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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Illustrating Political Correctness

Dennis Prager has a very good column on the nature of "political correctness" in our society. Here's his lede:
The most common left-wing objection to the right is that it wants to control others' lives. But, both in America and elsewhere, the threat to personal liberty has emanated far more from the left. In the past generation, the left has controlled so much speech and behavior that these controls are now assumed to be a normal part of life.

Through the use of public opprobrium, laws and lawsuits, Americans today are less free than at any time since the abolition of slavery (with the obvious exception of blacks under Jim Crow).

Public opprobrium is known as political correctness, and it has suppressed saying anything -- no matter how true and no matter how innocent -- that offends left-wing sensibilities.
This is followed in the column with a dozen or so examples of how this suppression plays out in the culture. It's pretty good and worth a read.