So much hand-wringing as the nature of power mutates and changes hands.
I generally agree that the outcomes of "cancel culture" are undesirable, but I am glad to see that in our little democratic experiment, a new form of power has found a voice and is causing those previously in power to quake in their boots.
I am confident that a new equilibrium will eventually be reached that won't have such occasional appalling outcomes. In the meantime, I wish those who are constantly apoplectic about "cancel culture" would be a little more self-aware and perhaps even happy to see some minority voices getting some undeserved wins here and there.
After all, the suffering that some of these minority voices have historically experienced is unthinkably bad. Remember that: unthinkably bad. Worst imaginable. And it is absurd to argue that the lingering effects of that are not still with us in uncountable ways, big and small.
* The loudest voices are typically not minorities
* Those with the loudest voices aren't experiencing suffering
* The power they wield isn't being used to reduce suffering
* The suffering actually being experienced can be reduced better without chilling free speech
I think you're right that we're seeing an upset in power dynamics, but you're wrong about who is becoming more powerful and what they are attempting to accomplish with that power.
While some of these observations are literally true to the first approximation, I'll just respond by pointing out that we wouldn't be talking about this were it not for the unthinkable suffering that really did take place (and arguably continues in some ways).
There are definitely some interesting sociological questions about how the power is manifesting, but I emphatically disagree with the proposition that the overreaction of "cancel culture" does not have as its root cause the systematic, historical oppression of minorities. To just make the (perhaps correct) observation that a significant fraction of the loudest voices are not suffering is to ignore how we got here.
If I am being very cynical, I say that people abuse/use the suffering of others for their own gain. PR from corps aligning with progressive aims is what I have in mind. I have seen it working with NGOs, too. Not saying we should not put the pressure on. Obviously institutions need pressure applied. But if it is always 'both barrels', we will alienate the old, the conservatives and the christians. Seeing the destruction of the political left in germany, I doubt the extreme pressure wave will yield anything but reaction. Trump 2.0.
An ex of mine was back stabbed so viciously in a feminist culture producing context funding play (the 1990s), that I have become very sceptical. I used to run around wearing a badge, Ich bin gegen mich, (I am against myself). I have stopped this.
I generally agree that the outcomes of "cancel culture" are undesirable, but I am glad to see that in our little democratic experiment, a new form of power has found a voice and is causing those previously in power to quake in their boots.
I am confident that a new equilibrium will eventually be reached that won't have such occasional appalling outcomes. In the meantime, I wish those who are constantly apoplectic about "cancel culture" would be a little more self-aware and perhaps even happy to see some minority voices getting some undeserved wins here and there.
After all, the suffering that some of these minority voices have historically experienced is unthinkably bad. Remember that: unthinkably bad. Worst imaginable. And it is absurd to argue that the lingering effects of that are not still with us in uncountable ways, big and small.