When framed like this, it seems utterly reasonable to think that political correctness has the potential to be a menace. Self-styled opponents of political correctness and proponents of free speech may find themselves (mis)quoting Voltaire: “I disapprove what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Regardless of how it is labelled, its underlying idea is the same: that measures to increase “tolerance” threaten the liberal, Enlightenment values that have forged the West.
The second invocation of PC gone mad is “freedom of speech”: specifically the idea that the use and enforcement of politically correct language will endanger it and by extension freedom of thought. First, there is the use of the word “snowflake” to criticise younger generations-those more likely to be in favour of affirmative action and gender-neutral bathrooms, for instance, who are perceived as thin-skinned and less resilient than their forebears. In its modern iteration, it pops up in a couple of different forms. It is synonymous with a sort of cultural McCarthyism, usually committed by the left.
The phrase, ostensibly referring to language or action that is designed to avoid offence or harm to protected groups, has become a sharp criticism. The notion that political correctness has “gone mad” is familiar to anyone who follows even vaguely any aspect of modern political or cultural life.
Welcome to “political correctness gone too far”.
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