Political correctness
About
Originally a term used for self-criticism on the left, "political correctness" (or "PC") is now most often used by the Right as a put-down phrase (argument by label) for anything they dislike – which seems to be largely any form of consideration for certain types of people (basically, anyone not part of the white-male-protestant majority).
Origins
The term originated in left/liberal/progressive attempts to avoid accidental hypocrisy in public situations. For example, someone putting on a fundraiser for a liberal political candidate might be concerned that giving out party treats made in Chinese sweatshops would fail to be "politically correct" (since buying merchandise from such a source would work against liberal ideals in some small measure).
Labeling
The Right later saw this term as a way of dismissing liberal arguments or positions as "political correctness gone wild" or "run amok". More recently, with the ascent of Trumpian authoritarianism, the Right seems to have embraced the idea that political correctness to any extent is a problem.
This often seems to be packaged with an assumption that anything which is PC must be untrue, and therefore anything which is "politically incorrect" must be true (which is a formal logical fallacy). For example, many people praise Donald Trump for "saying things that need to be said" and not "giving in to political correctness" – even when the "politically correct" position is objectively true and Trump's statements are objectively false.
While in theory "PC" could theoretically be used as a dismissal of any disliked position, the Right tends to use it against certain types of activity:
- Where liberal ideology stands in opposition to bigoted language and attitudes, the Right frames it as a form of "politically correct" speech-suppression.
- This includes such completely innocuous measures such as trigger warnings and safe spaces.
- see also: freeze peach, tolerance of intolerance
- Where liberal ideology advocates for fair treatment of disempowered people, the Right tends to frame it as a form of discrimination against the empowered – typically white ("reverse discrimination"), male ("misandry"), and/or Christian (see Christian persecution complex) people.
Positions
Examples
Right accusing Left
- 2014/05/29/Universities becoming bastions of intolerance: Bloomberg makes a straw-man of student arguments against a paid speaker by claiming that the speaker had been simply "deemed politically objectionable" by the students.
Right hypocrisy
- 2016-12-26 Breitbart Is Leading a Smear Campaign Against a Scholar for Mocking White Supremacy, and His University Isn't Defending Him (via)
- 2016-12-22 Wisconsin Republicans Want "Problem of Whiteness" Class Cancelled, Professor Fired: if the Left had tried to end a course because it was racist or scientifically incorrect, the Right would have accused them of "politically correct" censorship
Left responses to accusations
- 2017-09-04 James Perfectly Responds To Caller Who Cites "Political Correctness" During Debate (video)
- 2016-04-12 Trigger Warnings are CENSORSHIP, and Other Nonsense by Jim C. Hines
Links
Reference
- Wikipedia
- Conservapedia
redirects to Politically correct
, which predictably places it in opposition to free speech - RationalWiki notes that the Right uses the same speech-related tactics they label as "PC" in others, typically in defense of "Christian values" (Biblical correctness?)
