
The Counterintuitive Effects of Cancel Culture - robmay
http://coconutheadsets.com/2020/07/the-counterintuitive-effects-of-cancel-culture-how-banning-things-makes-them-stronger/
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metalliqaz
Expressing this simple idea will get you attacked with righteous fury on the
forums of arstechnica and other places that really should know better. its so
strange to be derisively called a "lefty" and "librul" by your family and then
called "alt right" and "fascist" online.

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jfengel
Uh... that's not counterintuitive. That's the point.

The problem is that right wingers seem to feel that they're part of the
conversation. Nobody involved in what they call "cancel culture" cares what
right wingers think. They already know what right wingers think. In the US,
the right wing exists to oppose everything left wingers want -- even if it's
something they used to like. We already know that. It's predictable and
obvious.

This is a conversation that the left wing has within itself. Unlike the
American right wing, where an irreligious, adulterous, multiply-bankrupt draft
dodger can become the universally-beloved darling of the "law and order party"
because they are exciting and therefore win elections, the left wing is asking
itself hard questions. People aren't always good, even the ones you like, and
you need to decide what you're going to do about that.

There's no way to discuss that without elevating it. There's nothing wrong
with people knowing that JK Rowling is a transphobe, and that some people are
going to be angry enough about it to want to be shut of her. They see
transphobia as a threat to themselves, and it won't go away by pretending it
doesn't exist. That means airing it.

As I said, nobody really cares what right-wingers make of that. It's safe
enough to treat all right wingers as already transphobic: they will, reliably,
vote for transphobic candidates, and mock those who want to deal with trans
issues because they themselves don't have to care about it. The discussion
doesn't involve them, and if they happen to hear about it and invent new
epithets to call left wingers, that's just Tuesday.

I'll close by saying, even though it's really not the done thing, that I do
find it amusing that I'm about to be downvoted into oblivion by people
complaining about "cancel culture". That, too, is OK. I've said what needed to
be said, and it's part of a difficult conversation that will be full of false
starts and failures. Even among people who didn't reach for the downvote
button six words in, there are actual, genuine disagreements that need to be
worked out. If it happens here, fine. If not, it will continue to happen.

