Not really. This is just the modern myth of that in the good old days, everyone just politely protested by showing up in the street dressed in a formal suit, vo

Not really. This is just the modern myth of that in the good old days, everyone just politely protested by showing up in the street dressed in a formal suit, voiced their displeasure like a gentleman, didn't impede anything going on, didn't raise their voice, and that somehow got things done. It's bullshit. "Boycott" comes from the last name of Charles Boycott. Protesters threatened and beat up people that worked with him, threatened shops not to sell to him, and ramped up to such a point that it cost more for the police to defend his harvest than the harvest was worth. His blacksmith was threatened with murder, and a 12 year old carrying his mail was threatened not to keep doing it. It was definitely not a polite "Oh, we don't buy from this particular guy" stand. Now I'm not saying that threatening people is a good thing. What I am saying is that this narrative of that once upon a time people were civilized and suddenly this new "cancel culture" thing get everything out of whack is fiction. If anything, the past was a scarier and a rougher place, because if somebody stopped you in the middle of a rural road and threatened you, there were no cameras and no recording devices.