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> A couple of weeks ago, students asked we keep the discussions, but stop recording the class. They worried about any record of their words that might be viewed

> A couple of weeks ago, students asked we keep the discussions, but stop recording the class. They worried about any record of their words that might be viewed as criticism of the current administration, and somehow weaponized against them. Words being weaponized is a problem that exists for multiple years now in the US. From the free press [1]: "To give a sense of proportion, only three professors were fired or forced out of schools over something they said in the post-9/11 panic. The modern era of cancel culture (2014 to present), by contrast, has resulted in almost 200 professor terminations. That exceeds even the standard estimate of 100 professors terminated in the second Red Scare (1947 to 1957)." [1]: https://www.thefp.com/p/american-colleges-gave-birth-to-cancel-culture https://www.thefp.com/p/american-colleges-gave-birth-to-canc...

styxfrix 2y ago
Where does Free Press source the claim that 200 professors were fired due to cancel culture? I looked on the site because I want to see the actual reasons the professors were fired (reasons can be justified) but could not find them. The linked The Fire website displays zero results for filtering by "Outcome is Termination"
gizzlon 2y ago
Absolutely! But it was quite limited, to colleges etc. Now it's potentially all of US government employees. And, I assume, most of the private ones ? So .. basically everyone in the US. Maybe also people working for US companies abroad? Some of them did at least shut down DEI initiatives in Europe, so not so far fetched to think it is/will affect who they hire? "Oh, this candidate was outspoken against Trump on social media" . Of course, many places this will be seen as a good thing, so maybe it evens out, outside of the US.
acdha 2y ago
The “cancel culture” scare was a marketing campaign designed to elect right-wing politicians, not a serious free speech movement. You can note how many of the people involved have been silent or even expressed enthusiasm for the speech of their political opponents being stifled now.
evanelias 2y ago
They said "sense of proportion" and then proceeded to omit the denominator, presumably because it would contradict their overblown point. The number of college professors in the US has by far more than doubled since the 1950s, so they're essentially saying "cancel culture" is much less impactful than the Red Scare.
archagon 2y ago
I’m surprised it even needs to be said, but the government arbitrarily revoking visas (and, eventually, citizenships) for speech and behavior unpalatable to the regime is far worse than firings related to social media outrage. Cancel culture will not cause your entire life to get uprooted or get you thrown in some ICE blacksite. And however you may feel about social pressure, cultural compliance enforced by an elite embedded in the government is a much bigger threat to our freedoms.
deleted 2y ago
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styxfrix 2y ago

Where does Free Press source the claim that 200 professors were fired due to cancel culture? I looked on the site because I want to see the actual reasons the professors were fired (reasons can be justified) but could not find them. The linked The Fire website displays zero results for filtering by "Outcome is Termination"

gizzlon 2y ago

Absolutely! But it was quite limited, to colleges etc. Now it's potentially all of US government employees. And, I assume, most of the private ones ? So .. basically everyone in the US. Maybe also people working for US companies abroad? Some of them did at least shut down DEI initiatives in Europe, so not so far fetched to think it is/will affect who they hire? "Oh, this candidate was outspoken against Trump on social media" . Of course, many places this will be seen as a good thing, so maybe it evens out, outside of the US.

acdha 2y ago

The “cancel culture” scare was a marketing campaign designed to elect right-wing politicians, not a serious free speech movement. You can note how many of the people involved have been silent or even expressed enthusiasm for the speech of their political opponents being stifled now.

evanelias 2y ago

They said "sense of proportion" and then proceeded to omit the denominator, presumably because it would contradict their overblown point. The number of college professors in the US has by far more than doubled since the 1950s, so they're essentially saying "cancel culture" is much less impactful than the Red Scare.

archagon 2y ago

I’m surprised it even needs to be said, but the government arbitrarily revoking visas (and, eventually, citizenships) for speech and behavior unpalatable to the regime is far worse than firings related to social media outrage. Cancel culture will not cause your entire life to get uprooted or get you thrown in some ICE blacksite. And however you may feel about social pressure, cultural compliance enforced by an elite embedded in the government is a much bigger threat to our freedoms.

deleted 2y ago

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