71–80 of 107 posts
Perhaps worth noting: This is the same John Cleese that has decried London becoming a multicultural city that is "no longer English." https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/john-cleese-is-cancel...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where have the big thoughts led him? Maybe you could post that directly instead of some vague innuendo and save us all some wasted time.
It goes to his definition of "political correctness." It seems that what he feels needs to be culturally protected is his right to make unfunny, inaccurate claims about the nature of London without criticism. While (to my knowledge) nobody says he shouldn't have the right to make such claims, the notion that he's heading towards an "Orwellian nightmare" because people have less tolerance for such inaccurate and unfun…
"If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people's behaviour." Watching the current state of the western world, apparently only very few people have the ability to reflect on themself enough to realize this. Hopefully this is only a loud minorty. I maybe the wrong person to judge, but imho, we need to resolutely oppose the PC- and cancel culture.
(disclaimer - I haven't watched the video, because a. it's a video, come on, and b. John Cleese's attitudes are already well-known to me from many other sources, interviews, etc.) > If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people's behaviour. Yes, this statement is exactly true - but not in the way that John, and you, seem to think. One interpretation - yours, if I m…
Perhaps worth noting: This is the same John Cleese that has decried London becoming a multicultural city that is "no longer English." https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/john-cleese-is-cancel...
This is a little bit QED. If 'who said it' and 'what views do they hold' is more important than what they're actually saying, then we've become post-rational, and well on our way back to less open and enlightened culture.
I can understand how some people see complete validity in Cleese's argument that those hurt by someone's words/behavior should "control their own emotions" rather than demand that the offending party be more considerate of their emotions, but I do not. Black people should not have to "control their own emotions" when a non-Black person uses the N-word to get a cheap laugh, like, etc. at their expense. Muslims should…
You have correctly pointed out a few scenarios where Cleese's "control their own emotions" argument would not be valid. Are you also able to think of any scenarios where his point would be valid, or do you believe that in all instances of human behavior on the planet across time, emotional reactions are accurate, and the subsequent actions taken justified? "I do not" implies you do not, but I feel I may be misinterpr…
People need to realize that there's as much political correctness on the right as there is on the left.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you give some concrete examples of someone being censured for criticizing people being called cancer-whore? It's not out of the realm of possibility, but that seems an extraordinary claim.
Do you actually have an opinion about people being called cancer whore out of the blue or are you just here trying to supress discussion about it?
Claiming there's a big conspiracy of "political correctness which supresses discussion about this" is entirely unsupported thus far.
I love John Cleese but he's gotten a bit "Old man yells at cloud" in his dotage IMO. (Odd trivia: John Cleese is into Gurdjieff, or was.) Look, I'm a left-leaning SJW type, but I'll stand by the idea that when "PC" goes beyond common courtesy and starts becoming an OOC mob-power thing, that's bad. There's a point to be made about historical context: women weren't allowed to wear pants until about twenty minutes ago;…
Perhaps worth noting: This is the same John Cleese that has decried London becoming a multicultural city that is "no longer English." https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/john-cleese-is-cancel...
That's a weird, centuries-late complaint about the natural consequence of world-spanning empire.
You can't just colonize half the world without getting anyone else’s culture in your capital.
Assuming the majority of hn is US-based, you folks have to understand that PC culture is often seen as a joke at best and an extension of typical American hypocrisy at worst (i.e. the usual double-speak and fake politeness that covers actual opinions and motivations). Sure, the PC/SJW wave is gaining momentum outside of the US as well, as the cultural influence is significant but it still remains an odd thing for mos…