Let [the Social Justice Warrior] Without Sin Cast the First Stone

Cancel culture is a lesion on this century’s American culture. Many may believe that it’s an honorable trend, holding individuals responsible for their actions and rightfully shaming them for any actions deemed terrible by the masses. In this manner, it shares similarities with the American judicial system. So what’s the issue, right? Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. The difference is that cancel culture abides by no regulations put into legislation and enforced by executive authorities. It often is executed based on the hurt whims of a select few. It is not on par with delivering judgment on a criminal accountable for injuries or deaths inflicted on others. The trend’s egregious existence is amplified when it is utilized to bring down people that have good fortune or opportunities in the present or near future:  “Because someone may have directly or inadvertently offended another, he or she should have his or her schools or workplaces contacted in the hopes of expulsion or termination of employment.” One must ask themselves whether the punishment fits the crime. This ignorant, immature youngster who said a homophobic or racial slur amongst a group of his peers, who may have benefitted from some social education, should undoubtedly have his chances of admission into good colleges stripped away from him? In the wake of this, he would most likely double down and affirm some contempt for the groups that he had offended. When before he may have indiscriminately used a slur, now he would use it with conviction. More harm than good has been done. Oftentimes, cancel culture strives for a permanent punishment with long-lasting consequences for a flitting offense that temporarily makes people frown before the same people forget minutes later and resort back to happily watching Tiktok videos of Twitch streams juxtaposed above Minecraft gameplay. If you believe that the hypothetical situation of the child losing his chance at a good college was representative of fair judgment, then you’re “cooked”, as the kids nowadays would say. Why not advocate for a more temporary consequence to match his similarly temporary infraction? My suggestion: just beat his ass.

We also see many celebrities as victims of cancel culture. When someone is revered by many for his/her fame and job, there will always be someone, with definite skeletons in their own closet, perusing through years of Tweets to find one instance of a joke in ill-taste. This social justice warrior must look within himself/herself and see the faults in his or her own thinking. S/he thinks that because someone is talented, then they must act good their whole life. There is no margin for error. S/he conflates talent with character. And that’s the issue when people view celebrities as godly figures, rather than entertainers. They can’t believe that Lizzo would make one of her backup dancers suck on a banana. If they were more in touch with reality, they would be less surprised that she’s into food porn and more surprised that she includes fruit into these proclivities. Many people of great power or status in the past were not perfect. The reality is that the public will always subjectively compartmentalize and inflate the parts they care about. Gandhi, the Indian Epstein, slept with young girls, claiming it was a test of faith and inner discipline. Martin Luther King, Jr had a side-piece, albeit in this case, I think it makes him more “goated” and relatable. Give that man another boulevard. Just don't walk down it late at night. The point I’m trying to drive into minds is that a person, over the course of his or her life, will at times offend different groups of people. And if most of these actions are truly not illegal, yet are subjectively deemed immoral or uncivilized by a few, why is it fair to wholly condemn these individuals with cancel culture–a subjective practice? We need to ask ourselves where the line is drawn. Should I have my coworker fired for picking his nose? No. For digging in his underwear to check if he has swamp ass, followed by a quick sniff of his fingers? Overwhelmingly yes. However, if society continues on this path away from reason towards emotions and impulse, soon it’ll all just be the “Nosedive” episode of Black Mirror. Every social gaffe accrues a demerit. And if you expend your entire social credit, you shall be imprisoned or put to death. With this, the fate that quickly lies ahead for a child pedophile and murderer will slowly also await the 10 year old gamer who constantly yells that his avatar’s ill-timed death is gay within a Call of Duty lobby.

Media References:

Black Mirror