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I guess my view is probably a devil's advocate on HN, but I actually view cancel culture as (mostly) good. I believe that that power should always be as decentr

I guess my view is probably a devil's advocate on HN, but I actually view cancel culture as (mostly) good. I believe that that power should always be as decentralized as possible. Because of that, I think power should be taken away extremely easily. That's what we're seeing with cancel culture; power being taken away, sometimes even for less then I would agree with. Overall though, I think the message it sends is good - be extremely careful not to abuse your power/platform, or else expect it to maybe be taken away. I just hope the net result is that we don't give so much of our attention and power to so little people in the future, and instead find ways to spread it out.

apsec112 6y ago
Celebrities will be fine, but cancel culture hurts ordinary workers, who may be suddenly fired without having anything to fall back on and a family to support. Here's a list someone collected: https://twitter.com/SoOppressed/status/1282404648389926913 https://twitter.com/SoOppressed/status/1282404648389926913
- ideals 6y ago
  Maybe cancel culture will cause people to rethink at-will employment and opinions about unions. The 'cancelers' are collectively advocating against you, but you as a weak at-will employee have no one advocating for you. ('you' in this statement isn't directed at any one person or apsec)
  - apsec112 6y ago
    FYI, there was a long thread about that a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23856918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23856918
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- Miner49er 6y ago
  Yeah, those are all horrible. I didn't look into them for details or to see if they are true. I find several them hard to believe, but for sake of discussion I'll assume they are all true. That's where my "(mostly)" came from. The part of cancel culture I like is challenging authority and celebrity. I think it is wrong when it attacks ordinary people or attempts to censor anything.
  - orangecat 6y ago
    I think it is wrong when it attacks ordinary people That's what distinguishes "cancel culture" from the general concept of challenging authority. It's the implied threat of social media mobs coming after your job and your relationships. People in existing positions of power are much more likely to be able to survive that, so it's doing the opposite of what you want.
smt88 6y ago
> I guess my view is probably a devil's advocate on HN I agree, but it's ironic, because in other threads, HN crows about the need for free-market solutions to society's ills rather than regulation. Then, when free markets/speech make mistakes (or take down their heroes), they call it "Cancel Culture". Or, when private companies respond to market demand to moderate their platforms, they call it "de-platforming". > I actually view cancel culture as (mostly) good I do too, but I view complaints about cancel culture (like Pinker's) as being good, too. If people aren't constantly analyzing it, criticizing it, and fighting it, cancel culture may become a weapon that is wielded too easily. We've already seen instances where people were "cancelled" based on false rumors that spread on social media. People on both sides lament the death of the marketplace of ideas, but in a way, this debate is a reflection of that marketplace still being alive and well.
rbecker 6y ago
> I believe that that power should always be as decentralized as possible. Sadly, cancel culture has so far had zero effect on media and internet platform ownership concentration. We're no closer to breaking up Google or Facebook or Disney or Comcast.

apsec112 6y ago

Celebrities will be fine, but cancel culture hurts ordinary workers, who may be suddenly fired without having anything to fall back on and a family to support. Here's a list someone collected: https://twitter.com/SoOppressed/status/1282404648389926913 https://twitter.com/SoOppressed/status/1282404648389926913

ideals 6y ago
Maybe cancel culture will cause people to rethink at-will employment and opinions about unions. The 'cancelers' are collectively advocating against you, but you as a weak at-will employee have no one advocating for you. ('you' in this statement isn't directed at any one person or apsec)
- apsec112 6y ago
  FYI, there was a long thread about that a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23856918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23856918
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Miner49er 6y ago
Yeah, those are all horrible. I didn't look into them for details or to see if they are true. I find several them hard to believe, but for sake of discussion I'll assume they are all true. That's where my "(mostly)" came from. The part of cancel culture I like is challenging authority and celebrity. I think it is wrong when it attacks ordinary people or attempts to censor anything.
- orangecat 6y ago
  I think it is wrong when it attacks ordinary people That's what distinguishes "cancel culture" from the general concept of challenging authority. It's the implied threat of social media mobs coming after your job and your relationships. People in existing positions of power are much more likely to be able to survive that, so it's doing the opposite of what you want.

smt88 6y ago

> I guess my view is probably a devil's advocate on HN I agree, but it's ironic, because in other threads, HN crows about the need for free-market solutions to society's ills rather than regulation. Then, when free markets/speech make mistakes (or take down their heroes), they call it "Cancel Culture". Or, when private companies respond to market demand to moderate their platforms, they call it "de-platforming". > I actually view cancel culture as (mostly) good I do too, but I view complaints about cancel culture (like Pinker's) as being good, too. If people aren't constantly analyzing it, criticizing it, and fighting it, cancel culture may become a weapon that is wielded too easily. We've already seen instances where people were "cancelled" based on false rumors that spread on social media. People on both sides lament the death of the marketplace of ideas, but in a way, this debate is a reflection of that marketplace still being alive and well.

rbecker 6y ago

> I believe that that power should always be as decentralized as possible. Sadly, cancel culture has so far had zero effect on media and internet platform ownership concentration. We're no closer to breaking up Google or Facebook or Disney or Comcast.