Cancel Culture and the Free Speech Argument

"But he's sooooo funny!"

Randy Rainbow’s racist & transphobic tweets resurface. There are dozens.

 

maybe don't quit

 

Greenwald quit because he didn't want to be edited.

"Cancel culture."

It's conservative persecution-complex nonsense.

 

It’s not really “cancel culture” with some of these issues.

It’s more “our identity is X, you desire more Y, that conflict is more trouble than it’s worth, so you have the option of changing, or leaving.”

That said, “cancel culture” is a strategic phrase being used by the right, and it’s being used successfully. The left media is so bubbled and hive-minded that it seemingly doesn’t understand how it look to many Americans.

 

Substack sidebar.

The Substackerati

If you visit Substack’s website, you’ll see leaderboards of the top twenty-five paid and free newsletters; the writers’ names are accompanied by their little circular avatars. The intention is declarative—you, too, can make it on Substack. But as you peruse the lists, something becomes clear: the most successful people on Substack are those who have already been well-served by existing media power structures. Most are white and male; several are conservative. Matt Taibbi, Andrew Sullivan, and most recently, Glenn Greenwald—who offer similar screeds about the dangers of cancel culture and the left—all land in the top ten. (Greenwald’s arrival bumped the like-minded Yascha Mounk to eleventh position; soon, Matthew Yglesias signed up for Substack, too.)


None of that is so surprising—it’s hard to earn four-fire-emoji status without having already built up a reputation within established institutions. And, as this year’s anti-racist activism has made all the more visible, those institutions are built from prejudiced systems, which form working environments that are often unsustainable for people who are nonwhite or non-elite. “I think one of the reasons why we often see that the top-twenty-five board at Substack is mostly white authors is because that’s an extension of the type of audience and recognition they get for their work on other platforms,” Harvin said.

 

Cancel culture is the impact of everyday Americans having access to people like journalists and actors and... whatever. For most of our existence, the only way to clapback against something that aggrieved you was to send a letter. In the mail. Then, perhaps, an email. Now? JFC, have at it on social media. I'm not altogether sure the left-wing media* (not a real thing) is engineering it.

 

Is the annual campaign against NPR and PBS part of Cancel Culture? Was labeling record albums? Was Kapernick cancelled? Obama? LeBron James? I hate to "both sides" it, but I see lots of examples from all around of trying to cancel a person or thing for weak reasons.

 

Being 'cancelled' is what we used to call being 'criticized.'

It's unbearable!

 

His resignation from The Intercept was one of the most childish exits I've seen in Media. I won't be surprised if he finds a home among the Right, as someone who was a victim of "Leftist censorship." Also, I've also found the fact he publishes content without an editor to be extremely problematic.

 

Un-Bari-ble joke goes here _________.

 

lol look at Clio Chang and his little circular social media accounts!

Also, something felt greasy about reading the entire piece.