There is no doubt that political correctness can be an often divisive topic, and a new poll finds that a lot of people think things have gone a bit too far.
A survey by the Cato Institute finds that 71% of Americans blame political correctness for silencing important discussions that are needed in society, while only 28% think it has done a lot to keep people from offending others.
Today’s current political climate has gotten so bad that 58% of people say they aren’t able to express things they believe, although that is more likely to be true for Republicans, with 73% saying the self-censor, then Democrats (53%) and Independents (58%).
While the idea of free speech is an important part of our Constitution, not as many people seem to support it, especially when it comes to unpopular opinions.
- While 59% of folks feel people should be allowed to express their opinions in public, regardless of what they are saying, 40% believe the government should keep people from spewing hate speech.
- Regardless of which side of that debate people are on, 79% believe it is “morally unacceptable” to engage in hate speech.
And even though the majority of Americans believe in free speech, a good number of them do support ways to censor, regulate, or punish certain forms of speech or expression. For example:
- 51% of strong liberals say it’s “morally acceptable” to punch Nazis.
- 53% of Republicans favor taking away U.S. citizenship from people who burn the American flag.
- 51% of Democrats believe there needs to be a law requiring Americans use transgender people’s preferred gender pronouns.
- 47% of Republicans support bans on building new mosques.
- 58% of Democrats think it's okay for employers to punish employees for offensive Facebook posts.
- 65% of Republicans believe NFL players should be fired if they refuse to stand for the national anthem.
Source: Cato Institute