Children are told to discover their own ways of doing mathematics or of using the English language. They are encouraged to respond emotionally, rather than to analyze logically, on issues ranging from the environment to homelessness. Without the Constitution, we are at the mercy of whatever phrase or fashion sweeps across the political landscape. In short, we and our children are being trained to be sheep and to respond automatically to words that strike an emotional chord. We are being set up to be played for suckers by anyone who wants to take up where the totalitarian movements of the twentieth century left off.
Some people think political correctness is just silly.
But that is bad enough. Syndicated column, May 2000. Used with permission of Thomas Sowell and Creators Syndicate. Available from the Hoover Press is Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays , by Thomas Sowell. And Other Essays, by Thomas Sowell.