How to Die From Political Correctness

More Than a Body Image Issue

Political Correctness is a wonderful thing. We can embrace progressive causes and feel really good about ourselves without having to think too carefully about the implications.

I speak as a European, as someone who’s attitudes would be characterized by 90% of US citizens as god-hating baby-eating communist-loving gun-fearing gay-kissing wrongness incarnate.

I’m someone who thinks it’s abhorrent to discriminate on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, or race (whatever that happens to mean to most people at any point in time). I know that it is insane for 1% of the population to control 50% of the wealth and I can’t understand how anyone would think that providing health services to all citizens could possibly be a bad idea. And I think governments have no business at all being involved in any way in anyone’s consensual sexual activities.

In short, I’m a European liberal in the classic J.S. Mill sense.

But, alas, I’m also someone who every once in a while bumps into real-world data and tries to incorporate that into my weltanschauung. Because, you know, reality is rather important, eventually. For all of us. If you’re not convinced, think about climate change as a great example.

Anyhow, for the last few years it’s been transiently fashionable to burble on about how we should…