PC, In Brief

The central tenet of PC is that people are basically ticking bombs of racism, sexism, homophobia (add your favorite "ism" here), and this bestial inner nature can only be controlled through sanitizing every aspect of intellectual, cultural and aesthetic expression, so as to remove any triggers that might set them off.

Of course, the great unwashed cannot be expected to exercise internal control. Therefore, self-appointed, elect groups of Sensitive People must enforce external control and clean up everything that might negatively affect the consciousness of the masses.

A complementary PC belief is that the members of certain designated "Victim" groups - such as racial or religious minorities - have mental states so porcelain-fragile that great measures must be taken to insure their emotional comfort and the integrity of their self-esteem.

Thus, when one such Victim declares that something is "offensive," the complaint must be treated with the gravest sincerity and resolved with all haste. This need to avoid "offense" and "insensitivity" trumps any and all concerns about freedom of expression.

There's more to PC, of course, but this is the essence of it.