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Re: ...PC-ness on this list (some Who content)



>While I don't agree totally with WF's remarks (I'd accuse him of mild
sexism), the level
>of PC-ness on here is starting to make me nauseous.  This is coming from
someone 
>who appreciates jazz and blues music and their contribution to popular
culture in the 
>United States.

Well, I don't happen to appreciate jazz or blues, I worked for a Republican
legislator for seven years, and yet I usually don't mind "PC-ness" especially
since many of its critics are usually far more annoying when they inject
those vague "family values" into so many discussions.  If most of us on this
list espouse "PC-ness" or a dislike of Kenney Jones or a love of It's Hard or
whatever, what's wrong with Who fans getting a sense of their similarities
and differences?  It's not as if this discussion came from out of nowhere--it
did indeed have its origin in something Who-related.  And not that I'm
defending one side or the other, but it has drawn attention to what I've long
found an interesting aspect of Pete's writing--references to race.  Two that
I don't think have been mentioned are the sympathetic line in "Helpless
Dancer" and a common interpretation of the song "Cats In The Cupboard."

>Just because you find WF's views offensive doesn't make them any less valid
than 
>your own. Our pespectives are based on largely on personal experience. 

In the abstract I agree with your first sentence, but a huge problem with
many people's thinking is the truth of the second sentence:  People don't
question whether their personal experience is a legitimate basis for
generalizing, especially since how they interpret their experiences is often
a very subjective process.

>Yeah, it's too bad I have to look over my shoulder every time a group of NYC
youths 
>walk by me on the street, particularly at night, but when you've been robbed
at 
>gunpoint, you start to do that.....

And I was robbed at knifepoint by an African-American kid, but that doesn't
mean I allowed myself to avoid an entire race because of one event!

>Face it folks: there are people in this world who don't hold the views you
do. Chastising
>does little good. People think what they want to think. 

If chastising does little good, why are you chastising??  By contrast, I
happen to realize that people can be persuaded to CHANGE their views, and I
expect the vast majority of people on this list agree with this; after all,
many of us are constantly trying to persuade each other, and often in a civil
manner.

>Take it to private email if you're so inclined to get on a soapbox....

Fine advice from someone who has taken a turn on that public soapbox!  But I
actually bear no ill will, because this provided me an opportunity to get far
more serious than I usually am on this list!

Rich B.