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Just because society thinks that a phenomenon is real, doesn't make it real. See: flat earthers, other types of conspiracy circles, organized religion. I'm not

Just because society thinks that a phenomenon is real, doesn't make it real. See: flat earthers, other types of conspiracy circles, organized religion. I'm not saying that 'cancel culture' is something else, because it isn't anything at all. What people refer to when they say 'cancel culture' is the normal functioning of society and/or the market in response to events, just in response to events they don't have a problem with. Then they paint it as a 'woke conspiracy' to silence free speech. If someone loses their job for harassment or espousing problematic views, that's a workplace doing its job. If a popular figure loses fans or affiliations because of their past actions, that's public opinion at work. If a company chooses not to publish a book, or a group of people boycott a brand, that's just the free market at work. The only instances I see where certain people cry 'cancel culture, boooo' is when someone faces consequences for doing something the overall public finds shitty (like being openly racist or a sexual abuser), but the group crying 'cancel culture' does not particularly care. You don't see the same people complaining that Kaepernick was 'cancelled'. He similarly faced consequences for what he did, but no such outcry. I wonder why, maybe perhaps because it is just one of many alt-right forms of newspeak used to manipulate its followers and stir up fearmongering, hatred, and division? No, that would be far too logical. Ditto for 'wokeism'.

BitwiseFool 5y ago
>"faces consequences for doing something the overall public finds shitty" That's the thing, a lot of people have 'faced consequences' for things that aren't particularly egregious. And, what is euphemistically called 'consequences' often destroys people's lives and there's virtually no recourse for them. It's 100% punishment and 0% rehabilitation.
- Niglodonicus 5y ago
  In overwhelmingly most of the cases where someone has been 'cancelled', their career has not noticeably suffered even one bit. Just look at Mel Gibson, dude has been unapologetically spouting wild shit at every possible marginalized group for decades and he's still got a bustling career as both actor and director. If anything, this is the biggest argument of all against the existence of 'cancel culture', cause so far I can't find even one example of someone who's truly been cancelled, and furthermore, for something completely innocent and meaningless. If people were actually being sent to gulags for saying something the government or general public simply didn't like, you cancel culture warriors would have a point. But... that's not the case, and that's not where this is going. Believing as much is an extremely tenuous slippery slope argument and just delusional levels of fearmongering. There is absolutely nothing new going on, except the fact that more people these days are intolerant of bigotry and other vile behavior, and are better able to voice their concerns via the internet.
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    >"In overwhelmingly most of the cases where someone has been 'cancelled', their career has not noticeably suffered even one bit." I know we aren't going to ever agree, but this beyond hyperbolic. To even say that most canceled people's careers have not suffered one bit is just astounding. People get fired over tweets that aren't even that controversial. Mel Gibson got off the hook, whatever. But Average Joe's and Average Jane's also fall victim to 'cancel culture' too. "Shor tweeted out an academic study by Princeton political scientist Omar Wasow that demonstrates how during the 1960s, while honest-to-God riots resulted in a decrease in the vote share for Democratic candidates in the following election, non-violent protests actually increased it. An uproar ensued, with liberal critics alleging that Shor was indifferent or even hostile to today’s racial justice protests. Two weeks later, he was out of his job at Civis Analytics, the left-aligned data science firm where he worked as an analyst" (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/05/cancel-culture-politics-analysis-491928 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/05/cancel-cul...) This person was fired, for tweeting out a study, and nothing they did was egregious.
    - Niglodonicus 5y ago
      Company (likely using at-will employment) fires employee after he (intentionally or inadvertently, irrelevant) starts a massive PR scandal. Wow, this must be that cancel culture everyone's been talking about, better get your pitchforks! These cultural marxists are getting out of control!
      - BitwiseFool 5y ago
        >"Wow, this must be that cancel culture everyone's been talking about, better get your pitchforks! These cultural marxists are getting out of control!" I don't think we're going to have a mature and productive discussion about this. But you can be worried about online outrage and it's impact on society regardless of political affiliation.
        Niglodonicus 5y ago

BitwiseFool 5y ago

>"faces consequences for doing something the overall public finds shitty" That's the thing, a lot of people have 'faced consequences' for things that aren't particularly egregious. And, what is euphemistically called 'consequences' often destroys people's lives and there's virtually no recourse for them. It's 100% punishment and 0% rehabilitation.

Niglodonicus 5y ago
In overwhelmingly most of the cases where someone has been 'cancelled', their career has not noticeably suffered even one bit. Just look at Mel Gibson, dude has been unapologetically spouting wild shit at every possible marginalized group for decades and he's still got a bustling career as both actor and director. If anything, this is the biggest argument of all against the existence of 'cancel culture', cause so far I can't find even one example of someone who's truly been cancelled, and furthermore, for something completely innocent and meaningless. If people were actually being sent to gulags for saying something the government or general public simply didn't like, you cancel culture warriors would have a point. But... that's not the case, and that's not where this is going. Believing as much is an extremely tenuous slippery slope argument and just delusional levels of fearmongering. There is absolutely nothing new going on, except the fact that more people these days are intolerant of bigotry and other vile behavior, and are better able to voice their concerns via the internet.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  >"In overwhelmingly most of the cases where someone has been 'cancelled', their career has not noticeably suffered even one bit." I know we aren't going to ever agree, but this beyond hyperbolic. To even say that most canceled people's careers have not suffered one bit is just astounding. People get fired over tweets that aren't even that controversial. Mel Gibson got off the hook, whatever. But Average Joe's and Average Jane's also fall victim to 'cancel culture' too. "Shor tweeted out an academic study by Princeton political scientist Omar Wasow that demonstrates how during the 1960s, while honest-to-God riots resulted in a decrease in the vote share for Democratic candidates in the following election, non-violent protests actually increased it. An uproar ensued, with liberal critics alleging that Shor was indifferent or even hostile to today’s racial justice protests. Two weeks later, he was out of his job at Civis Analytics, the left-aligned data science firm where he worked as an analyst" (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/05/cancel-culture-politics-analysis-491928 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/05/cancel-cul...) This person was fired, for tweeting out a study, and nothing they did was egregious.
  - Niglodonicus 5y ago
    Company (likely using at-will employment) fires employee after he (intentionally or inadvertently, irrelevant) starts a massive PR scandal. Wow, this must be that cancel culture everyone's been talking about, better get your pitchforks! These cultural marxists are getting out of control!
    - BitwiseFool 5y ago
      >"Wow, this must be that cancel culture everyone's been talking about, better get your pitchforks! These cultural marxists are getting out of control!" I don't think we're going to have a mature and productive discussion about this. But you can be worried about online outrage and it's impact on society regardless of political affiliation.
      - Niglodonicus 5y ago