4 ms·

It feels like we went from an era where people were valued for being contrarian/independent, to one where people find value in being conformist. This is the op

It feels like we went from an era where people were valued for being contrarian/independent, to one where people find value in being conformist. This is the opposite of what is going on. The conformist era was what began around 2018 to 2019. That is when the term cancel culture became mainstream. That was when one was expected to conform to the dogmas or risk being cancelled and having one’s career ruined. It increasingly got worse over the years. Cancel culture and all that dogmatic conformism is still around but now there is more free thinking than 6 years ago. So the situation is the opposite of what you are saying.

mullingitover 2y ago
> The conformist era was what began around 2018 to 2019. The conformist era was [the beginning of time] -> now, and into the future. 'Cancel culture' has always existed and still exists. It's the dominant socioeconomic group deciding a person must be shunned because they have breached the group's value system, and must be made an example. The United States, firmly based in puritanism, has shunned from the beginning, and there's probably at least a dozen churches getting together and shunning some member right now as I type this. The only thing that changed in that period from around 2016-2020 was the dominant socioeconomic group wasn't entirely white conservative males. That was a problem, the event had to be digested, analyzed, the situation had to be labeled (as we see here, it's the "conformist era") and work had to be done to eliminate it and ensure it didn't happen again.
- ViktorRay 2y ago
  Yes I agree that conformist eras have existed before in American history. The 1950’s were another example of a conformist era that I think was bad. Conformism of any kind is bad. There are those of us (such as myself) who are against the conformism of the 1950’s (which was also a type of puritan cancel culture) and the conformism of Victorian England (just throwing out an example) and what happened starting in 2019. I distinctly remember in the early 2010’s that conformism had diminished. Maybe I felt that way because I was in college at the time but I remember there were a wide variety of options across the political spectrum being expressed and vigorous debates both in the media and around college campus. No talk of “deplatforming” back in the 2010-2015 era. The idea I remember was to invite people of different views and listen and debate them. Tv shows and movies had many scenes that were “offensive” without the kinds of responses you see nowadays. The “white conservative male” was not dominant in 2010-2015. Many voices existed. I myself am not white. When I was in college over 10 years ago I never got the feeling white conservatives were dominant. Around 2018-2019 the conformism began again. It was a different type of conformism than the 1950’s. A conformism in a different ideological direction. But it was still conformist.
  - mullingitover 2y ago
    > Conformism of any kind is bad. This is a statement so vague as to be meaningless. I doubt you're opposed to forcing conformity to our norms against sexual abuse of minors, or of sexual or physical abuse in general, or against property crimes, or defrauding others. The vast majority of conformist behavior is automatic and unconscious. Everyone who belongs to a religion is outwardly broadcasting their conformity to the group or they're shunned. Saying conformity is bad is saying religion is bad. > No talk of “deplatforming” back in the 2010-2015 era. I recall that the neo-nazi web site Stormfront had a very difficult time being hosted anywhere in that timeframe. There wasn't any controversy over kicking hate speech off your platform then. Not that it didn't happen, it just was routine business. > I myself am not white. When I was in college over 10 years ago I never got the feeling white conservatives were dominant. Can you list the US presidents who were not white christian males?
blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Agree. I think this certainly applies to the changes to the Washington Post opinion page - a lot of people in tech genuinely value free speech and individual rights. They’ve had to stay quiet in the era of canceling but they’ve finally had enough and are willing to stand up for what’s right.
techpeach 2y ago
Maybe our media diets are different, but all i remember hearing is criticisms of cancel culture. In fact, you sort of emphasized my point, I never even hear criticism of cancel culture anymore!

mullingitover 2y ago

> The conformist era was what began around 2018 to 2019. The conformist era was [the beginning of time] -> now, and into the future. 'Cancel culture' has always existed and still exists. It's the dominant socioeconomic group deciding a person must be shunned because they have breached the group's value system, and must be made an example. The United States, firmly based in puritanism, has shunned from the beginning, and there's probably at least a dozen churches getting together and shunning some member right now as I type this. The only thing that changed in that period from around 2016-2020 was the dominant socioeconomic group wasn't entirely white conservative males. That was a problem, the event had to be digested, analyzed, the situation had to be labeled (as we see here, it's the "conformist era") and work had to be done to eliminate it and ensure it didn't happen again.

ViktorRay 2y ago
Yes I agree that conformist eras have existed before in American history. The 1950’s were another example of a conformist era that I think was bad. Conformism of any kind is bad. There are those of us (such as myself) who are against the conformism of the 1950’s (which was also a type of puritan cancel culture) and the conformism of Victorian England (just throwing out an example) and what happened starting in 2019. I distinctly remember in the early 2010’s that conformism had diminished. Maybe I felt that way because I was in college at the time but I remember there were a wide variety of options across the political spectrum being expressed and vigorous debates both in the media and around college campus. No talk of “deplatforming” back in the 2010-2015 era. The idea I remember was to invite people of different views and listen and debate them. Tv shows and movies had many scenes that were “offensive” without the kinds of responses you see nowadays. The “white conservative male” was not dominant in 2010-2015. Many voices existed. I myself am not white. When I was in college over 10 years ago I never got the feeling white conservatives were dominant. Around 2018-2019 the conformism began again. It was a different type of conformism than the 1950’s. A conformism in a different ideological direction. But it was still conformist.
- mullingitover 2y ago
  > Conformism of any kind is bad. This is a statement so vague as to be meaningless. I doubt you're opposed to forcing conformity to our norms against sexual abuse of minors, or of sexual or physical abuse in general, or against property crimes, or defrauding others. The vast majority of conformist behavior is automatic and unconscious. Everyone who belongs to a religion is outwardly broadcasting their conformity to the group or they're shunned. Saying conformity is bad is saying religion is bad. > No talk of “deplatforming” back in the 2010-2015 era. I recall that the neo-nazi web site Stormfront had a very difficult time being hosted anywhere in that timeframe. There wasn't any controversy over kicking hate speech off your platform then. Not that it didn't happen, it just was routine business. > I myself am not white. When I was in college over 10 years ago I never got the feeling white conservatives were dominant. Can you list the US presidents who were not white christian males?

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

Agree. I think this certainly applies to the changes to the Washington Post opinion page - a lot of people in tech genuinely value free speech and individual rights. They’ve had to stay quiet in the era of canceling but they’ve finally had enough and are willing to stand up for what’s right.

techpeach 2y ago

Maybe our media diets are different, but all i remember hearing is criticisms of cancel culture. In fact, you sort of emphasized my point, I never even hear criticism of cancel culture anymore!