4 ms·

I don’t live in a culture where culture wars are a big thing, probably due to prosperity and a high degree of homogeneity. But because I consume US and UK media

I don’t live in a culture where culture wars are a big thing, probably due to prosperity and a high degree of homogeneity. But because I consume US and UK media, I’m aware of the term “cancel culture”. The questions I have are: (1) Can someone direct me to evidence it actually exists in a way that was tangibly different to the past? I have a suspicion that a large part of power is about whose voice gets heard, and someone was always getting “cancelled”. I ask this question as the demographic that complains most about cancel culture (mine incidentally) is quite narrow! (2) Is “cancel culture” an aggressive form of product-market fit? Ie if your wares aren’t attractive, you’re forced to iterate (twitterate?) those views until they find a market.

true_religion 6y ago
Personally, I don’t believe it is any different now than it was before. The issue is that it’s not liberals and progressives being ostracized anymore. 20 years ago, we had Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the army, which was cancel culture written into institutional policy. 40 years ago, people were “cancelled” merely by being born dark skinned, and by law would never take prestigious jobs, or even eat in the front of a restaurant, or walk around after dark in certain towns. Now conservatives are feeling the heat of American culture, which has always been direct prescriptive when it comes to right and wrong, in or out. It’s not that anything has changed, but you are hearing new voices calling out in complaint.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  Also don't forget red scare / mccarthyism. Cancelled any semblance of socialism being instituted, even though universal healthcare was called for by many leaders back in the 50s/60's including Eisenhower and JFK.
hackeraccount 6y ago
I tend to agree with the suspicion that this is nothing newu but I'd advice against making assumptions about cultures you're not a part of. I don't think it's lack of prosperity, inequality or heterogeneity that's driving any of this.

true_religion 6y ago

Personally, I don’t believe it is any different now than it was before. The issue is that it’s not liberals and progressives being ostracized anymore. 20 years ago, we had Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the army, which was cancel culture written into institutional policy. 40 years ago, people were “cancelled” merely by being born dark skinned, and by law would never take prestigious jobs, or even eat in the front of a restaurant, or walk around after dark in certain towns. Now conservatives are feeling the heat of American culture, which has always been direct prescriptive when it comes to right and wrong, in or out. It’s not that anything has changed, but you are hearing new voices calling out in complaint.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
Also don't forget red scare / mccarthyism. Cancelled any semblance of socialism being instituted, even though universal healthcare was called for by many leaders back in the 50s/60's including Eisenhower and JFK.

hackeraccount 6y ago

I tend to agree with the suspicion that this is nothing newu but I'd advice against making assumptions about cultures you're not a part of. I don't think it's lack of prosperity, inequality or heterogeneity that's driving any of this.