Why has political correctness proved so enduring? This is the subject of cover pieces in The Spectator by Brendan O’Neill and Damian Thompson, which follow an article by American liberal columnist Jonathan Chait on the subject.
We tend to think of political correctness as something from the late 1980s and early 1990s but in the internet age it has become more powerful than ever. Chait’s point is that – as Gerry Adams might put it – it hasn’t gone away you know.
This is puzzling because much of the ideology is quite extreme, hysterical or absurd (microaggressions?) and extreme movements tend to burn themselves out or become ridiculed out of existence. The reason for PC’s survival and expansion is curious.
PC is a puzzling term because it describes both a set of views and a mindset for dealing with bad-thinkers. Political correctness is the military wing of progressive politics; sometimes it’s a source of embarrassment to the Left and sometimes its adherents go too far, but in the broader scheme of things they’re all fighting for the same cause.
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