Monthly Archives: July 2017

We've all seen those silly trolls who cry 'political correctness gone mad!' at every instance of ethnic diversity.

'A black James Bond? That's political correctness gone mad!'

'A cartoon Rastafarian mouse? That's political correctness gone mad!'

'Actually asian actors playing asian roles? That's political correctness gone mad!'

You get the picture.

And however much you come back with an argument like, 'They are qualified for the job', or 'why not?', or 'we should strive for representation so our children feel they have more choice' or even 'because why does everyone have to be white all. the. time?'

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Sometimes you don't quite have the data to back your opinion up.

Thankfully, every now and then, there is a nerd (we use this phrase very fondly by the way, we should all strive to be nerds) lurking, ready to debate their bums off and win you the argument on totally valid, factual, incontrovertible grounds. Huzzah!

In this case, it's the turn of notionally right wing writer and talking head Paul Joseph Watson, who has a website called Prison Planet. He posted a screenshot of a children's BBC show, depicting a cartoon family in Roman Britain.

He captioned the shot on Twitter, 'Thank God the BBC is portraying Roman Britain as ethnically diverse. I mean, who cares about historical accuracy, right?'

Whilst some of us might simply think, 'well yeah, I might actually prefer for my children to see ethnic diversity on their screens. I'm pretty sure this show doesn't include all of the details of Ancient Rome (washing their mouth out with wee, all the phallic art in Pompeii etc)'.

Others have appeared to agree with Watson, suggesting that a so-called leftwing agenda doesn't need to be pushed into every crevice of every media.

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Well, before we had a moment to think about how to respond, Mike Stuchbery turned up in the comments.

Mike is a historian and someone who clearly takes his profession - and Roman Britain - very seriously.

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This History Buff's Take Down Of A 'Political Correctness Gone Mad' Tweet Is Everything We Needed Today - ELLE UK

Updated July 26, 2017 17:56:32

Older Australians are sick of the younger generation's manners, obsession with technology, punctuality and political correctness, which they say is ruining society.

That was the verdict on the nation's young which emerged from a study commissioned by the Australian Seniors Insurance Agency (ASIA).

Of 1,000 people aged over 50 surveyed by CoreData for the ASIA, 88 per cent thought people in modern Australia were too politically correct.

As well, 74 per cent of seniors said people who strived to be politically correct annoyed them, and 45 per cent said they tried to avoid being politically correct just for the sake of it.

And 86 per cent of those surveyed said the drive to be politically correct was ruining society.

Nan Bosler, president of the Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association, said seniors found it difficult these days when it came to simple things, such as certain words they used day to day.

"Names we have known things by all our lives, they weren't there out of disrespect or anything like that, it was just a name we knew things by," she said.

"And if we have to always modify what we're saying, it's a little distracting, it's a little bit frustrating.

"We of course do respect other people, so we understand about political correctness.

"But we don't always think it's the way we want to go we want to be true to ourselves."

Ms Bosley said too much sensitivity about the meaning of words and phrases acted as a barrier between younger Australians and people aged over 50.

"I think we can just be too politically correct," she said.

"I suppose it's for the majority that the minority have to sometimes think well 'ok, can't say that anymore, I must remember that'."

CoreData also surveyed Australians over 50 about their views of millennials, which it defined as Australians aged 19 to 35.

The survey found 85 per cent of older Australians found millennial social etiquette confusing.

Ms Bosley said it worried her when she heard "younger people" in restaurants being rude to staff.

"That's probably our upbringing we were respectful to other people, and sometimes young people just don't do that," she said.

Respondents aged over 50 also said they were worried about young people spending too much time on their phones and online.

In fact, digital distraction and over-reliance on technology were two of the top five things that those over 50 thought were the biggest social taboos ranked after racism, smoking and swearing.

Mark Young helps older Australians navigate computers at a computer club in Sydney.

He said older Australians found the digital "distraction" among younger people frustrating.

"The grandkids come round and just spend their time on the phone and looking at that and not talking to them, and they have to kind of butt in in order to get a conversation going," Mr Young said.

"They don't like that, they think that's poorly mannered."

He explained how older Australians often felt pressure to sign up to social media networks such as Facebook.

"They feel kind of left out, that people won't interact with them if they're not on it, yet they don't really want to," Mr Young said.

"So there's the pressure there that they don't like."

Mr Young said for many older Australians, the pace of social change over their lifetimes had been a bit disconcerting.

And that, he said, was likely why such a high proportion of them who said they were worried about political correctness.

"I think that they're used to being able to talk to people that were like them, similar to them," he said.

"And therefore it was easy to say what you wanted to say because you knew the people would agree.

"But they're dealing with a wider range of people, more diversity and we're all taken in by the need to tolerate diversity these days.

"Whereas in the past Australia wasn't as diverse and we didn't have to think about things like gay marriage and stuff like that."

Topics: older-people, youth, community-and-society, australia

First posted July 26, 2017 17:07:05

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Australia's seniors say the political correctness of millennials is ... - ABC Online

Donald Trump announced on Twitter Wednesday that he would bar transgender people from serving in the military. In a series of three tweets, he claimed he consulted with experts and decided transgender people were a disruption and left the military burdened with the tremendous medical costs.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you, he wrote.

The Military Times reported in June that a directive from President Barack Obama that would allow transgender people to serve beginning this summer faced indefinite delay.On July 1, the Department of Defense officially pushedback thedate when the military would begin allowing transgender recruits to join the military.

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The phrasing from Trump on Twitter would seem to suggest that not only is the president walking back Obamas policy to allow transgender people to join the military and serve openlythe former reality star is alsobanning transgender individuals already servingtheir country from doing so. Daniel Dale, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, tweeted that Trump first delayed the implementation of the Obama policies and was now reversing the policy. Its estimated 15,000 transgender people already serve in the military.

But while Trump announced the policy shift on Wednesday, the change could also be the work ofVice President Mike Pence, who has long been criticized for taking extremely anti-LGBT positions. Foreign Policy reported Tuesday Pence and his staff had been working quietly to get Congress to roll back the Defense Departments year-old policy covering medical procedures for transitioning service members.

Foreign Policy noted that opponents of transgender individuals serving claim that medical treatmentsfor transgender individuals would cost$3.7 billion over 10 yearsbut studies show the cost would be between $24 million and $84 million over that time.

Trump has claimed to be an advocate of LGBT rights in the past, something many folks were calling into question Wednesday. The president has also previously spoken out against transgender people serving in the militarywhen asked about the policies in October 2016.

Were gonna get away from political correctness,he said. We have a politically correct military and its getting more and more politically correct every day.... Some of the things theyre asking you to do and be politically correct about are ridiculous.

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Why Did Trump Ban Transgender People From the Military? - Newsweek