Can We Cancel Cancel Culture?
I want an annulment. With cancel culture.
It is time. The marriage between moral indignation and humanity should be nullified. The two are a horrible match — and someone should have stopped them at the altar long before they vowed to embark on their cancel crusade.
When I was a kid, canceling was something I associated with my favorite television show or a sporting event due to severe weather. Sometimes an event was cancelled due to a lack of participation — if only a handful of people put their names on the sign-up sheet. The act of canceling was disappointing for sure but it was never a result of moral and societal intolerance. I vaguely remember being taught in school about censorship — mostly as it related to books and the unfathomable act of book burning. It was clear that through eliminating knowledge or opposing thought, those in power aimed to obliterate dissention and change. Canceling conflicting ideas does not create harmony. It does the opposite — entirely.
Today, we have allowed ourselves to regress. We have created a modern figurative book burning culture in which we torch anything that rubs us the wrong way. We are extremely uncomfortable with each other. We cannot face our differences head on. Instead of thoughtfully dealing with the issue at hand, we club it and cancel it until it no longer breathes. We have suddenly signed up for a bastardized version of annihilation.
The primary problem with cancel culture, although there are many, is that it eliminates authenticity and spontaneity. It assumes the worst and drives the offending person, group or thought out of town. It leaves no room for error. If everyone is constantly worried about what they say, then we have become nothing more than calculated robots. I do ascribe to the idea of “think before you speak” but I also believe we should allow for real-time engagement and discourse. We are embedded with misunderstanding, superiority, and prejudice. Our way is the right way, and no chisel will penetrate our set-in stone beliefs.
If this is our new modus operandi, how can we ever hope to change? If the underlying sentiment of cancel culture is to call-out the “bad” and replace it with the “good” then we should remain open and not closed. We need to discuss, review, and debate the merits instead of simply censoring that with which we disagree. If we want things to change, we must work together. Choosing sides is not adult behavior. It is playground antics for immature minds.
I find myself hesitant these days. I do not speak or think as freely as I used to. I worry about the next hot topic that will come up in conversation with family or friends — hoping a deeper wedge will not penetrate our already fractured community. I feel we have lost our ability to “agree to disagree” (one of my favorite expressions, and one my husband and I use regularly to keep the peace in our household.) I find nothing wrong with disagreement — except the irritating feeling of annoyance. (No one likes to be annoyed.) Intolerance is my pet peeve. I know I do not see eye to eye with much of the world, but I accept that my eyes are limited, and my field of vision colored by my upbringing.
Old school manners were my guiding light growing up. I learned a baseline of acceptable behavior. As I grew, the parameters widened with experience. I have watched and listened. I have discovered what works (and often, what does not work) for me and the life I want to live. I have strong feelings of what is right and what is wrong, and I am incensed by unfairness. But I am also aware of my biases and assumptions. I understand my preconceived judgments are faulty. I give myself and others a little grace as we navigate this rocky terrain of being human.
I suppose I could sum up my distaste for cancel culture by posing some simple questions. Do you want to be canceled for your mistakes? Do you want to be discarded for your beliefs? Do you want to be shut down and shut out of conversation? I certainly do not. I bet you do not either. I have a feeling we all want the same thing: a seat at the table, the chance to be heard, and the opportunity to live a good life.
