2 ms·

Cancel culture is one of those things that is so nasty, so obviously unproductive, that it makes me sick to see how broken our culture has become. I mean, I wa

Cancel culture is one of those things that is so nasty, so obviously unproductive, that it makes me sick to see how broken our culture has become. I mean, I was sure that society had definitely concluded that mob justice was a bad thing. Discovering that I was wrong was difficult. Regardless of the virtue of off-color jokes, thousand-year-old religious viewpoints, and fear-based worldviews, we must admit that we've lost sight of the goal. To quote an Aaron Sorkin 'Republican': "If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so godddamn always?" You can just imagine being a young employee fresh from college, or a blue-collar dude just working on a show, when bam! suddenly you're out of a job because of a tweet you had nothing to do with. The alt-right is waiting there with open arms. Why does nobody see how that works? It's like a college fair where one group of tables is telling you how much you suck and the others are high-fiving you for what you've already done. Guess who gets the candidates? Twitter is poison.

danaris 6y ago
The problem is, "cancel culture" has come to mean two very different things: Punishing, even firing, people because of relatively innocent statements or actions misinterpreted, taken out of context, or blown out of proportion; and ostracizing or shunning people, primarily public figures, for revealing their bigotry and hateful beliefs. The former seems to be what you're describing, and is, IMO, caused by people with little power in a world they feel is spinning out of control trying to exercise control over the spaces they do have power over. It's definitely a problem, and is definitely counterproductive to efforts to improve the inclusivity and compassion of our society. The latter is, as some people have described, simply speech having consequences, and those consequences being upsetting to people who are used to being treated as authorities.
- cousin_it 6y ago
  I think nobody should be fired or ostracized for holding any beliefs. Penalties for action can be ok, but not penalties for thought.
  - loopz 6y ago
    Education system should innstill those principles. In many ways it has tried, but you still meet people of all ages ignorant of their own intolerance and general lack of sound principles. Not everyone is a philosopher, and the world wouldn't be better for it, though we need more robust platforms to build our structures on.

danaris 6y ago

The problem is, "cancel culture" has come to mean two very different things: Punishing, even firing, people because of relatively innocent statements or actions misinterpreted, taken out of context, or blown out of proportion; and ostracizing or shunning people, primarily public figures, for revealing their bigotry and hateful beliefs. The former seems to be what you're describing, and is, IMO, caused by people with little power in a world they feel is spinning out of control trying to exercise control over the spaces they do have power over. It's definitely a problem, and is definitely counterproductive to efforts to improve the inclusivity and compassion of our society. The latter is, as some people have described, simply speech having consequences, and those consequences being upsetting to people who are used to being treated as authorities.

cousin_it 6y ago
I think nobody should be fired or ostracized for holding any beliefs. Penalties for action can be ok, but not penalties for thought.
- loopz 6y ago
  Education system should innstill those principles. In many ways it has tried, but you still meet people of all ages ignorant of their own intolerance and general lack of sound principles. Not everyone is a philosopher, and the world wouldn't be better for it, though we need more robust platforms to build our structures on.