I am thinking more of the use of political correctness as a form of "thought policing." Watching my tongue does not feel at all oppressive to me, even if it is burdensome at times. But political correctness has also been used to force language on people that connects to ideologies that they do not hold, and I see this trend on the upswing. In effect, life you said, it is a reprogramming. But that reprogramming is sometimes just as unwelcome and baseless as the medicating that has been used in the past.

My intent is not to say that it is not a gnat compared to the elephant, but to poinnt out that the gnat still exists, and while the elephant shrinks - these days perhaps being a rino - the gnat is growing.