Why political correctness is war by other means

Obviously a racial, religious, or sexist-based insult might trigger a reaction. But what about a trivial “faux pas” like asking someone with Oriental somatic traits if he was born abroad? In guide-books distributed to students in American universities, this behavior is specifically condemned: it’s not a faux pas but a “micro-aggression.” The politically correct world owns plenty of potential victims asking for acknowledgement, compensation, and reparation. But are these really the foundations that can hold together a multicultural society?

According to philosopher Michael Walzer, who dedicated to military doctrine in 1977 a now-classic book, “Just and Unjust Wars,” “Aggression is the word used for a crime, and that crime is war”. If we believe in the meaning of those words, identifying a micro-aggression means to lay the foundations for a legitimate reaction in the contest of a micro-war.

It is not by chance that the most fervent defenders of PC in the United States are called “social justice warriors,” for behind their claims lies the idea of an already raging conflict, a permanent war named “unjustice.” But a war against unjustice is an endless war, and one anybody could declare on anybody, anytime. If the century of religious wars taught us something, it is that no peace is possible until justice is settled.