Americans tune in to 'cancel culture' -- and don't like what they see

[Nevilledog]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/22/americans-cancel-culture-377412

One of the few things that Barack Obama and Donald Trump agree on is cancel culture.

In the last year, as numerous public figures have become the targets of online campaigns by social media swarms, the former and current president have spoken out against the practice. “That’s not activism,” Obama said last November. “That’s not bringing about change. If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do.”

In a Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore, Trump said, “We want free and open debate, not speech codes and cancel culture. We embrace tolerance, not prejudice.” Speaking of the left, he added that “one of their political weapons is ‘cancel culture’ — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.” (One commentator quickly pointed out that Trump has long been one of the most enthusiastic practitioners of cancel culture.)

We were curious how much this debate over cancel culture — which has quickly morphed from a Twitter obsession for elite journalists to a campaign rallying cry for Trump — has permeated the public consciousness. We asked our polling partner, Morning Consult, to field some questions in our weekly survey and one surprising finding is the number of Americans who now agree with Obama and Trump and want to cancel cancel culture — or at least its worst aspects.

*snip*

[empedocles]

1. Hate to see any decent person linked to traitortrump

[Nevilledog]

2. Yeah....I wasn't keen on that either.

[regnaD kciN]

3. I think Obama's right on this...

I'm not saying there's not often a reason for publicly criticizing people who behave in offensive ways, but it seems like there's a certain cadre of the left (I refer to them as the "Woker-Than-Thou Brigade" ) that thinks the easy way to achieve social justice is by self-righteously hunting out every possible misstep by anyone around them so they can indignantly denounce that person...and then convince themselves that they have thereby made the greatest possible contribution to social justice.

[HotTeaBag]

5. ...from behind the safety of a keyboard.

.

[Sympthsical]

8. It's a religion

And all religions must have heretics to burn.

I refer to these people as Wokensteins. They’ll all be consumed by the monsters they’re creating.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. Our public and some in the press apparently have a very short memory...

along with a heavy dose of hypocrisy.

Right-wing trolls have been doxxing people on the internet for as long as I can recall and in a few cases, got some people injured or killed.

And, this goes far beyond people and companies being shamed on social media. Nowadays, many people are fearful of wearing political gear, or placing signs or stickers on their property for fear of damage or other repercussions.

KY

[The Mouth]

13. Doxxing is always wrong

left or right.

[Voltaire2]

6. If you don't want your shitty social media opinions

criticized don’t post them.

If you publicly proclaim your affection for fascism - don’t get all bent out of shape if your employer terminates you or your products stop selling.

Fuck the cancel culture crisis. It’s another idiotic diversion.

[BannonsLiver]

11. Fuck cancel culture. It's another idiotic diversion.

There, fixed it for you.

[agingdem]

7. Oh do I disagree!

my parents were holocaust survivors ...while my mother was the lone survivor of a family of five, my father was more fortunate ..one brother survived and emigrated to what was then Palestine..so when Coca Cola went into Egypt after the Suez/Israeli conflict, my mother tossed the few bottles we had in the house and refused to allow another Coke product in our home...and that was her way of making a statement..my parents never bought anything made in Germany and they never bought a Ford..as an adult I followed their lead...I taught my children, and now my grandchildren, any business, be it apparel, gym, restaurant whatever that "practices' racial/ethnic/gender bias..boycott...and my personal cancel culture extends to anything trump as well as any businesses associated with trump and his family..I may not be able to make a dent in the bottom line by boycotting but I feel like I'm standing up for what I think is right..

[JonLP24]

9. Cancel culture isn't real

Link to tweet

This post is inspired by a weird, vague open letter published in Harpers Magazine with famous, influential signatories like billionaire transphobe colonizer JK Rowling and rape apologist Emily Yoffe. I won't directly address or debunk it—it's already been done well here.

Under the guise of free speech and free exchange of ideas, the letter appears to be asking for unrestricted freedom to espouse their points of view free from consequence or criticism. There are only so many outlets, and while these individuals have the ability to write in them, they have no intention of sharing that space or acknowledging their role in perpetuating a culture of fear and silence among writers who, for the most part, do not look like the majority of the signatories. When they demand debates, it is on their terms, on their turf.
I want to talk about what "cancel culture" represents and how it's used.

Cancel culture is a rhetorical device strategically use to gaslight. Gaslighting is a form of manipulation meant to undermine the subjectivity of an other. The gaslighter's target doesn't have to feel crazy—they just need everyone else watching to agree that their target's position is so completely without merit that it doesn't warrant a good faith argument. The target—in this case, the alleged "canceller(s)"—doesn't have to feel crazy and the gaslighter doesn't have to intentionally seek it. Gaslighting is about (1) manipulating the circumstances; (2) avoiding real, effective engagement with the argument; and (3) preserving the (unequal) status quo.

[Nevilledog]

10. [phone]

[tonedevil]

14. Thank you /nt

[BannonsLiver]

12. I agree with President Obama

[Caliman73]

15. It depends on what your definition of "cancel culture" is.

Is there an agreed upon definition of cancel culture? Is the MeToo movement cancel culture? It has gotten a lot of pretty powerful people fired, jailed, and ostracized. Is the call to boycott Goya part of cancel culture?


I watch a YouTube Channel called Contrapoints. The owner and star of the channel is a trans woman named Natalie Wynn. She has a video on being cancelled that explores the topic in a pretty thorough way in my opinion. It is based on her own experience of being attacked and harassed over a few things that she texted or by having a certain person participate in a 10 second voice over in one of her videos. She was attacked for being an "evil person" based on some of her missteps, and people's interpretation of her essential nature.

That happens a good deal through social media and can be damaging, especially to already marginalized people.

It is a complicated concept that requires clarification and discussion. The problem with "canceling cancel culture" ... or at least its worst aspects is that there are a lot of people out there who think "cancel culture" is when people are against something I like or support, but not when they do so against something I dislike.