, though that is a funny part of it.
The extreme end of the other polarity is very much in power and it is a current and present danger to every American regardless of race, economic status, or creed. To map both perspectives as equal is willfully ignorant of both the prevalence of systemic oppression in the US and the major issues driving the PC movement in the first place (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.).
As for the last paragraph, no, I don't think any one race has an easier time understanding the perspective of any other race... I don't think race is the determining factor. For example, a white guy and a black guy who both grew up in the same upper-class neighborhood probably have an easier time seeing from each others point of view than that same white guy and a different white guy who grew up extremely poor in a different region of the country. An American black kid and an American white kid, who grew up in similar conditions, aren't going to have wildly different perspectives since both share the same American culture. It's not white culture, it's American culture, even if white culture is a large part of it. When the black kid is born and grows up here it's his culture too. That kid will have more in common with his white/Asian/Hispanic neighbors/classmates than he does a similarly aged kid from a random African country. The way you're talking makes it sound like a this hypothetical black kid is born with a totally different non-American culture already instilled in him that he'll need
to completely change to survive.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this. Any grown adult is fully cognizant of the fact that growing up black in America is very different than growing up white which is very different from growing up Asian and in turn growing up Latin. Its not that a child is born with a different culture. Its that he/she is taught from birth by the systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. ingrained in the US’ DNA that he/she is different from others. American culture in and of itself is factional and mainstream American culture is indeed white culture. A child of color, a woman, an LGBT person does not have to change completely but they do have to learn from the earliest age how to maneuver in a nation, a world, in which the basic unit of humanity is white, male, and straight. You imply that economics and geography have more to do with a particular culture than race but if that were true then why are these black athletes with million dollar contracts rocking the boat every Sunday while their owners and colleagues wring their hands? They live in the same place, make the same kind of money, are all American, have grown up in the same sports culture. They should be of one mind for the most part, right? These athletes are rich and successful. America has been good to them. Shouldnt they all just sit back in their mansions and enjoy life? Or maybe the past histories of these athletes differ greatly and just making a certain amount of money and belonging to a certain social class isn’t enough to offset the issues held therein.
And lastly by your own admission:
Honestly this conversation here is the longest I've ever thought about it at one time. I see it pop up, laugh at its absurdity, then move on and don't encounter it again for weeks. It's not like I'm sitting here reading about it and researching it.
You can walk away. Some cant. Think of the implications of that for a second. These issues are nothing more than a distant annoyance to you and thats fine. To you, PC culture is a mild distraction with the potential to really reach out and touch you one day. To the people behind these movements they represent a defining aspect of their life and a pressing issue concerning their families and friends. There are several Americas. You live in one, the supremacists live in another, the more middle ground people live in another. The fact that you can look at a certain social or political development and then walk away from it right after while others feel the need to devote all their time to the same issue is a clear indicator that there is not one objective American culture but several. A mainstream and several undergrounds which are often antagonistic and at odds.