A Reflection on Political Correctness

It has become a matter of pride, on the part of some, to say, “I have no need for political correctness,” and to portray political correctness as though it were a reprehensible conspiracy to squelch straight talk. I’d like to share some thoughts, to try to clarify what political correctness actually is, and what is the cost of discarding it.

What it boils down to is this: Political correctness is to conduct one’s speech in such a way so that people believe you are sensitive to characteristics that may be unique to them, that may put them in the minority, and that may render them socially vulnerable. It means to avoid speech or behavior that leads them to believe you are ridiculing or demeaning them. Political correctness, at its root, is connected to the idea of being “polite.” This is not such an outrageous expectation. We all want to feel we are respected by people and treated with dignity—even if they have disagreement about aspects of how we live our lives. A person who is politically correct—a person who is polite—is automatically granted a degree of influence over people, simply because, when people believe they are being treated with respect and dignity, they are likely to return the favor. I suspect none of us are exempt from this principle.

Moral influence is different than the influence that comes from being politically correct, but is deeply dependent upon it. If you disapprove of what you perceive to be a failure in someone’s morality, you stand a much greater chance of influencing their choices by stating your disagreement in a respectful way, so they do not feel you are ridiculing them in the process. In other words, there is no distraction of rudeness on your part, which would lead them to believe you are trying to change them simply because you consider them to be of lesser value than yourself. If you believe you have something of moral importance to communicate, you dare not dispense with political correctness—with politeness—because it is the sole bridge by which you might invite someone to join your perspective.

The cost of denigrating political correctness is this, then: The persuasive power and influence you might find through politeness is forsaken, closing the door to anything of moral importance you might believe you have to say. Positive social influence is thereby abandoned. The most powerful tool we have in our sociological, psychological, and spiritual toolbox, when it comes to exerting social influence, is thrown out.

The only means of influence that are left, when political correctness is jettisoned, are the motivations of punishment, reward, fear, and force. But, devoid of intentional respect, these motivators are all impersonal. They do not engage people in a bond of solidarity and community, but operate entirely on the basis of how they can guard their self-interest, in light of your antagonistic stance towards them. A world that is fashioned in the absence of political correctness is one that is destined to be adversarial at its core. It is a recipe for control, perhaps, but not for a society in which private and social aspirations ever come together. It is not the kind of world in which any of us would want to live.