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MLK was hated by most and persecuted by the FBI as an evil communist because he spoke out against the war machine, and called for a radical revolution of values

MLK was hated by most and persecuted by the FBI as an evil communist because he spoke out against the war machine, and called for a radical revolution of values. Semmelweis was locked in a mental prison and beaten to death for suggesting that doctors should wash their hands. Socrates was sentenced to death for questioning the state. Jesus was crucified for challenging the established religious order. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for suggesting that the stars in the night sky were just like our sun, with their own planets in orbit. >Are any of these places where the next big leap in intellectual progress is going to come from? Iconoclastic ideas, whether erroneous or true, are always deeply offensive to society at large, and humanity always viciously seeks to silence them with the popular approval of the status quo.

kennywinker 6y ago
You gave five examples of state violence to maintain existing social order. “Cancel culture” is not being done by the state. I agree, ideas can cause upheaval, and there will be resistance to those ideas. But have you considered that your resistance to the idea of holding people to account for their actions and words might be a resistance to a social change? I’ve heard a lot about cancel culture, but most of it has been rich successful people being deprived of continuing to be successful for something they have said or done that was actually harmful. The few examples of miscarriages of justice have not amounted to much other than a few lost sales and some clapbacks on social media. It feels like we’re doing an actually pretty good job at judging when to all-out-destroy someone (harvey weinstein) and when to just be critical (almost everyone else)
- loveistheanswer 6y ago
  >You gave five examples of state violence to maintain existing social order. “Cancel culture” is not being done by the state. Isnt "the state", made up of people? To the person getting punished, why would they care who it is doing the punishing when the end result is the same?

kennywinker 6y ago

You gave five examples of state violence to maintain existing social order. “Cancel culture” is not being done by the state. I agree, ideas can cause upheaval, and there will be resistance to those ideas. But have you considered that your resistance to the idea of holding people to account for their actions and words might be a resistance to a social change? I’ve heard a lot about cancel culture, but most of it has been rich successful people being deprived of continuing to be successful for something they have said or done that was actually harmful. The few examples of miscarriages of justice have not amounted to much other than a few lost sales and some clapbacks on social media. It feels like we’re doing an actually pretty good job at judging when to all-out-destroy someone (harvey weinstein) and when to just be critical (almost everyone else)

loveistheanswer 6y ago
>You gave five examples of state violence to maintain existing social order. “Cancel culture” is not being done by the state. Isnt "the state", made up of people? To the person getting punished, why would they care who it is doing the punishing when the end result is the same?