"...On the surface, the idea of filtering our communication so as not to exclude or offend anyone seems fairly benign, almost Pollyannaish. Maybe that explains how it has so insidiously crept into every aspect of our culture, but its effect has been anything but benign.

Political correctness has had a powerful influence on how we interact with each other, teach our kids, and manage our companies. It’s an existential threat to the meritocracy and personal accountability at the heart of free market capitalism. It’s toxic to the performance and competitiveness of our people, our companies and our economy.

You see, human behavior is all about incentives. All things being equal, people will do what’s in their own best interest.

If people believe that rewards are based solely on their own merits – that the sky’s the limit and how far they go in life rests solely on their shoulders – that’s an incentive to be self-reliant and reach for the stars. And they will generally reach the highest levels of achievement their capabilities and circumstances permit.

There’s proof of that. Those are, in fact, the principles that built America. Everyone gets life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The rest is up to the individual. That simple mechanism is responsible for creating the entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders of the free world. That’s what created the American Dream.

But if you remove the incentive, all that changes.

If people believe it makes no difference how they perform – that everyone’s the same, competition is bad, everyone’s a winner, and exceptional qualities will not be rewarded or even recognized – they’re left with nothing to strive for. Stripped of the will to achieve, they’ll settle into a life of dependency and mediocrity.

Again, it’s all about incentives. All things being equal, people will do what they’re incentivized to do.

So we can all agree that political correctness levels the playing field, removes incentives to excel, and diminishes meritocracy and personal accountability. Well, that has a ripple effect on team performance and effectiveness. We have a term for the resultant state of organizational malaise and mediocrity. It’s called bureaucracy..."


Great article!

Political Correctness Is Destroying the American Dream | Fox Business

I hear you and will say, when I was a young man, I followed your line of thought like it was the word of God. Then as I aged, I lost family members, witnessed suffering of the elderly and the poor due to rising medical costs. I helped family members including a child through life threatening cancer. I have slowly changed due to my awakening to what really matters in this journey we take from birth to death. Being the richest, the strongest or even the smartest means very little in the overal experience of being a man. Providing financially is a distant second to providing love and kindness to those around you.

Originally Posted by Guest

"...On the surface, the idea of filtering our communication so as not to exclude or offend anyone seems fairly benign, almost Pollyannaish. Maybe that explains how it has so insidiously crept into every aspect of our culture, but its effect has been anything but benign.

Political correctness has had a powerful influence on how we interact with each other, teach our kids, and manage our companies. It’s an existential threat to the meritocracy and personal accountability at the heart of free market capitalism. It’s toxic to the performance and competitiveness of our people, our companies and our economy.

You see, human behavior is all about incentives. All things being equal, people will do what’s in their own best interest.

If people believe that rewards are based solely on their own merits – that the sky’s the limit and how far they go in life rests solely on their shoulders – that’s an incentive to be self-reliant and reach for the stars. And they will generally reach the highest levels of achievement their capabilities and circumstances permit.

There’s proof of that. Those are, in fact, the principles that built America. Everyone gets life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The rest is up to the individual. That simple mechanism is responsible for creating the entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders of the free world. That’s what created the American Dream.

But if you remove the incentive, all that changes.

If people believe it makes no difference how they perform – that everyone’s the same, competition is bad, everyone’s a winner, and exceptional qualities will not be rewarded or even recognized – they’re left with nothing to strive for. Stripped of the will to achieve, they’ll settle into a life of dependency and mediocrity.

Again, it’s all about incentives. All things being equal, people will do what they’re incentivized to do.

So we can all agree that political correctness levels the playing field, removes incentives to excel, and diminishes meritocracy and personal accountability. Well, that has a ripple effect on team performance and effectiveness. We have a term for the resultant state of organizational malaise and mediocrity. It’s called bureaucracy..."


Great article!

Political Correctness Is Destroying the American Dream | Fox Business

Your comments are well thought out and written. I did not read the article from Fox you added the link for as I pretty much know where they stand. My disagreement with you is I believe the biggest incentive in today's America is "something for nothing". It drives crime, the stock market, business, etc. Look at the growth of gambling and lottery ticket sales, states are even in on it. The great American dream used to be owning a home and being part of the middle class but has been replaced by something for nothing.

Political correctness is nothing more than a means to NOT DO or say what is right.
I would even allow that in it's origins there may have been a value. However it has become so distorted, so politicized and so abused political correctness has become tainted and contributes absolutely no value.

When doing what is right might not sit well with some folks it is expected these days to either not do or say something so as to not offend them. That is wrong.
Always has been and will always be.

The current generation and thinking is to NOT tell it like it is. And under the cloak of political correctness lying and cheating have become acceptable actions.

NOT FOR ME!

Political correctness is an invention of Marx and incorporated into the liberal mind early on to wit the nonsense promulgated by Hollywood and celebrities.

The old saw "stick and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you " was lost on liberals and /or used as a basis to gain advantage.

Recall the ethnic battles between Europeans did they call upon the government no they worked through myths

Liberals simply do not understand nature nor the limits to nature and if you analyze their demands you can see that.

Most people understand that there will always be people who are richer, better looking smarter, better athletes ....than them Liberals view them as inequities and attempt to correct them so that we are all equal, except many liberals really want to be more equal... Hillary Clinton, Al Sharpton are classic cases and worse yet creates elitism and snobbery for the liberal set

I follow the happenings in universities and this sort of thinking has evolved so deeply and badly that college students actually get out of sorts if a student show up in what they view is a political incorrect costume such as an American indian.

Political correctness because it shuts down communication is one of the reasons the country cannot resolve it many problems

Personal Best Regards:

As a result of political correctness many of us have adopted the following response:

"the majority loses another one".

It remains a mystery in this day and age how it is acceptable to upset a majority in favor of not upsetting or yielding to the few.

The only answer must be, because the silent majority......remains silent.
What is almost as bad for America as political correctness is the related NIMBY affliction. (not in my back yard). When an issue does not affect one directly it is so easy to sit back and let the politically correct crowd, the minority (not race!) and special interst groups trample our freedoms.

Just getting around to reading this today and would like to say to the OP-

Thank you - great post! The entire article is a very good read.

In reflecting on the comments on this thread, I began to wonder if the apathy that I see among so many new college grads may be partly a result of this. Since I am still in the working world, I come in contact with quite a few young people and often times I just don't see the ambition or hope. It's as if "okay, I got the degree, now what"? It seems as if they have no vision or direction. I'm sure the job market, being as it is, has a lot to do with it, but I can't help but wonder how much their PC education may have affected them. It's sad to see so many young people working far below their potential.

Fox Noise blathering from the same lamebrains. Try to have an original thought instead of relying on Hannity, Gutner, and the PinHead.

Originally Posted by Guest

Fox Noise blathering from the same lamebrains. Try to have an original thought instead of relying on Hannity, Gutner, and the PinHead.

Talk about blather ... and lack of an original comment! You win the contest hands down.

Originally Posted by Guest

Fox Noise blathering from the same lamebrains. Try to have an original thought instead of relying on Hannity, Gutner, and the PinHead.

Is this the only caliber of contribution you have?
Instead belittling everything how about actually give us what you think about the subject.
It is starting to look as though the responses are limited to parroting back with disparaging commentary only.
Put down the rocks and the mud and let us see if there is a civil, on point commentary that can be made. Yeah.....get out on a limb and state a position.