[Jayne Osborn]

A great deal of so-called ''Political Correctness'' is absolute nonsense as far as I'm concerned, Alan.

I'd be inclined not to worry about it; ''go for it'' as The Oldie is not particularly PC. (You should see some of their cartoons for confirmation of that!!!)

But Annie's suggestion is a good one, as the judge is not actually on The Oldie staff. (Email your poem to me if you like and I'll give you my honest opinion.)

Jayne

[Roger Slater]

I'm curious, Jayne, what political correctness do you consider to be nonsense? Most of it makes perfect sense to me, and I generally find that the charge of "political correctness" is just the last resort of someone who can't think of another way to defend himself from the charge of being unkind or discriminatory. That's certainly the case in politics in the US today, where several of the Republican candidates on the far right complain that the problem with America today is political correctness. That's what Trump says when he defends his plan to bar all Muslims from entering the country.

[Alan Rain]

Thanks Ann and Jayne.
I'm warming already to the Oldie.

[Brian Allgar]

Bob, one example is the absurd requirement to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Happy Christmas" for fear of offending some poor little non-Christian. Well, I'm not a Christian, and for me, "Christmas" is and always will be the name of a particular holiday in the year. According to the PC brigade, that makes me politically incorrect.

I think that's the kind of thing that Jayne has in mind. There are plenty of similar inanities.

[John Whitworth]

Ah, but it's different over here, Roger. We don't have your anarchist loonies. Political correctness means many absurdities too numerous to mention. We might start with the Cecil Rhodes business if you like.

I think the Oldie likes light verse, and why not. Nothing too unsettling, nothing too rude. Would your granny like it?

[Sylvia Fairley]

Unfortunately, the ridiculous extremes you mention, Brian, only give Trump-ish people sanction to justify their views on racism, sexism and so on... the loonies don't help the cause, but we all know they're a small minority, don't we?

[Sylvia Fairley]

FIRST TIME IN THE COUNTRY.

‘What is that smell?’ I asked a man who knew,
‘The rustic odour of the countryside?’
‘Eh, that’s the frackin’ fellows’ toxic brew;
ammonium chloride an’ formaldehyde.’

I sighed ‘Let’s walk along the beach, admire
the view – so what’s that murky silhouette?’
‘Tis Sizewell B; folks tell us nuclear power
is safe – it ain’t become Chernobyl yet!’

‘Is that a bulldozer I see? And there
are more, they’ve flattened every tree...’
‘For motorways – and yonder meadow's where
the Theme Park’s planned, the site marked O.N.B.’

‘And why no flowers? The grassy banks are brown.’
‘Them chemicals - they spray the crops with deet
and then....’ ‘Enough!’ I cried, ‘I’m off to town,
the country's hell, I'll beat a quick retreat!'

[John Whitworth]

Exactly right, Sylvia.

[Roger Slater]

Originally Posted by Brian Allgar

Bob, one example is the absurd requirement to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Happy Christmas" for fear of offending some poor little non-Christian. Well, I'm not a Christian, and for me, "Christmas" is and always will be the name of a particular holiday in the year. According to the PC brigade, that makes me politically incorrect.

I think that's the kind of thing that Jayne has in mind. There are plenty of similar inanities.

But I think it's a myth. I have never actually met a single person who "required" or even requested anyone to refrain from saying "Happy Christmas" or "Merry Christmas." The idea that this is somehow impermissible or rude strikes me as a myth perpetrated by the far right and evangelicals. I am a Jewish liberal from New York, and I wish people Merry Christmas all the time, and never once took offense when someone extended that wish to me. The ones who take offense over holiday greetings in this country tend to be people who are offended by the phrase "Happy Holiday," which they take to be part of a "war on Christmas" because their own idea of correctness requires the use of the word Christmas in every year-end felicitation.

But you're right in one respect. Trump has promised in his stump speech that when he's president, every store in America will say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holiday." No political correctness for him, by golly! I don't know how he plans to pull this off, but believe him, he's very, very rich and he knows how to get things done.

But mostly his attack on political correctness involves trying to restore the American freedom to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality, and sexual orientation. Restoring "Merry Christmas" as the mandatory Christmas greeting is just a bonus.

Do you have any other examples, apart from the Christmas thing, of so-called political correctness?

[Max Goodman]

(Cross-posted with Bob/Roger.)

Brian, I don't know what things are like in France, but here in the U.S. there is no "requirement" to say "Happy Holidays." People say whatever they want. Many of us choose to say "Happy Holidays" rather than assume that strangers we are speaking with celebrate Christmas.

The situation here, in fact, is just the opposite: some try to require "Merry Christmas." They call "Happy Holidays" a "War on Christmas," prompting the looniest among them to threaten and perpetrate violence against those who say it.

http://theodysseyonline.com/bard-col...ch-face/243112

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/arizona-w...rry-christmas/

(An elected official made such a threat this past year, but I'm not finding an article about it quickly.)

It's another example of privileged people getting upset when people who are different (in this case, those who don't celebrate Christmas) are given equal consideration.