Conservatives love to whine about SJWs and how the "cancel" movement is the new fascism. "Goodness," they say, clutching their pearls, "such intolerance! Why can't the liberals be open to different points of view?"
But the Cancel Movement didn't come from nowhere. It's a reaction to decades, centuries of cancellation by people in power, and their refusal to listen--their continued refusal to listen--to the opinions of people not like them. You want to vote? I'm sorry, you're not the right color or live in the right area. You're cancelled. You want equal pay or the right to control your own body? Sorry, that's not your place sweetheart. You're cancelled. You want to live in MY neighborhood? Hell no. You are cancelled.
Try an experiment. Introduce a nice, friendly white couple to a social circle of holy rollers. Then let the husband start talking about how God is a lie, and humanist principles are the way to run a sane world. See how long the "let's listen to different points of view" line holds up. That said.. .
That said...
There IS a danger in the cancel movement, just as Obama said. The graying of standing up for principles into intolerance. The desire for purity, despite eons of history telling us that the quest for ideological purity almost always ends in blood. It's a fine line, but it must be maintained if any progress is going to be made at all.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-11-04 02:43 pm (UTC)But the Cancel Movement didn't come from nowhere. It's a reaction to decades, centuries of cancellation by people in power, and their refusal to listen--their continued refusal to listen--to the opinions of people not like them. You want to vote? I'm sorry, you're not the right color or live in the right area. You're cancelled. You want equal pay or the right to control your own body? Sorry, that's not your place sweetheart. You're cancelled. You want to live in MY neighborhood? Hell no. You are cancelled.
Try an experiment. Introduce a nice, friendly white couple to a social circle of holy rollers. Then let the husband start talking about how God is a lie, and humanist principles are the way to run a sane world. See how long the "let's listen to different points of view" line holds up. That said.. .
That said...
There IS a danger in the cancel movement, just as Obama said. The graying of standing up for principles into intolerance. The desire for purity, despite eons of history telling us that the quest for ideological purity almost always ends in blood. It's a fine line, but it must be maintained if any progress is going to be made at all.