[MD] Joseph Campbell

[Arlo Bensinger]

[WillBlake]
It appears that you believe that social justice (whatever you think 
that may be) should be placed above merit.

[Arlo]
Well you're reducing all of "PC" here to "affirmative action". There 
seems to be concern when a white man is passed over to hire a 
underqualified minority. Is there the same concern when a black man 
is passed over to hire an underqualified white? I'm guessing no, 
since you state that people should have the "right" to hire and fire 
people based on their skin color. I have concerns both ways, and 
would like to hear what solution you think will remedy this.

[WillBlake]
You feel there is an equation for what is right and what is wrong 
that is based on some obscure PC values.

[Arlo]
Do I? What makes you think this?

[WillBlake]
I'm not sure what book you are getting your instructions from, but I 
would check the author.

[Arlo]
I'm comfortable in my views, and can support them, thank you.

[WillBlake]
Your responses seem to border on the extreme and obscene.

[Arlo]
And AGAIN, my point is that they are "extreme" and "obscene" because 
of a PC effort that was GOOD.

[WillBlake]
All this talk about retards, as you call them has left a bad feeling 
in my mouth about what exactly is going on in your head.

[Arlo]
Wow. Maybe if you read (or reread) my posts this will be clear, since 
I spell it out at length. And, by the way, I'm going to call you out 
on some horrible rhetoric here. *I* do not call them "retards". And 
you're an ass to suggest so, and I am beginning to wonder what motive 
you could have to attempt to frame it that way. My use of the word 
"retard" is to point out clearly a use of PC that has been good and 
effective. It is also to remind everyone that condemnation of "PC" 
are, as I said multiple times, nothing but manure. Its like railing 
against "taxation" as opposed to "excessive example of taxation" or 
"wrong uses of tax dollars".

[WillBlake]
All this fear of Christianity, all it is is faith.

[Arlo]
What about all this fear of blacks, or hispanics, or gays? What about 
all this fear of Muslims? Shouldn't your advice to the Christians be 
to "Buck it up, stop whining and earn your respect!"?

[WillBlake]
I fear that if I answer your question about the underrepresentation 
of women in the supreme court, you will take offense and begin 
worrying that your values do not match mine.

[Arlo]
Bullshit. If you can back up what you say, why on earth would you 
care about insulting me? We've never met. I have no power over you. 
So go ahead, answer the question.

[WillBlake]
This ghost of PC that is looking over your shoulder is making you 
awfully paranoid.

[Arlo]
Actually, at times it makes me very proud, at times it makes me 
chuckle, and at times it makes me cry.

[WillBlake]
On the contrary, it is the white majority that is the problem, they 
are confused.

[Arlo]
Actually, I think everyone is confused, and that is the problem. Not 
just whites. Not just blacks. Everyone. And at the heart of this is a 
manipulation of xenophobia that fuels people's egos through claims of 
"superiority". Politicos manipulate this xenophobia rather than 
address it. Blacks exploit white-fear, whites exploit black-fear, and 
on and on. The "left" overreaches with "affirmative action" to 
solidify power from xenophobic minorities, the "right" condemns it 
entirely to solidify power from xenophobic whites.

[WillBlake]
The world is not as evil as you may think it is.

[Arlo]
Never said it was. In fact, I believe I said that its improving, that 
things are getting better.

[WillBlake]
About Obama, he is just a president, nothing more, not your king.

[Arlo]
Now what on earth did I say that makes you say this? Indeed, this 
"King" thing is a pretty ridiculous talk-radio denigration. All I 
said about Obama at all is that portraying anyone who supports Obama 
as a socialist or tyrant is an evil form of PC. I never said anything 
at all about treating him like a "king", let alone that I personally 
view him this way. That's quite an evident knee-jerk reaction on your 
part, wouldn't you say?

[WillBlake]
Rather than take assault at my responses point by point (which is 
more like boxing than discussing), could you provide a cogent 
argument as to why current PC dictates are so  much better than the 
way man used to behave towards his fellow man in the past?

[Arlo]
Sure. Already have. Remember the whole "retard" thing?

[WillBlake]
Could you provide me with examples of how exactly this PC brought 
about this change.

[Arlo]
My senior year was the first year we had "sensitivity training" as 
another mentally-challenged kid was brought into the school district. 
The school made it very clear that harassment of this child would not 
be tolerated. Initially, there were one or two incidents. But overall 
he received much better treatment. In classes he was in with everyone 
else, groups were "forced" to work with him. And dare I say he 
actually made a few friends. By the end of the year I dare say that 
many of the kids that were shouting "retard" a few years back were 
actually talking to him as if he were a person. And, as I already 
said, today my daughter tells me that she rarely hears this word used 
towards the mentally-handicapped in her school, and when it is it is 
met with peer scorn. This all happened as the result of efforts by 
administrators, community leaders and teachers to combat fear and 
hatred through the use of PC measures.

As Krimel pointed out, the same efforts have gone a great deal in the 
treatment of blacks. Has it worked in every case? No. Are there still 
those who feel the need to proclaim superiority? Sure. But all-in-all 
I'd say I'd rather be a black man in 2009 than in 1949. And I am sure 
that mentally-challenged kids today fare far far better than those in 
1949, both in measures of respect, tolerance and acceptance.

[WillBlake]
Maybe a good place to start would be how PC defeated the Klan, your 
suggestion not mine.

[Arlo]
Never said "PC defeated the Klan". In fact, I pointed to an article 
suggesting that hate groups such as the Klan are actually seeing a 
rise in membership since Obama was elected. What I said was that PC 
made the Klan's outright harassment, assaults and humiliation of 
blacks socially unacceptable, and as such has improved the lives of 
blacks considerably. Yes, in many cases the hate went underground. 
But laws ensuring that blacks could drink from the same waterfountain 
as whites (Krim's example) ensure that we as a people are ensuring 
tolerance and respect, even if there will always be some small-minded 
racists who want to profess their superiority.