nancylebov (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nancylebov) wrote2010-02-16 02:46 pm
nancylebov) wrote2010-02-16 02:46 pm
Checking up on an old slogan
What do you think of
?
A non-combat vet told me the slogan was deeply offensive-- possibly appropriate for vets to say to each other, but a wrong thing for civilians (especially when there's a war) because it implied that people with Purple Hearts were stupid. I don't think that's a reasonable reading of the slogan, but I'm not going to step on people's toes for no reason.
On the other hand, to some extent she's being indignant for other people, and that's less likely to be accurate than being indignant for oneself.
In re "Some people just like feeling insulted": As far as I can tell, sometimes I'm genuinely outraged, and sometimes I'm looking for trouble. The whole thing is subtle and messy and I'm not going to start by assuming that inconvenient outrage is always something to be ignored.
A Purple Heart means you were smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive
?
A non-combat vet told me the slogan was deeply offensive-- possibly appropriate for vets to say to each other, but a wrong thing for civilians (especially when there's a war) because it implied that people with Purple Hearts were stupid. I don't think that's a reasonable reading of the slogan, but I'm not going to step on people's toes for no reason.
On the other hand, to some extent she's being indignant for other people, and that's less likely to be accurate than being indignant for oneself.
In re "Some people just like feeling insulted": As far as I can tell, sometimes I'm genuinely outraged, and sometimes I'm looking for trouble. The whole thing is subtle and messy and I'm not going to start by assuming that inconvenient outrage is always something to be ignored.
no subject
If we were talking about groups with a large power difference, there would be a whole 'nother layer of meaning there. But we aren't. And so far as I can tell, we're not even talking about groups; we're talking about one person who, if I read the OP correctly, isn't even in the class of people that she is "defending."
That last clause, BTW, is one of the main reasons I'm blowing off her objection and brushing her off as "uptight" rather than considering what she has to say. If I hear this from people that the comment is actually aimed at, or if I hear it from a significant number of interested parties, I'll consider taking the objection seriously.