Every time I hear the phrase "It's P.C. gone mad!" I cringe. It's usually uttered (or shrieked) by people whom I've already made my mind up about. Narrow-minded, shallow-thinking or just been too long down on the farm, and rubbing shoulders with a thin slice of the national community. Ok - you may say that this just confirms that I have my own set of prejudices, but I'll parry that with "These people have already said enough for me to form an opinion of them."
I wish to announce to the sphere that I'm going to adopt a new ploy, rather than just shaking my head disdainfully - my usual response. If I say something deeply personal (and shocking) in response it may challenge them enough to examine their beliefs.The problem sometimes is that when I want to play Devil's Advocate the other party can't be objective enough to consider that my remarks are neutral - not aggressively provocative.
So when someone says something like "Why should those Maoris get special treatment. We should all be treated the same. It's reverse racism and it's just PC gone mad!!" I'll have to say something like "So having maternity wards is sexist P.C. nonsense and women shouldn't be allowed to be treated like they're special." Occasionally I hear colleagues say that all prisoners deserve to be treated harshly and certain (legal) rights should be taken away or a prisoner who attempts suicide should be left to die. A couple of times I've responded with "What about a remand prisoner, who hasn't been convicted of any crime, and was arrested because he fell against a car when he was pissed - and he's your son?" Yes - I am an agent provocateur but just for fun. It's not a popularity contest folks. I like being just a little bold.
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