Politeness

Jun 19, 2006 13:50

If someone tells me that something I did, said, or wrote is impolite, rude, or in any other way objectionable, surely they do so in order to pressure me into "bettering myself", which essentially means to behave in a way they prefer. Logically, it is therefore actually their problem if they get worked up over something I do, say, or write, because the only real cause of it is their own intolerance. Surely ascribing it to a lack of conformity on my part would logically necessitate the existence of conformity rules; but has anyone ever written down those rules? Of course not, because such rules do not exist. People just make them up on the fly and then expect everyone to follow them on the spot. This seems like a violation of the basic human right to individuality; the entire concept of "politeness" and "good form" is a suppression mechanism that aims to reduce variation and produce normativity.
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