Even I recognize the irony and hypocrisy in the title of this post because I am a strong proponent, ardent defender, and principled believer in the concept of freedom of speech. You would come to the logical conclusion that I would want no one cancelled; that I would embrace allowing folks' to articulate their positions without fear of negative consequence.
And I would, and I do.
And it would seem that such a position would be incompatible with calling for the cancellation of a train of thought or "culture" as it seems.
But one must dig deeper into this virus that has infected our society and realize just what we are dealing with. For we are dealing with two very incompatible ideals.
One ideal seeks a society of the open interchange of ideas. It seeks robust debate and argumentation. It gives people ample opportunity to speak their minds and then change them if convinced otherwise. Therefore, it allows mistakes, stupid comments, ignorant comments, and even repulsive comments with the thought, hope, and knowledge that a person's position can (and often is) swayed by argument, logic, reason, and understanding.
The other ideal seeks a society where only certain ideas are accepted and allowed to be spoken. It is punitive and does not allow mistakes, ignorance, stupidity, or repulsiveness. And such mistakes, ignorance, stupidity, or repulsiveness is defined only by the powers that be--not by any particular, objective standard. Make one misstep, and you can lose your job, status, and well being. There is no free interchange of ideas. There is imposition of the correct ideas.
These two positions are totally and completely incompatible. And one of these positions will consume the other if it is not checked. Totalitarians don't stop unless they are overthrown.
Oh, and I have heard the arguments regarding the limits of free speech. "You cannot cry fire in a crowded theater if there is no fire." Indeed. That is lying. One can easily prove such speech false, and one can be punished for the consequences of lying.
Yet, such a comparison is not the same as stating one's position on gay marriage, for instance. It is not the same as pointing out the statistics of police officer shootings of unarmed black men. It is not the same as support of a particular political candidate. In all of these things, well articulated arguments backed up by statistics and facts or reasonable opinions have led to cancellation of individuals. And they are not the same as yelling fire in a crowded theater.
Unfortunately, in this particular situation, we are at a point where we can liken it to bullying or even warfare. One side wants peace and freedom. The other side wants imposition and to control. One side deeply values peace and freedom and wants to uphold it, but in order to prevent the other side from taking over, it must stand firm and even fight. (No, masters of technology. I am not arguing for guns and fists and knives and the like. If you try to cancel this blog because of your reading into the text something that is not there, you will face a lawsuit.) We must be willing to cancel the cancel culture. We must be willing to undermine it. We must be willing to argue vehemently against it. We must be willing to use the tactics of seizing power to ensure the free exchange of ideas. If the two "sides" were compatible in some measure, we would not have to do this. We could peacefully coexist. But because they are logically incompatible and contradictory, one must emerge victorious.
One of these positions has been shown throughout history to provide human flourishing.
The other has been shown to lead to human misery and suffering.
If you have studied history, you know which, but for the ignorant, I will be blunt. It's not cancel culture. It's the free interchange of ideas.
Stand and fight for it.
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