How much is too much: being offended?

[Merc]

(I'm discussing the US but feel free to share stories about your country)

I can't mince words here. It sickens me how much we coddle and protect people at the slightest sign of discomfort. It's everywhere and everyone is so afraid of offending other people. It's getting ridiculous and going to ridiculous lengths. Someone please tell me.

Why do people need to be constantly comfortable?
Why is opposition to anything bad?
Why is it wrong to try and teach people to be tougher?
Why do we get so worried about people being offended at anything?

I get some of it. I think I'm a fairly nice person and I try to get along with most people, especially offline, but it absolutely baffles me how much we protect each other these days. Let me put on my tin foil hat, feel free to skip it if you want.

[Tinfoilhat] Just look at the country right now. Everyone is fat, scared, fearful, and complacent. Doesn't this seem like a great situation for an oppressive government? I can't help but feel with the decades of lobbyist favors that have lead to an incredibly overweight and paranoid population, that the US is perfectly groomed to be controlled for years to come. People have been conditioned to think they can make change from their computers and that their ailments are 'beautiful' and that fighting corporate America is 'terrorism' and that helping one another is 'socialism'. What's that? Something important in the news like the TPP? Quick! Put some dumb racist/sexist/theist on blast! What about abortion? Let's make some more fake videos of Planned Parenthood and get those facebooks rumbling! How about gay marriage? Nothing distracts the voters like a nice fag bashing! Keep 'em off target. [/tinfoilhat]

So what are your thoughts? Are we coddling people too much? Are we too concerned or not concerned enough with people and their feelings? How do we find a good balance?

 

[Rapier]

Why are people so stupid that they think modern medicine could possibly be capable of integrating with 37,000,000,000,000 cells that communicate chemically and electrically, walk, talk, and think when awake or asleep?

 

[The_Chameleon]

I'm offended that you would even ask that!
It's my right to be offended and I, like so many minorities, plan to exercise that right at every opportunity. After all, what is the point of having rights if you don't exercise them. And if that offends you, good! You have that right too! (Unless you're a straight white dude or a Christian)



- Cham

 

[Hilander]

This PC crap was started by the left to coddle anyone that is different and bring them into the fold so they will vote democrat.

 

[Rapier]

The PC crap was started and continues to savage normal as hate.

 

[Sim]

My view on America from the outside is that American Liberals and Conservatives are increasingly living in seperate worlds. Sometimes, they don't even share the same reality anymore.

So when one of them says something they take for granted, the other side feels horribly insulted and cries bloody murder. The typical non-PC things about blacks, gays, immigrants, women or other minorities many Cons say, make Liberals feel offended.

And when Libs dare to suggest that America may possibly not the greatest of all great greatness in the entire world and history, the Cons go crazy and call them "anti-American", when Libs dare to support and help each other for a change instead of bombing foreign people, the Cons feel offended by this "socialism", and when Libs point out that the state shall be secular, Cons feel there is "oppression of religion".

 

[Rapier]

My view on America from the outside is that American Liberals and Conservatives are increasingly living in seperate worlds. Sometimes, they don't even share the same reality anymore.

So when one of them says something they take for granted, the other side feels horribly insulted and cries bloody murder. The typical non-PC things about blacks, gays, immigrants, women or other minorities many Cons say, make Liberals feel offended.

And when Libs dare to suggest that America may possibly not the greatest of all great greatness in the entire world and history, the Cons go crazy and call them "anti-American", when Libs dare to support and help each other for a change instead of bombing foreign people, the Cons feel offended by this "socialism", and when Libs point out that the state shall be secular, Cons feel there is "oppression of religion".

That's a riot. It reminds me how the MSM made up the Omniscient Silent Majority and the Omnipotent Religious Right. Both conservative crimson blooded Americans seething with hate and distrust of vile lazy give away the farm liberals.

Somehow, some way, the American Dream was/is shared by two groups of despicable people who had served shoulder to shoulder, churched together every Sunday, and got their hands dirty in sync 40 hours a week.

A. Somehow the 2 party system changed to a contrivance that one party's stance is, must always be, polar opposite to the other.

B. And that conservatism has been redefined to include the image and government first mindset of the fallen USSR mindset including a 180 to warmongering worldwide and impoverishing its citizens to the benefit of the rich and super rich.

All in less that a lifetime. Right under our noses.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/220093/number-of-billionaires-in-the-united-states/

2015

Spoiler

535

 

[BourneofDarkness15]

I deal with it a lot especially in my line of work (I work at a gas station), people get far too offended by the littlest things. Those of you that follow me on Twitter know that I say just about anything that's on my mind no matter what the reaction may be.

It is rather irritating how people get too offended by everything especially when it has nothing to do with them.

 

[Hilander]

I think political correctness has taken on a life of its on. Sure you shouldn't be calling people racist names but now you aren't suppose to say illegal aliens or radical Muslims. Now some are saying being called a thug is somehow racist. Its just getting to be too much. I think it will do more to divide people than bring them together.

Sometimes I wonder if peoples objections to the things I brought up is its too much truth for them.

 

[NewGamePlus]

Depends entirely on what it's based on. If it's based on matters of stereotype or some kind of arbitrary labeling of what's "normal", then it's too much offense because it's just based on whatever and whoever happens to be around and doing at the time, like collecting the people who are offended by something and saying "Ok, today XXX people think something is 'offensive' so you and everyone else has to too".

But if it's based on how things actually could, do, and are likely to affect people, then it's just fine to be offended and therefore not too much offense. That's the only appropriate way to measure offense at anything because if you do that, then things are geared towards effect on other people and therefore have the purpose of helping people get along better, whether short or long term.

The whole issue is very crystal clear to me, so I'm relentlessly amazed that people continue not to get it in literally every aspect of life. I don't want to have to run around and count up what the majority of people next to me in any environment are like or consider offensive in order to figure out what I myself am supposed to be and be offended by. And I don't feel that I or anyone else should have to read, memorize, and get used to an unpublished (or published, for that matter) "instruction manual" that states a bunch of arbitrary "facts of offense or standard" that we're somehow expected to get used to. It should be as simple as case-by-case basis for everything and it all measured by the effect on people, the potential to effect people, and the implications of both.

That's also why I will lash out at people more often when one way of working collides with my way of working, because I still do not get why too many people go by the "memorize and get used to all these arbitrary standards that say what's offensive and what's not and everything else in life" rather than my effect-based judgment. It seems like an automatic stamp on one's own intelligence saying "THIS is exactly how stupid I am" when they don't get this. Some people INTEND to be that way, simply because in whatever context we're talking about, it benefits them. But in that case, even though it makes sense, it makes BAD sense. So that's not much better, and often even worse.