To be honest, it's my opinion that "such and such a word is out because some people have said it makes them uncomfortable" is a decent basis for polite interaction in an intimate community, but not for broader social interactions. It feels rather inappropriate to devise general rules based on individual, anecdotal observations.
(I'm not suggesting this is the case with "crazy". The post you linked to makes an excellent point about how "I'm not crazy" statements might have a deeply exclusive social function for the mentally ill.)
I apologise for casting you in the role of expert, as it precludes you from making your usual disclaimers about fumbling in the dark on all of these matters. D'oh. I actually just thought that since you'd mentioned the difficulties associated with "crazy", you'd almost certainly read something cogent on the subject.
My current take on political campaigns to change elements of discourse (vocab, figures of speech) that are taken to invoke or reinforce prejudicial thinking is that perhaps they are not all accounting for their effects very well.
If these campaigns are pursued with uniform vigour whether their effects are productive or not, and if there's not usually much clear understanding whether it's the changes to elements of discourse, or other "side" effects of the campaign itself that are expected to produce a positive political outcome, they don't seem to me to be a good idea.
My thinking is that if these effects were accounted for more carefully, the shape of the campaigns would also change to acknowledge and drop or change failed lines of attack. For example, although the word "crazy" may well have unwanted patterns of use that invalidate the lives of the mentally ill, to decry its use to the "average Australian" would provoke storms of laughter and a whole heap of "blah blah blah PC thought police" dismissal. So it wouldn't be a good idea, or it would be a very poorly timed one.
It reminds me of an old Alexei Sayle joke about revolutionary communism:
Q: How many Trotskyists does it take to change a light bulb? A: You can't change the light bulb comrade, you have to smash it!
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Re: Joint reply to make the conversation easier to keep track of
(I'm not suggesting this is the case with "crazy". The post you linked to makes an excellent point about how "I'm not crazy" statements might have a deeply exclusive social function for the mentally ill.)
I apologise for casting you in the role of expert, as it precludes you from making your usual disclaimers about fumbling in the dark on all of these matters. D'oh. I actually just thought that since you'd mentioned the difficulties associated with "crazy", you'd almost certainly read something cogent on the subject.
My current take on political campaigns to change elements of discourse (vocab, figures of speech) that are taken to invoke or reinforce prejudicial thinking is that perhaps they are not all accounting for their effects very well.
If these campaigns are pursued with uniform vigour whether their effects are productive or not, and if there's not usually much clear understanding whether it's the changes to elements of discourse, or other "side" effects of the campaign itself that are expected to produce a positive political outcome, they don't seem to me to be a good idea.
My thinking is that if these effects were accounted for more carefully, the shape of the campaigns would also change to acknowledge and drop or change failed lines of attack. For example, although the word "crazy" may well have unwanted patterns of use that invalidate the lives of the mentally ill, to decry its use to the "average Australian" would provoke storms of laughter and a whole heap of "blah blah blah PC thought police" dismissal. So it wouldn't be a good idea, or it would be a very poorly timed one.
It reminds me of an old Alexei Sayle joke about revolutionary communism:
Q: How many Trotskyists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: You can't change the light bulb comrade, you have to smash it!