People seem pretty comfortable to say political correctness is left wing. It certianly has its origins in the New Left in the 1960's and 1970's. But this isn't the whole story.
The reason why political correctness is considered left wing is because it is used in instances to defend minorities as a form of egalitarianism. But political correctness is a form of self-censorship or censorship. It implies no action and leaves the fundamental social conditions as the source of sexism, racism and homophobia unchanged. political correctness is a substitute for action against those structural inequalities and in practice it helps perpetuate them. Outrage becomes a substitute for change.
We come to care more about when people say ****** than the number of black men in jail, or about the use of native american sterotypes as mascots in american football than the actual conditions in which native americans currently live. Politically incorrect behaviour is sensational and makes headlines, improve ratings and sell papers, whilst structural inequalities pass large unnoticed. The system- with all its oppression and exploitation- continues.
Not only that but political correctness helps capitalism. By erasing "offensive" sterotypes and words from the market place, it becomes a way of marketing products to people outside of those groups that typically make up the ruling class: white, hetrosexual men. Its a way to getting people to buy products and make money by selling an idealised image of an inclusive marketplace built on a warped egalitarianism where we are all formless consumers. Political correctness serves to erase collective identity and memory of unjustice and assists in getting people to identify as "individuals" who passively consume and whose social standing is determined by their purchasing power.
On a related note, multiculturalism is a thinly vieled attempt to sanatise socio-economic segregation, social conflicts and inequalities by portraying each group as being equal before the law or having equal oppurtunities within the market place. Again, actual inequalities are ignored and perpetuated to serve to "individualise" everyone into consumers. Multiculturalism is inescapably a consequence of free trade, the free movement of goods, services, capital and people accross borders as part of capitalism's globalisation and search for markets. Economic globalisation produces cultural globalisation. It is political correctness to treat people as if they were equal in this market even when they are discriminated against. It doesn't matter that these "freedoms" are driven by economic necessity, that poorer people move to rich countries to find work and that rich people invest in poor countries because its cheaper and makes a profit.
It is this "sensitivity" to all cultures that makes political correctness highly relativistic. The value of cultural relativism in the marketplace it is ability to act as a basis for inclusion rather than exclusion. It serves to turn as many people as possible into consumers all working towards individual enrichment as their entire history, culture and traditions are erased under the pretense of "equality", becoming standardised commodities for cultural appropriation. Rather, it makes the world in capitalism's image of free buying and selling. It doesn't matter if the Islamic world enforces sharia law at the expense of women, gays or apostates: its the terms to do bussiness with them. The price of the wests dependency on middle eastern oil is "tolerance" of islamic authoritarianism. It doesn't matter if the clothes we wear are made by prison labour in the heart of communist china: tolerating human rights abuses is just good business. But it is politically correct to emphasise how buying such products will "convince" China or Saudi Arabia of the virtue of freedom because free buying and free selling is what defines the nature of freedom under capitalism. It is politically correct to treat all buyers and sellers as equal: free markets andCapitalism are essential, whereas Democracy is just an accessory.
In many respects Political Correctness echoes Christian conceptions of thought and speech as sinful and that society must police them as crimes against god or the natural order. it comes to resemble the fanaticism of religious fundamentalism. And like all fanatics, the proponents of political correctness are fervant in proportionate to which they doubt their own convictions and want so desperately to believe in their own self-deception. of course the function of political correctness is to evangilise capitalism through the mass media and to instill a propaganda of the individualistic consumer and therefore to erase the perception of inequalities as a substitute for building a society that would do it. The ultimate expression of political correctness is to change peoples perception and therefore their begaviour to reconcile themselves to accept Capitalism.
Thoughts?
The reason why political correctness is considered left wing is because it is used in instances to defend minorities as a form of egalitarianism. But political correctness is a form of self-censorship or censorship. It implies no action and leaves the fundamental social conditions as the source of sexism, racism and homophobia unchanged. political correctness is a substitute for action against those structural inequalities and in practice it helps perpetuate them. Outrage becomes a substitute for change.
We come to care more about when people say ****** than the number of black men in jail, or about the use of native american sterotypes as mascots in american football than the actual conditions in which native americans currently live. Politically incorrect behaviour is sensational and makes headlines, improve ratings and sell papers, whilst structural inequalities pass large unnoticed. The system- with all its oppression and exploitation- continues.
Not only that but political correctness helps capitalism. By erasing "offensive" sterotypes and words from the market place, it becomes a way of marketing products to people outside of those groups that typically make up the ruling class: white, hetrosexual men. Its a way to getting people to buy products and make money by selling an idealised image of an inclusive marketplace built on a warped egalitarianism where we are all formless consumers. Political correctness serves to erase collective identity and memory of unjustice and assists in getting people to identify as "individuals" who passively consume and whose social standing is determined by their purchasing power.
On a related note, multiculturalism is a thinly vieled attempt to sanatise socio-economic segregation, social conflicts and inequalities by portraying each group as being equal before the law or having equal oppurtunities within the market place. Again, actual inequalities are ignored and perpetuated to serve to "individualise" everyone into consumers. Multiculturalism is inescapably a consequence of free trade, the free movement of goods, services, capital and people accross borders as part of capitalism's globalisation and search for markets. Economic globalisation produces cultural globalisation. It is political correctness to treat people as if they were equal in this market even when they are discriminated against. It doesn't matter that these "freedoms" are driven by economic necessity, that poorer people move to rich countries to find work and that rich people invest in poor countries because its cheaper and makes a profit.
It is this "sensitivity" to all cultures that makes political correctness highly relativistic. The value of cultural relativism in the marketplace it is ability to act as a basis for inclusion rather than exclusion. It serves to turn as many people as possible into consumers all working towards individual enrichment as their entire history, culture and traditions are erased under the pretense of "equality", becoming standardised commodities for cultural appropriation. Rather, it makes the world in capitalism's image of free buying and selling. It doesn't matter if the Islamic world enforces sharia law at the expense of women, gays or apostates: its the terms to do bussiness with them. The price of the wests dependency on middle eastern oil is "tolerance" of islamic authoritarianism. It doesn't matter if the clothes we wear are made by prison labour in the heart of communist china: tolerating human rights abuses is just good business. But it is politically correct to emphasise how buying such products will "convince" China or Saudi Arabia of the virtue of freedom because free buying and free selling is what defines the nature of freedom under capitalism. It is politically correct to treat all buyers and sellers as equal: free markets andCapitalism are essential, whereas Democracy is just an accessory.
In many respects Political Correctness echoes Christian conceptions of thought and speech as sinful and that society must police them as crimes against god or the natural order. it comes to resemble the fanaticism of religious fundamentalism. And like all fanatics, the proponents of political correctness are fervant in proportionate to which they doubt their own convictions and want so desperately to believe in their own self-deception. of course the function of political correctness is to evangilise capitalism through the mass media and to instill a propaganda of the individualistic consumer and therefore to erase the perception of inequalities as a substitute for building a society that would do it. The ultimate expression of political correctness is to change peoples perception and therefore their begaviour to reconcile themselves to accept Capitalism.
Thoughts?
The OP is a mixture of both thought experiment to try and make a consistent argument as well as my own views. This is still something I'm unsure of and is a response to talking with people on the forums and watching things change over 2016 (mainly brexit and Trump). 
