Political Correctness Is Harmful to Society

Political correctness is a positive thing because it was born out of necessity

        Political correctness as a current trend and a policy aimed at not offending or disadvantaging any particular group of people in the society has been a hot topic of debates for nearly a decade. Some people consider PC as necessity that helps to eliminate discrimination and protect equality in society. However, political correctness appears a rather negative thing.

        Firstly, it diminishes people’s hard work and accomplishments since affirmative action in human resources management is applied. It is a form of “positive” discrimination, which leads to the fact that people are evaluated and hired according to their background, but not according to their real accomplishments. For example, it is a common practice in western countries to choose a candidate of a minority background, even though there might be a better person for this position.

        Secondly, due to political correctness minorities are favored over majority. The representatives of those gender, race or ethnic groups who oppressed minorities in the past are automatically characterized as sinners regardless of what any of them do as individuals. In other words, they have to atone for the transgressions of their ancestors listening to undeserved insults from «sainted victims», their defenders and even those who want to seem moral. Thus, majority and minority groups just exchange their roles, which does not lead to elimination of discrimination.

        Last but not least, political correctness threatens free speech since it limits a number of topics available for discussion and expressions that one can use. Only those who use politically correct terms may express their opinions without any restrictions imposed. Those who prefer blunt language are not allowed to speak absolutely freely. As a result, not all topics and opinions are taken into consideration, which may affect management and governance.

        All in all, it can be seen that political correctness is actually quite a negative phenomenon. It eliminates fair competition at workplace, threatens freedom of speech, and fails to reduce discrimination.