And we have a guest speaker Georgie Binks. She is a supper rad writer who came to talk to us about her freelance work. She's a firecracker and I hope to be as hot and well spoken as her when I'm in my 40's instead of the rambling drunk I am turning out to be.
Uh- but as I was saying, she was talking about her experience, and her experience with Blogging. The subject got touchie when she brought up the subject of commenting- how someone had left racists remarks on the CBC website. She wasn't necessarily for or against commenting, but she felt that the person should submit their name with their opinion as it was done back in the days of only print and that comments should be moderated. I agree. Anonymous commenting is balls less, and lacks one of the main validating points of debate: authority.
I felt that she wanted to say that comments shouldn't be allowed, but this bold stance against the 'democratization' of the press probably wouldn't sit well with our class. Her point being is that in the comment section words can hurt and be rude, that these opinions shouldn't be viewed by the public.
I disagree.
I've had my fair share of experiences with comments. I argued with the vp of the Fur Council of Canada, I have been shit-talked then semi-stalked by a wannabe, I have had back and forth debates over Youtube, I have had my friends get bashed by 'anonymous' and I have read more disturbing stuff then I would like to imagine.
The thing is- if people don't leave disturbing or weird comments, we will never have the chance to argue with them. They will go along with their lives thinking those racist/stupid/bigoted/rude thoughts, without anyone criticizing them. The unsettling comments must be viewed as a challenge to be dealt with, not something to be deleted or swept under the carpet.
In therapy, you have to bring things up if you want to resolve them. It may be tough or it may be rough, but you don't deal with the issue by ignoring it. It makes it worse. Same goes for our societal problems. From what I see, suppressing things and trying to be perfect just leads to alcoholism. (Thanks for the life lesson Grandma!)
This is a concept I don't like about political correctness. I am rarely ever politically correct, because that shit is for bigots. Being politically correct is all about what you say, and not what you mean. You can be completely politically correct and be a very malicious racists with an agenda. It's all about your wording. So placing emphasis on words, and not the underlying reasons behind them won't solve anything. I came from a school where I was one of the only white girls- political correctness didn't exist. Everyone made fun of everyone, and we all got a long because no one actually HATED anyone. It's the hate, the anger, the fear that is the problem, not the lexicon that describes it.
I want more comments. I want more debates. I want more people to learn how to debate. Critical Thinking should be a mandatory high-school credit. Recently, a youtube debate lead to this quote "Better to be proven wrong then to believe something false."
Whatcha gonna say about it?
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1 comment:
Having met the woman, by the way she's almost sixty, and read a few of her articles, I think you could chose a much better role model. I really never understood what in my opinion is a lot of her psuedo-feminist crap. Actions do speak louder than words.
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