New York Times op-ed page has a story worth reading today. See here. It's a reprinted essay by Doris Lessing from 1992. She's talking about political correctness in academia, the use of language to obfuscate, the technique of claiming morality superiority in order to create scapegoats and persecute people as "evil," the use of empty slogans and propaganda and groupthink to mislead people, all of which she says has its roots in Communism though the people engaging in it don't know that, or do know that and pretend not to. Lessing tells of people who have been "hounded by groups and cabals of witch hunters, using the most dirty and often cruel tactics. They claim their victims are racist or in some way reactionary." What does any of this have to do with tech? Well, read the following quote.
The trouble is that, with all popular movements, the lunatic fringe so quickly ceases to be a fringe; the tail begins to wag the dog. For every woman or man who is quietly and sensibly using the idea to examine our assumptions, there are 20 rabble-rousers whose real motive is desire for power over others, no less rabble-rousers because they see themselves as anti-racists or feminists or whatever.
Does that remind you of anyone?
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Doris Lessing on political correctness
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15 comments:
Ahhhh, yes, Apple Inc. in a nutshell.
Yeah. Reminds me of Katie Couric. What a cow.
Daddy Steve! You used the word "obfuscation." Back in the early '90s I attended a lecture given by Bruce Tognazzini, I think you two once worked together. Anyway, I bought a T-shirt from him that said "Eschew Obfuscation."
Getting on topic Lessing said "empty slogans and propaganda and groupthink to mislead people , all of which she says has its roots in Communism though the people engaging in it don't know that, or do know that and pretend not to." Well that stuff was used long before the Communists of the 20th Century, long before Marx.
"Reminds me of Katie Couric. What a cow" Actually I think that the more correct term is "cougar" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cougar&defid=932553
Hi Steve, when you criticize political correctness, why did you post the comrade on the Apple main page?
Interestingly, I wrote about the same topic.
Yeah. Reminds me of the RIAA, the MPAA and the rest of the copyright cartel who treats people sharing bits as "thieves" and "pirates" and wants us to believe information should have owners.
Maybe "the john steinbeck" company could stop the wind blowing the dandelion.
I'm not sure I agree that Stallman fits the bill with respect to political correctness - he might be be better described as an ideologue.
In other words a partisan advocate of a particular ideology, not someone who espouses a particular viewpoint because it's the "right" thing to say but because it's what he ardently believes.
You could argue that many of his supporters fit the description of being politically correct - But I don't necessarily agree that Stallman is.
thanks for pointing this out.
Steve,
F***, Al Gore. King of the Rable-Rousers.
MANBEARPIG.
1/2 man, 1/2, bear, 1/2 pig. All to a tee.
Can't believe you put him up on the home page.
We're a tech company and not propaganda machine for idiot savants.
Good. Now I feel safe to come out and say, for anyone following the tennis world, WHAT THE HELL is Serena Williams wearing??? She seems to get bigger and bigger and her shorts shorter and shorter.
There. Have at it. For the record I am neither white, jewish, black, yellow.... Brownish...
Soon we'll have bikini tennis... but not always the good kind like beach volleyball...
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42976000/jpg/_42976647_serena_outfit.jpg
'Nuff said.
"Wants us to believe information should have owners"
Random Freetard, you are a communist pig.
Lessing was born in Iran :-)
Al Gore?
wow. great article ref. in the ny times, fakey steve-o. very heady, intellectual faire. let's see if the commentards can handle it.
so basically, stallman/fsf/anarchist/left-wing-nuts are using the same basic tactics of propaganda and repetitive echo-chambering as the bush/cheney/rove/neo-con-wing-nut agenda. sad that when you go too far in either direction, the entrenched and hard-line dogma is just as stiff on both sides.
and to wing-nut shoulda been left in a gulag czech lumo — people like you who don't see what al is laying down is what needs to be said are sad. like i'm sad we ever lifted the iron curtain off of you instead of dropping it back down on your head. this is the reward of giving freedom to recalcitrant people with the maturity of a sullen, angry 12-year-old. you remind me of a child who is given paints by his parents and then uses them to mess up all the walls of their lovely house. you just don't want the czech republic to have to cow-tow to kyoto accords, you said over-carboned drone.
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