Frankly, Lee wishes this was a right vs left thing.
"Serial harasser/molester finally gets exposed and rightly shunned from a community" cancel culture, "people get fed up with a toxic person's decades of misbehavior alienating minorities from a community" cancel culture, and "artist gets mobbed for unknowingly making some artwork that offends sensibilities" cancel culture are not the same thing. However, those targeted in cases similar to the former love to lump it all together in an attempt to deflect any and all earned criticism.
I find it disturbing that the far right, followed by the conservative right and more recently by the economic liberals could do this as they wished for almost 15 years, and when social liberals do this, there is that much pushback.
I mean it is not fair. I understood what the fascist where doing five years ago, and pushed anarchists friends from my youth to do the same on their side, and they did. And i was probably not alone in this (hence the "eat the rich" and "property is theft" narratives coming back in MSM). Liberals probably understood it even earlier and started this "cancel culture" stint. It is just pushback. Why would you be worried for a political ideology pushing back?
I think cancel culture is okay and fair game.
> I understood what the fascist where doing five years ago, and pushed anarchists friends from my youth to do the same on their side, and they did.
I mean, my view is: I was against this when the right did it; I haven't stopped being against it when the left started doing it. It's not like I tolerated it from the right any more when they tried - or try - to do it to spaces I hang out in. But socially, I just don't have much overlap with the right wing. As a result, I tend to mostly worry about the left doing it, because the left doing it is what actually impacts me.
edit: And honestly, I thought we had an agreement about this? In the US, the left is even called the "liberals". Like, I thought there was a broad agreement that the left wing wasn't going to be doing this sort of thoughtcrime, othering, bad opinions = bad people, exclusion instead of argument bullshit. But apparently any weapon that's good enough for the right is fine for the left? We cannot allow a cancel gap, I guess. Bah. Used to be I thought the left was better.
But. I think some people out to drive wedges are working overtime to frame a specific subset of "cancellation" as a civilizational threat.
Over the ~decade this has been trending as a narrative I've heard _many_ people all over the left-of-center ideology map _publicly_ express discomfort, disapproval, or outright opposition to this behavior. This isn't a meme spreading _without resistance_.
I don't think it is strategic to help habituate ~management to sacking people when they feel attacked, but I recommend being very skeptical of anyone who agitates on this without labor rights/law/power and ~management's role in the dance all inside their frame. (I realize this isn't a broad solution... more of a razor for separating good faith from bad.)
