Is Anyone Free Of Sin?
Cancelling and call-out culture are similar but not the same. Though it could be said that calling out is part of or sometimes the first steps of cancelling culture. Calling out is basically as it denotes, making voice of actions, things, groups and/or individuals that one believes are not right, just, moral and ethical. After exposing such injustice, cancelling culture would follow by blocking the element/person from public light and denying a platform or career. Both of these cultures apply not only to public personas and the rich and famous, but also at the individual level in schools, offices and throughout “regular folks” day to day.
In the beginning it was being utilized mainly for its intended purpose, uncovering injustice left and right and bringing culprits to light; and being somewhat effective. However, as Aja Romano puts it in this article “Cancel culture can be seen as an extension of call-out culture: the natural escalation from pointing out a problem to calling for the head of the person who caused it.”
So, how did something that appeared to resolve unattended issues, escalated so quickly into some sort of witch hunt? Social media has proven to be the main facilitator, with Twitter spearheading both cancellors and cancellees to news outlets and mass media everywhere. And as Aaron Rose in this Vox article puts it “[I] used to think that those tactics created change,” but eventually realized “that I was not seeing the true change I desired. … We were still sad and mad. And the bad people were still bad. And everyone was still traumatized.” Basically, it’s not proving to be as effective as it was intended in the beginning. Real change is not being made, and cancellees are only being outcast and marginalized.
In some cases it has even proven to be counterproductive, as songs, movies, or books produced by the offensors seem not to be ignored but experience a resurgence and a boost in sales and mentions (except for those guilty of unforgivable and repudiable actions such as rape, pedophilia, and the sort -e.g. Crosby or Kevin Spacey). Moreover, the cancelled are starting to form their own shared communities with others who have seen the same fate, and not only embracing their “cancelledness” but thanking it and even hoping for it. “… I hope everyone gets cancelled” Katie Herzog shared to the NY Times, after experiencing cancellation and realizing how much it has helped her “…I’m smarter, I’m more skeptical, I’m more empathetic, and I’m much less quick to judge than I was before”.
The biggest downside on the cancelling culture is its inability to forgive and move on. Having shame as the key tool to inflict terror, and the capacity to justify all actions taken without thinking of the consequences. Keri Smith’s quote and analysis on Neitzche on her Medium Post describe the situation perfectly “He who fights with monsters, should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” How easy is it for ordinary humans to commit atrocious acts? History teaches us it’s pretty damn easy when you are blinded to your own hypocrisy. When you believe you are morally superior, when you have dehumanized those you disagree with, you can justify almost anything.”
Now the question is, who is being benefited from the cancelling? Ben Shapiro says “our culture is dying because we have no capacity for forgiveness or discussion”. And in a sense I believe it to be true. I do agree that people need to be held accountable for their actions and words, but in order for it to be beneficial for all it should be done in what Professor Loretta Ross named “Call-in Culture” in this NY Times article. “Calling in is like calling out, but done privately and with respect. It’s a call out done with love,” she said. Demanding that people do better, without explaining to them, and without giving them another chance, is no way for them to effectively recover from being cancelled. Because in the end, what we are all trying to do is make the world a better place for us all.
Gandhi’s words “be the change you want to see in the world” apply now more than ever. Speaking about justice, equality and tolerance by dehumanizing people is more than just hypocritical; but destructive and redundant. If we really want change, community and understanding, the best place to start is from within. Empathy should be our driving force, and so I’ll end with some wise words by John Stuart Mill: “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion… Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them…he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.”
