I remember growing up in the 80’s and Rolling Stone was all about freedom, counter-culture, limited government, and sticking it to the man, as they had been since it’s inception. Somewhere along the line they became the magazine about Listening to the government, following their dictates, and hardcore leftist politics. And like any good Progressive (nice Fascist), they always have Reasons for it. Here they believe that censoring people and entities is good for “democracy”, when, in fact, democracy requires free expression, and, If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all
Why Cancel Culture Is Good For Democracy
For many years, cancel culture has been despised or misconstrued as a new phenomenon that’s caused havoc on free expression and speech. We’re supposed to now assume that we can’t say or do anything without an angry mob instantly judging us and preparing to end our careers before they start. In actual fact, we are the people who make up the so-called mob, and we have control of our own actions.
Cancel culture has leveled the playing field for those who can’t always rely on the government to protect them. Right now, bigots are protected under the First Amendment to fuel disgusting rhetoric without state-sanctioned consequence. The America that tolerated white supremacy in their policies and laws is the same country that wants to remind us how such forms of hate are still legal via free speech. Cancel culture is the poison to those in power that have benefited from unchecked free speech.
There are more than enough bigots on all sides. We see black supremacy, we see climate cult zealots, we see treating white people with disdain simply because they were born white, and so many other things. You can’t have it both ways. The same people who say that shaming and bullying is a bad thing use those
When conservatives on Fox News declare that it’s a “free country” and that cancel culture is “un-American,” they forget speech works two ways: It allows for discourse to take place but grants all voices can be heard. In other words, straight white men and other people with power aren’t used to getting pushback for the ways they conduct themselves—and cancel culture has reset the ways society can react. Those who fear cancel culture may claim they fear suppression of speech, but it’s accountability that they want to avoid.
Should regular citizens, the now powerful, be destroyed for expressing opinions that the Progressive Fascists do not like? Because that’s what happens more often. Yes, speech does have consequences, but, these people like to destroy opponents, and engage government, schools, and businesses to do so.
Cancel culture as we consider it today feels new because of the digital platforms we have at our disposal. Previous generations were canceling—but the road to accountability was paved with many barriers, both technologically and socially. It was hard to fully cancel something when you weren’t granted the same civil rights as your opponent—even more so when you could face even more persecution and exile for doing it. Once the internet began to take off in the 1990s, society began to see a shift in how the public could consider canceling with less gatekeeping. In 1997, the Supreme Court acknowledged this major shift when it dealt with its first internet-related First Amendment case. The court wrote at the time that “any person with a phone line can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox.”
See, it’s easy to do with the Internet, and doesn’t require anyone to do much, just join the mob. When people were upset over the Rolling Stones song “Some Girls”, they actually had to make an effort to complain. Write letters. Call companies. Not drop a quick tweet with a hashtag. Here’s the Rolling Stones article on it, in which they don’t go after the Stones, from 1976.
Those who fear cancel culture may claim they fear suppression of speech, but it’s accountability that they want to avoid.
I’m betting if those forces came after Rolling Stone they’d sing a different tune. But, the magazine of counter culture is now all about following the predominant trends, the ones pushing for cancelling those involved in Wrongthink. It’s part of the Marxist cultural revolution. Journalists should be pushing for free speech, not advocating for it the same way that the cultural revolution in Red China did.
Cancel Culture doesn’t hold people accountable, because it rarely goes after big shots: it attempts to destroy the lives of average folks, and is often pushed by those in power. Those with a big voice.
Cancel culture has always been with us. Social and cultural mores help keep us in line.
There was a time when it was acceptable to call black men “niggers” or “boys” in public. Now if you do it, you get criticized!
The laws allow you call people fags, niggers, spics, wetbacks, coons, cunts, bitches, pussies, faggots, muzzies, mud people, fucksticks, shit for brains, sluts, whores, cocksuckers, Nazis and on and on. What keeps you from doing that publicly any time you feel like it? Shame, if you have any.
Lying is not illegal but is frowned upon. The primary issue seems to be that private business such as twitter, facebook and Truth Social sometime refuse to publish what they consider lies.
Sure, sure, it’s easy online and anonymously, but less so when there are repercussions.
The idea that conservatives are unable to get their messages out is only so much whining. Freedom of expression doesn’t immunize the messenger against criticism!
The real problem is when governments suppress speech, for example if a state governor punishes a substitute teacher for showing pictures of empty library shelves.
Groomer Elwood – I notice you never let facts and reasoning get in the way of you parroting your Masters’ lies.
Why not try researching and thinking for yourself; you may end up being Right.
Who groomed you, Bill? A preacher, priest, teacher or parent? We’re sorry for the trauma you’ve suffered.
Except we see how selective cancel culture is. Last week Biden called a black man a “boy” and we got crickets. Shunning someone because of their language is one thing, actively seeking to have them fired, etc. for it is another.
The shouts from the left about fascism are always projection.
The irony is breathtaking. So-called “liberals” expect no criticism at all, are shocked and amazed when they get it, and virtually everything they spew is used food.
Once again, you lie. You really need to get your partisan head out of your commie ass. We know, you saw it on the leftist internet so it must be true. LIAR!
February 23, 2023 | Vivek Saxena | Print Article
Substitute teacher in Florida who reportedly tried to smear Gov. Ron DeSantis has instead found himself without a job.
The drama started to unfold last month when then-Mandarin Middle School substitute teacher Brian Covey posted a video to social media showing what appeared to be rows of empty bookshelves in the school’s library.
The video quickly went viral, attracting millions of views.
Fast-forward to this Tuesday, when First Coast News asked Gov. DeSantis for his thoughts on the video.
In response, he called the video a “fake narrative” and claimed that the library simply hadn’t put its books out yet.
“That was a fake narrative. That was not true. … This is trying to create some narrative. They hadn’t even put the books out yet to begin with, so there’s no need for all of that stuff. What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to act like somehow, you know, we don’t want books,” he said.
He continued by stressing that his policies aren’t about banning all books — they’re about only banning books that contain inappropriate content for children.
As previously reported, Republican governors like DeSantis have been banning books in schools that contain explicit sexual content or that promote racial essentialism.
Note that these bans only pertain to schools and school-related activities, meaning parents can still buy their children the banned books in their personal time.
A day after the press conference above, Covey was fired.
In a statement to First Coast News, the school district attributed his termination to his violation of the district’s social media policy.
“In discussion between the district and ESS regarding this individual’s misrepresentation of the books available to students in the school’s library and the disruption this misrepresentation has caused, it was determined that he had violated social media and cell phone policies of his employer. Therefore, ESS determined these policy violations made it necessary to part ways with this individual,” they said.
ESS is reportedly the company that the district contracts with to hire substitute teachers.
In a separate statement, Duval County Public Schools spokesperson Tracy Pierce appeared to confirm the governor’s narrative about the books just not having been laid out yet.
“It may be jarring to see empty bookshelves, people can apply their own judgement, but it’s a false accusation given the fact that more than half of the books, probably two thirds or more, are completely available to kids,” she said.
DCPS Superintendent Diana Greene also issued a statement stressing that no school and classroom is without books.
So, you approve of a governor firing a teacher exercising his free speech rights? Isn’t the governor part of the government?
So DeSantis only banned 1/3rd of the books, LOL.
Get your head out of the fascist governor’s fat ass.
And MORE breathtaking irony…
He was fired for violating district policy. I know, reading comprehension is hard.
Teachers could have stayed in their lanes and this crap wouldn’t be happening, so I don’t know why they keep bitching about self-inflicted wounds. Maybe it’d be different if we weren’t sinking tons of money into public education and getting such a shitty return on our investment, maybe not.
CarolAnn is trying to cancel me! Boohoo!
LOL.
LOL. LOL
Lying again? Where did I try to cancel you? We wouldn’t cancel you if we could. You are a shining example of an idiot radical democommie and should be held out for all to see and wince. There’s another big difference between us patriots and you commies. We don’t censor adults talking to adults. Sadly you won’t censor adults grooming and mentally assaulting minors.