Some Thoughts On Cancel Culture

It's a really fucking stupid idea.
I could end right there. Only then I wouldn't get to annoy people nearly as much as I want to, so I'll plough on. So you dislike a position that someone holds, or a tweet they sent two decades ago, or a statue? Cancel them, tear it down. Drain the swamp. Only that isn't what actually happens. See, the vast majority of the country, whilst socially liberal, are actually all about freedom of expression. So when you try to tell us what to think, how to think, or suggest that some ideas are above critisism you just make a large silent majority think you are a bit of a dolt. And when you get up in our faces and try to shout us down, whilst you might think you've won a mighty victory, all you've actually ensured is that people vote heavily against everything you stand for at the voting booth. I mean how many people voted FOR Boris? I expect you'll actually discover they actually voted AGAINST Labour. I expect a lot of people vote against rather than for. I mean I haven't voted FOR anybody since the mid 1990's. So when the loudest voices try to silence you, or drown you out, or ban you outright from the discourse, I'm all for allowing them their moment in the sun. Play the long game people. Wait until you're at the ballot box then take the biggest shit possible on their ideology. You don't need to argue with people who would seek to deny you the chance to do so. Just keep living your values, being true to who you are, and use what power you have during the battles that actually matter. Talking of being shouted down, the last few weeks have been amazing for that. I doesn't matter that the statistics, when viewed impassively, make a mockery of the whole systemic racism narrative. It doesn't matter that all the data we have roundly destroys everything that Black Lives Matter claims. It's not about the facts, it's about the amount of noise you can make; how offended you claim to be. Who needs knowledge when emotionalism will do? I could sit down in a room today and within 90 seconds reduce some of the claims being made to rubble by simply referring to data supported by leading black intellectuals, but I probably wouldn't get beyond 15 seconds without some deranged social justice warrior berating me for having the temerity to speak in the language of facts. It just doesn't appear to be the done thing. You may have noticed that I have very deliberatly spoken out against the tide of lunacy we've been encountering. I refuse to be a sheep, to tow a line dicated by other's based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the core dynamics. Be outraged with me should you wish. Your outrage carries no weight. If you seek to pursuade me of the errors in my thinking I will gladly sit down and break bread with you. But we'll engage as equals, and in a spirit of enquiry, and an openess to change our perspectives based on new information. And I can be pursuaded. Case example; as the father of a gender fluid daughter I have had to work hard to understand the differences between sex and gender, and to understand why the Trans community are so impassioned about this distinction. I've read opposing views, listened to video's, and my understanding has shifted. This is why the exchange of ideas and information is so critical, such a fundamental building block in the great scheme of building a fair and just society. That's not to say passion is redundant, but passion alone isn't enough. Worse, it can lead to bias, confusion, greater ignorance. Do any of you think that's a good idea? So to me the route ahead, whilst full of complexity, will only be safely charted when open minded people engage each other in an environment where identity politics can play no part. Where the goal is to accrue knowledge, exchange ideas, and whittle out the good from the bad. It's either that or more of the same, and I don't want more of the same. There's this saying that a rising tide lifts all boats, which is to say that we need to create conditions in which the greatest many can flourish to the greatest extent. Us versus them isn't going to realise that dream. No amount of chest beating or muddled logic. But openness and bravery, both of which are choices we are required to make on a daily basis, just might.