When you use mob mentality to punish people/companies for not following the same creed as you. Trial by social media w/o giving the accused any way to defend oneself/itself. Even if I agree with the mob, I just see this as a new fascism and I hate it to the core.
If you look at the actual individuals who have been "hounded off twitter" its not right wing people. its overwhelmingly women, BIPOC, and/or queer people who have been attacked by people more powerful than them. Louis CK, for example, was doing shows again before the pandemic, which means he was once again better off than the women who accused him. J.K. Rowling is 1. hella rich 2. unrepentant. 3. still getting a public platform.
The term "cancel culture" refers to the idea that if a person ever did anything offensive or that you disagree with, then you should discredit anything else they have done or refuse to consume anything else they ever do. E.g., if you disagree with or are offended by JK Rowling's position on transgenserism, then you shouldn't consume any more Harry Potter merchandise. It's controversial not just because of the consequence to that individual but for the consequence to society at large. We can't all agree on everything and we miss out on so much discourse and art if we refuse to engage with anyone who doesn't agree with us on everything. It also doesn't allow for the idea that people's thoughts can evolve and change. The cancelers have decided that the cancelled person can't possibly evolve and the canceler is also completely unopen to the possibility of changing his or her own mind by maybe listening to what they canceled person has to say instead of shutting down as soon as something rubbed them the wrong way.
Thanks. Having overcome many of my own preconceived judgments of others, I am sorry to say a friend of mine seems to be engaging in this mentality now and it’s very disturbing. And this is an Ivy educated, brilliant and wonderful person.
A person said or did something a long time ago that was—frequently but not always—-acceptable according to the standards of the time, but now Woke Mob digs it up and then a) harasses the person on Twitter until person crumbles and apologizes for not having crystal ball into 2020 Woke Mob dogma, b) person‘s livelihood is destroyed, and c) person is socially ostracized.
I find it useful to replace "cancelled" in my mind with "experience a consequence." Instead of "should so and so be cancelled for this," I think "should so and so experience a consequence for this?"
I also find this useful when people start talking about "political correctness." I replace "politically correct" with "showing basic decency to others" in my mind, and then evaluate what the person is saying accordingly. So "has political correctness gone too far?" Becomes "has showing basic decency to others gone too far?" And you know where everyone stands.
When you use mob mentality to punish people/companies for not following the same creed as you. Trial by social media w/o giving the accused any way to defend oneself/itself. Even if I agree with the mob, I just see this as a new fascism and I hate it to the core.
If you look at the actual individuals who have been "hounded off twitter" its not right wing people. its overwhelmingly women, BIPOC, and/or queer people who have been attacked by people more powerful than them. Louis CK, for example, was doing shows again before the pandemic, which means he was once again better off than the women who accused him. J.K. Rowling is 1. hella rich 2. unrepentant. 3. still getting a public platform.
The term "cancel culture" refers to the idea that if a person ever did anything offensive or that you disagree with, then you should discredit anything else they have done or refuse to consume anything else they ever do. E.g., if you disagree with or are offended by JK Rowling's position on transgenserism, then you shouldn't consume any more Harry Potter merchandise. It's controversial not just because of the consequence to that individual but for the consequence to society at large. We can't all agree on everything and we miss out on so much discourse and art if we refuse to engage with anyone who doesn't agree with us on everything. It also doesn't allow for the idea that people's thoughts can evolve and change. The cancelers have decided that the cancelled person can't possibly evolve and the canceler is also completely unopen to the possibility of changing his or her own mind by maybe listening to what they canceled person has to say instead of shutting down as soon as something rubbed them the wrong way.
A person said or did something a long time ago that was—frequently but not always—-acceptable according to the standards of the time, but now Woke Mob digs it up and then a) harasses the person on Twitter until person crumbles and apologizes for not having crystal ball into 2020 Woke Mob dogma, b) person‘s livelihood is destroyed, and c) person is socially ostracized.
I saw this recently and saved it:
I find it useful to replace "cancelled" in my mind with "experience a consequence." Instead of "should so and so be cancelled for this," I think "should so and so experience a consequence for this?"
I also find this useful when people start talking about "political correctness." I replace "politically correct" with "showing basic decency to others" in my mind, and then evaluate what the person is saying accordingly. So "has political correctness gone too far?" Becomes "has showing basic decency to others gone too far?" And you know where everyone stands.