Political Correctness.

First, let's define Political Correctness(PC):

Most sources attribute the origins of PC to the United States during the 80's time frame, and most major encyclopedias define PC as a liberal approach to a desired social interaction. I'll quote just two as an example:

"conforming or adhering to what is regarded as orthodox liberal opinion on matters of sexuality, race, etc.: usually used disparagingly to connote dogmatism, excessive sensitivity to minority causes, etc." -Webster's New World College

"Conforming to a prevailing body of liberal opinion, esp. in avoiding language, behavior, etc., which might conceivably be regarded as discriminatory or pejorative to racial or cultural minorities or as reflecting implicit assumptions." -Oxford Encyclopedia English

Remember the Bill Maher controversy in 2001, where he stated on national TV that "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away"? He said this just seven days after 9/11, and later had to endure a long and drawn out apology in an attempt to clarify his remarks. If he had said this just one day before 9/11, people wouldn't have even batted an eyelid. Bill also made a statement in the opening minutes of the show that was never mentioned during the public feeding frenzy. He said: "Political correctness itself is something we can no longer afford. Feelings are gonna get hurt so that actual people won't, and that will be a good thing."

Imagine that.

Just a little over a week ago the Library of Congress was pressured to drop the term "illegal alien" from its headings by Dartmouth College students who felt the term was "racially charged". The PC term that will now be used by the LoC  will be "non-citizens".

Please take note that The LoC initially refused to remove the term in 2014.

Unless you are the antagonistic/sardonic type, everyone usually tries to avoid upsetting a particular individual or group with something that is said. And in my honest opinion, it's a basic part of human nature. It all revolves around something we learned as children: The Golden Rule. The problem with PC, is when something that wasn't considered offensive yesterday, suddenly becomes offensive tomorrow. Once this occurs, a sort of mob mentality begins to develop around the issue, resulting in some form of a media fueled, cultural showdown. The tyrannical aspects of PC and its subtle attacks on freedom of speech and expression are troublesome, and the trend of requiring panegyric responses to cultural issues is even more troubling. It seems as if telling the truth, and telling the -right- truth, are quickly becoming bastardized to the point where autonomous opinions are outright treasonous.

It's no secret that the world is changing, and things that were able to be said yesterday, could become taboo tomorrow. But the problem with all of the redefinition's - is if the intent was there to offend in the first place(which it was not in the following example), simply changing the word does nothing to change that. If someone is an "illegal alien" today, only to be called "non-citizens" tomorrow, does not "non-citizens" become the new taboo word if a particular group begins using it?

What are your thoughts? Is Political Correctness a necessary evil in today's world? Or has it gotten out of control?