Cancel Culture Means the End of American Culture

You're an American. That means you know something about America. Where we come from. The seeds that bore the fruits of freedoms we now get to enjoy today. 

You're an American alive in 2021. That means you also know something about cancel culture. 

Cancel culture destroys freedom, breaks apart the essence of democracy, and gets rid of the idea of forgiveness. Above all, the goal of cancel culture is to make you forget what America's all about. 

Our heritage. 

What is that heritage? That heritage is the heritage of liberty and freedom. To be free to do what you want to do. Free to say what you want to say. Free to say what you want to say, even if what you want to say offends other people.

But why, you ask, would anyone care about that tiny little freedom? Why should you care about something so small? All right, so some people get offended by what you say. Just don't say it, dude. What's wrong with that?

We'll tell you what's wrong with that. The game they're playing is the game of death by a thousand cuts. 

You lose one freedom today. You don't really notice it. Hey, it's a small one. Plus one for them. So what?

You lose another freedom tomorrow. You don't really notice it. Okay, one and one is two. Two's not so bad. That seems like something I can live with.

You lose another freedom the day after that, you begin to wonder if these losses will  continue. Three. Three's not just a crowd. Three's a trend.

And before you know it, you're up to your eyeballs in CAN'T. Can't do this. Can't do that. And by the time you notice what you can't do, one of those little things you can't do will be to question this sudden life without freedom. By then, such questions will be too offensive to say out loud...

Getting the picture?

Some people reject the idea of death by a thousand cuts. The so-called slippery slope. They answer that since we can't know what will happen in the future, it is a stupid thing to try to predict how today's bad things will multiply into even more bad things tomorrow.

To that we would be criminally irresponsible not to add one more, even stronger important point. Cancel culture leads to the end of republican democracy. 

When we talk about our heritage, our freedom, and the liberty that a democracy guarantees, we are also talking about the heritage of debate that makes this country unique.

In this country, you have your opinions. Other people have their opinions. If you disagree, then you disagree, and carry on with your day. Then when the time comes for opinions to become laws, and for ideas about ways of life to become ways of governing the country, we get to see whose opinions are more persuasive and more effective. That's the whole point of politics and debate.

But politics and debate are IMPOSSIBLE in a democracy—or any free society—unless you are free to offend people in the course of your daily life. OF COURSE someone who disagrees with you will take offense when you say something that directly contradicts their opinion. The only way not to offend such a person would be to roll over and say, "Yeah, you're right. I'm wrong."

Does this give them license to ruin your life, end your career, and tear apart your social circle?

No.

Not only is that wrong. It is dangerous to democracy. It is Un-American.