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I don't think it's quite that black and white. In my experience, most people want there to be some divide between things you can say in public and things you ca

I don't think it's quite that black and white. In my experience, most people want there to be some divide between things you can say in public and things you can't say in public. As an example, I think most people agree that shouting racist slurs in the street is unacceptable. There has to be some enforcement mechanism for "you can't say that in public". The government is a poor way to enforce that for a variety of reasons, but there has to be something. In ye olden days, it was the threat of getting smacked. Banning that left a void that we've filled with canceling people. I don't think it's really an improvement. Getting hit let's you know that you've been an ass, but in a way where you have an opportunity to change your beliefs, or at the very least keep them to yourself. Getting cancelled is permanent. You will always be "that person" and it's enshrined in public memory. Why bother changing your views if you're damned anyways? And it has a severe chilling effect, because the fear is "what if I ruin the rest of my life?" rather than "what if I wake up with a black eye?". If I was given the choice, I'd far rather get hit. I'd rather lose some teeth than be digitally lynched. I honestly think being cancelled is a far worse punishment than getting the crap beat out of me. In our quest to remove violence, we've managed to invent something worse, and I'm really not sure it's a good thing.

Nasrudith 5y ago
That is not remotely worse or new - the canceling bogeyman. Just try being an unpopular minority. The threat of violence has deeply embedded many stupid ideas in the past and still scars societies over a millenia later. Look at the undying antisemitic tropes whose origin boil down to "You can criticize Jews but not the clergy or nobility." Or the whole thing with Chinese portrayals of eunuchs. Guess who won't be starting a feud or executing you for disparaging their ancestors? The non-existent descendants of men eunuched as children!

Nasrudith 5y ago

That is not remotely worse or new - the canceling bogeyman. Just try being an unpopular minority. The threat of violence has deeply embedded many stupid ideas in the past and still scars societies over a millenia later. Look at the undying antisemitic tropes whose origin boil down to "You can criticize Jews but not the clergy or nobility." Or the whole thing with Chinese portrayals of eunuchs. Guess who won't be starting a feud or executing you for disparaging their ancestors? The non-existent descendants of men eunuched as children!