Cancel Culture. Two words that have taken on a new and somewhat twisted meaning. But let’s break this down, shall we?

Cancel: Making a conscious decision or announce that (a planned event) will not take place. Neutralize or negate the force or effect of (another).

Synonyms for cancel: annul, repeal, rescind, revoke, abolish, nullify, quash, set aside, make void.

Culture: The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

Synonyms for culture: literature, music, painting, philosophy, civilization, society

way of life, lifestyle, customs, traditions, heritage, habits, ways, mores, and values.

As you can see by the words listed, separately, these words in no manner describe what is now referred to as cancel culture. Those two words are forever lost on human ears because someone decided it was high time to rid the world of what they consider interlopers meaning a person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong.

A modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles–whether it be online, on social media, or in person. ... Notably, many people claiming to have been “cancelled” often remain untouched and continue their careers as before.

Now, after looking at both sides of the coin if Cancel Culture is more apt to mean someone who is a bully and a person who would say, “My way or the highway”, I have to consider the breakdown of both words and in my own humble opinion have to say if we continue using cancel culture to the extremes we are, then we might as well start with music, painting, writing, sculpting,.

While we are at it, let’s just eradicate every civilization we come in contact with what we deem inaproppriate to walk the earth. Destroy human values and traditions. Now that sounds like a plan of action.

Millions, no, make that billions of years ago, there was the Cro-Magnon race and also the Paleolithic man and pardon me for saying this, but then one day we became “civilized” and called the races Homo sapiens. Oh my! We changed things then. How dare we be so bold!

But it ended up far better said that way than, “I’m a white caucasian, Cro-Magnon from southeastern Pe4nnsylvania looking for a good woman and a pet dinosaur to placate.”

Getting to the final crux of this though, there are some things worth changing and others that are not.

Cancel Culture needs to be abrogated, repealed and abolished and call it what it is: pitiful and brazen bullying that should have no place on this planet. Cancel culture, those two words, sit side by side with discrimination, racial injustice and prejudice.

I don’t and won’t tolerate it.

It doesn’t matter to me what language you speak, your manner of dress, your interests, what time you wake up or go to sleep, or if you drink Pepsi for breakfast and for dinner have Cheerios. Everyone deserves their own place without fear or worry by inconsiderate human beings who think they know what’s better for them.

I’m angry. Angry that this country and other parts of the world allow this to fester and boil over. QAnon, The Good Old Boys, the KKK (yes they are still fluent), and others of their likeness are in part responsible for part this mess. But they aren't the only ones. The Black Lives Matter Movement, the assault on the LBGTQ communities, the in-school bullying; all of that and so much more is responsible, and it’s time we found a way out of it before we are all suffering because of it.

And if anyone doesn’t like what I put here ... too damn bad. I’m too old to be scared of words or threats.

After all, you can only kill me once.

Let's all

Cancel ourselves

From the career

Called

"being right"

I'll see you

At the farewell party.

Anyone that offends

Me,

I'll buy the next round.

Thank God

I might be wrong.

On anything.

Or everything.

Or nothing.

Just so long

As my opinion

Is a chapter

And not

A memoir.

If you do not go along with the narrative, you are ousted. Anyone who supports you is also ousted. Cancel Culture intimidates and blackmails you by holding your livelihood hostage. Sometimes your social life is held hostage. Sometimes your legal situation is held hostage. Cancel Culture attempts to squelch free speech by causing people who would ordinarily say what they think to keep silent (the blackmail: If you speak out against their thoughts, you lose your job or you're out of the club or you will be attacked).

Cancel Culture is evil, hostile, rude and fueled by the insatiable urge to control. Tyrants, Communists and general idiots practice Cancel Culture. They cannot have what they think questioned! Poor little tittie babies.

My opinion is clear. Cancel Culture is what assholes participate in.

Intimidation: To make timid or fearful.

This is the tactic of bullies. It this case it`s the mob of righteous indignant bullies who are perpetually offended who rule. It matters not if they actually are correct in their accusations. Their imaginations are limitless and in this case, social media is the weapon and the method of choice, appealing to the bots which rule there. Whether or not the complaint is valid doesn`t matter.

All you have to do is complain and the livelihood of a Twitch streamer or You Tube creator is cut off. All you have to do is start a rumor on Twitter or Face Book, or doctor a picture on Instagram and complain about a pillar of society and they magically lose everything. The perfect medium for bullies to hide behind anonymity and do their dirty work.

What happened to the cry of stop bullying? It seems to be eerily silent these days. Destroy first and investigate at leisure is the motto of most social media giants.

What happened to truth and proof? Who needs that when you can plant misinformation anywhere and the news media parrots it back without a thought of verifying it. Sorry, apologies are never good enough once the damage is done. Which is why I’ve pretty much given up on social media other than a useful tool for getting my name as an author into the search engines.

I don’t scroll the feeds like I used to. They aren’t accurate and not to be trusted. So why stress myself out trying to find the truth behind which ever indignant claim the perpetually offended are making every day? I won’t participate in their disastrous cancel culture mentality. And if you want to keep your sanity, you shouldn’t either.

You cancel me

because we disagree

or

I cancel you

because of your hue.

We can cancel each other

and all the whole world

riding in opposing directions

with proud flags unfurled

or

choose

to fight to the death

and lay the earth extinct

leaving

just you and me

to seek understanding

and thus become linked.

Cancel culture is thoroughly useless, for the most part. Just about everyone who gets cancelled (save for those who *really* deserve it like Weinstein) rebound in like a month, to my understanding. But I will admit my understanding of this bizarre phenomenon is limited because I’m about as invested in social media as my eightysomething-year-old grandmother, possibly lesser so (she is big into Facebook). The definition I’ve gleaned is basically “if someone messes up, even in the most microcosmic sense, let’s all bandwagon together and take a stab at ruining their career/life”. Which is...a concerning mentality, to put it mildly. Not to mention hypocritical. Humans aren’t perfect, and chances are we’ve all made mistakes, so to harp on someone else for making those *same* mistakes doesn’t really make much sense. I suppose there comes a sense of superiority, knowing you’re past such plebeian slipups.

But you have to realize that way back when, when you slipped up, you had the privilege of near-anonymity. One of the reasons I choose anonymity is because fame, in its truest distillation, scares me. I don’t want my every word dissected under a microscope, especially when I’m just talking off the cuff, because rest assured I probably *will* mess up and say something profoundly stupid. Celebrities catch ample times more flak than the average joe, and the reason is simple—they have millions of people hanging on their every word. One hot take, mildly warm take, or weird turn of phrase can have (seemingly) sweeping effects. The culture of ‘celebrity worship’ only exacerbates this. Famous people are lauded as oracles by some, gods among humanity—thus making allowances for human mistakes isn’t necessary. It takes fans aback when the curtain of perfection drops; and they feel betrayed when they realize their heroes aren’t faultless. This is not the celebrity’s fault. If someone builds a celebrity’s pedestal up that high...they probably need therapy. Because that’s straight-up delusional. But it happens. A lot.

For the most part, the Twitter mob is all bark and no bite. Virtue signaling brings a great dopamine rush. Some chase this rush like that monkey of legend that had an electrode surgically implanted in the pleasure center of its brain, to be activated at the push of a button. In short, that monkey pushed the button so many times it died. (I...think that’s a true story, but who knows. Sounds about right.) Anyway, highs are a powerful thing, and when you’re bored and lonely, what easier way to get one from the comfort of your own home (apart from indulging in illegal drugs) than calling out some public figure on their indiscretions. And what easier way still, than to tell yourself it’s for a noble cause, instead of just your own narcissistic gratification. Some people even go so far as trying to *find* trouble where there is none. I think of Demi Lovato and that bizarre fro-yo shop thing (though who am I to pretend like I know what exactly she was thinking).

For some reason, a lot of weight has been put into the idea of cancel culture, like it’s actually effective—some life-changing bogeyman. While I obviously don’t see that (with a few exceptions), the illusion can become dangerous if believed. Some people are genuinely afraid of cancel culture, to the point that they’ll apologize for literally nothing. This is a slippery slope. You’re giving a lot of power to a very loud, very small group of Tweeters (Twitter-ers?).

Basically: 90% of cancel culture is useless, 5% is detrimental, and 5% is necessary. (This is my crummy, grossly ignorant estimation.)

this is not the first time the topic of cancel culture has been raised on thepeose.com, but i think it's a good issue, worth returning to.

so, do we keep and enjoy the works of art , that are made by people who commited some crime or expressed views that are repugnant to us.

just remember before we start, that many of the greatest artists, musicians, writers and poets, had a massive dark side to their personality, a side that drove some of their work to some extent, but also caused them to be terrible people..

so..bullet points, i know everyone is busy...

- what if it turns out that by cutting out all those masterpieces, we'll be left with very little that is meaningful?

- what severity of crime deserves the entire body of work of the artist to be expunged?

-is it possible, that this is going to be used as a tool of repression?

-is it possible that we could tolarate views that we feel repulsion to? how abput abnoxious behavior?

-if a crime is comitted, isn't it the role of the justice system to meet out ....emm...justice?

-what shall be done with the person thst still insists on using or appreciating the product of the offender? are they to be punished and viewed as ideologically sympathetic to the offender? (example: do people who listen to Vagner, to be viewed as antisemites or even nazis?) will we need to 'cancel ' them?

-can a normative sanction turn into violance?

-some values change over time. is it possible that at some point in the future, values that we hold , are viewed as repulsive and cause us to be canceled?

in other words, isn't normalizing mass expungment of expression a dangerous precedent?

as you can see , i am very hostile to the idea of cancel culture. many of my favorite artists were TERRIBLE people with horrible behavior and world views. some haveveven committed crimes. i just fear a day where i won't be able to enjoy their work because of that. the world is should not be built only on the positive acts of positive people.

I get it, but it's a heavily flawed concept. The court of public opinion is fickle and saturated with bias.

I love the idea of holding people accountable, especially people that are in positions of power. Too often, the powerful and influential can get away with doing harmful and outright sickening things because they're too big to be taken down- or at least they think they are.

Not everyone needs to be completely cancelled, though. Some people just need a major reality check. Others have said and done dumb things when they were younger and less mature. None of us were born as enlightened creatures, and we make lots of mistakes as we learn to not be a totally crappy human being. I think if the perceived crime against society doesn't appear to be a dangerous pattern of behavior, it's okay to accept an apology and let it go. I also believe that it's not up to other people to accept a public figure's apology for something that arguably didn't affect them. That being said, not even the groups that are affected can even agree on who and what to cancel, so the waters get even more murky.

I'd say that at least it gets people talking, but that doesn't really matter if the conversations are largely circular.

Cancel cultures that won’t except anyone of a different ethnicity. That laughably foolishly see themselves as genealogically superior to everyone else. Or inherently more mentally capable than others. As it sits "our" planet is severely segregated. Religiously, ethnically, culturally, and into the haves and the have nots?

Not until mankind thinks of itself as one kind. Humankind. Will our entire family go to bed not knowing hunger. Every child is a compassionate persons responsibility. Haters are cultured

Here’s my proposition: cancel those who cancel things.

I said it

Cancel them.

You wanna cancel me? You can’t cancel me cause I’m cancelling you! Hah! Can’t cancel me no-ow!

Cancel the cancellers. Cancel them!!!!!

Cancel canceling. Boom. Done. Problem solved. It’s like a double-negative. It makes a positive and in order for us to make that positive impact, we must cancel canceling.

Who’s with me?