The cancel culture is a weaponized social justice warrior tool used to intimidate individuals who do not fall in line. The effects of this phenomenon are not exclusive to the targeted individuals; they extend to society as well. The herd mentality of the mob threatens people who disagree, and as fewer people feel encouraged to share their opinions, ideas and solutions become redundant, monotonous and stagnant. Freedom of thought, creativity and new ideas are quickly snuffed out.
The public shaming of someone on the internet is humiliating and it affects the person’s ability to build a career, start a business, or do anything else in the public’s eye. On an individual level, the cancel culture prevents individuals from speaking out; the authoritarian mob rule helps to silence people who do not agree with them. The people who are affected by this mob regime fear for themselves, their families and their future. It forces people to be pushed into a corner, afraid to express their opinions. People are no longer fighting back, as they sit quietly, too afraid of speaking about any issue that can be viewed or interpreted as sensitive or insensitive. In fact, we have seen a trend in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of influencers and internet personalities hiding their own thoughts, and expressing thoughts that will gain a following and appear to be tolerant and progressive, while supporting an ideology that is, in and of itself, not tolerant.
Since the cancel culture is the antithesis of having a conversation, it discourages any speech, and causes people to feel upset when they are confronted with reality or aggressive behavior. It also promotes intellectual laziness by way of “canceling” people instead of constructively debating opinions.
The cancel culture is not just a vehicle for everyday people, celebrities, or people in power, but it also comes to the intellectuals in our society. In fact, Harvard professor Steven Pinker, along with other professors, have been targeted by the mob because they speak against it. Many intellectuals now cannot be hired in universities, or even be allowed onto the campus. We are seeing a great shift in the way people communicate. Some scholars have had their teaching license suspended, while others, such as students who lean to right-wing, conservative views, have had their scholarships revoked. There have also been studies, papers, theses and dissertations that were pulled or removed out of publication, not because they were inaccurate or academically not sound, but because the papers were not consistent with the ideologies that the more progressive universities are trying to push. This is partly why so many youths of today are becoming more progressive; they are following what they have been taught.
Professor Steven Pinker, who was named as Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today” and listed as the “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” is one of those intellectuals who fear for the future and safety of the republic of ideas. He has been targeted, along with a long list of professors—including University of Toronto’s Jordan Peterson for expressing his thoughts on the issue of limiting artistic, creative and intellectual freedom. Indeed, people are now afraid of even researching topics such as race and gender because they do not want to come to a conclusion that does not fit in line with a more progressive ideology. All of this is going to make the world a bleak and boring place where critical thinkers are seen as rebels, and where the herd mentality will prevail.
Cancel Culture vs. Boycott
Boycotts have been one of the best ways the general public can send their message in a peaceful way that does not personally hurt the person being boycotted. For instance, if someone does not like a singer, comedian, performer, writer, or an actor, the common sense is to just stop supporting or listening to them, stop going to their shows, stop reading their books, stop watching their movies, etc. This would be completely sensible, in order to make a financial statement that directly gets the message across. If your opinion makes sense, and if other people think the celebrity is not good at what they do, or that they are simply a terrible person, then they will follow along in their own personal boycott. Soon enough, the person being boycotted will figure out something is wrong, and then they can decide how to adjust going forward.
The cancel culture is the complete opposite. It does not just wish to silence the person in social media; it also goes as far as ridiculing them and trying to get other people to pile on insults, or worse. The person targeted by the cancel culture will receive countless hate mail, tweets, posts, etc., including death threats that rival a terrorists’ threat, with a goal in mind of forcing compliance, or risk facing physical or mental abuse. In effect, the mob will vilify you, but it will also vilify anyone that is associated with you.
To learn more about David Wallace (Former Mayor or Sugar Land) you can visit his main website: www.davidgwallace.com as well see him on the following:
Mr. Wallace was also featured in a news store in KTVN.
He has also has 2 other websites for his books.