Few Americans realize that the term Political Correctness originated in the totalitarian Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Political Correctness in America has spread from politics to the workplace, education, media coverage, the military (see my article The Brainwashing Has Begun in Our Military and Schools), mathematics, and now science!

The Historical Origin of “Political Correctness”

 Jon Miltimore, writing in Intellectual Take Out, reminded us of the origin of the term ‘politically correct.’

“The notion of political correctness came into use among Communists in the 1930s as a semi-humorous reminder that the Party’s interest is to be treated as a reality that ranks above reality itself,” writes Codevilla, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Boston University.

The semi-humorous reminder went something like this:

“Comrade, your statement is factually incorrect.”
“Yes, it is. But it is politically correct.”

The anecdote was a vital reminder in Stalin’s empire: Stray from the party’s official position, which could mean death. Whether or not something was true mattered less than whether or not it advanced the Idea (i.e., the Party’s interest).

What happens when Political Correctness overrules Science?

History provides us with a case study of what happens when Political Correctness overrules science (from Wikipedia) –  the story of Trofim Lysenko:

In 1940, Lysenko became director of the Institute of Genetics within the USSR‘s Academy of Sciences, and he used his political influence and power to suppress dissenting opinions and discredit, marginalize, and imprison his critics, elevating his anti-Mendelian theories to state-sanctioned doctrine.

Soviet scientists who refused to renounce genetics were dismissed from their posts and left destitute. Hundreds if not thousands of others were imprisoned. Several were sentenced to death as enemies of the state, including the botanist Nikolai Vavilov Lysenko’s actions and practices contributed to the famines that killed millions of Soviet people; the adoption of his methods from 1958 in the People’s Republic of China had similarly calamitous results, culminating in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 to 1962.

Ideas have Consequences

This is a reminder that ideas have consequences. The consequence of Lysenko’s non-data-based theories applied to agriculture resulted in famines and the death of millions by starvation. Again, from Wikipedia (take a screenshot quick before the PC crowd deletes it!)

Lysenko forced farmers to plant seeds very close together since, according to his “law of the life of species,” plants from the same “class” never compete with one another. Lysenko played an active role in the famines that killed millions of Soviet people [7 million], and his practices prolonged and exacerbated the food shortages. The People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong adopted his methods starting in 1958, with calamitous results, culminating in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 to 1962, in which some 15 million people died. At least 30 million died of starvation.

Plants from the same “class” never compete with one another? Lysenko applied Marxist class solidarity political theory to agriculture. As if plants had “political consciousness!” How scientific is that? 

Every backyard gardener can see the results of planting seeds close together: they block the sun from one another and result in stunted growth. This is why experienced foresters advocate thinning forests through logging. Un-thinned forests shade many growing trees. These trees die and provide fuel for forest fires to burn hotter and spread rapidly. This is why we have so many out-of-control forest fires in the western states. Environmental groups use emotion instead of biological data to block logging in our national forests. 

Lysenko had the political power to enforce his views on scientists and collectivized farm managers. Do it my way or face imprisonment and possibly execution. Result? 37+ million people in Russia and China died of starvation.

Politically Correct Epidemiology?

Over the past two years, we have seen this encroachment of Political Correctness into the science of epidemiology. First, a small encroachment on epidemiologists pushed by the Chinese Communist Party: instead of following the past practice of naming a disease from the place it originated (Ebola originated in the Ebola River valley in Africa), give it an abstract technical name. So, instead of the Wuhan Virus, we now have the Covid-19 Virus. The Chinese Communist ruling class did not want the world to be reminded of where the virus originated and where it spread from. 

Remember the definition of Political Correctness: the Party’s interest is to be treated as a reality that ranks above reality itself. In this case, the interest of the Chinese Communist Party.

We now see Political Correctness in the arbitrary flip-flopping of the CDC’s positions: masks aren’t effective, no – wear masks; get vaccinated, wait- vaccinations aren’t effective; those vaccinated don’t have to wear a mask, no -wait -those vaccinated do have to wear masks. These are political edicts, not scientific edicts. The CDC’s own data contradicts their mandates, according to Tucker Carlson.

Preppers of the World, Unite!

Science, the last realm of facts and data-driven decisions, is now in the hands of the politically correct elitist cousins of Lysenko. If it spreads to American agriculture, become a prepper and stockpile your peanut butter. The Leftist elites like Bill Gates want to reduce the population of the earth. Lysenko-inspired famines would accomplish that. As I remind readers of my predictive novel The Noah Option, Noah was the first prepper.