A new type of witch hunt is about us! it goes by the name of Cancel Culture where society is digging up a persons past on this so called “internet” and trying to make said person pay reprimands for the things that they have said in their past! Though the same people that are at the head of these with hunts are fairly hypocrytical in their actions, due to the fact that they are only searching for those that are well endowed and trying to bring them down to their meager level. I for one think that this is another form of human’s herd like mentality where we try to think that we are doing whats right for society by trying to do whats “right” in terms of trying to correct another persons past that has already grown and learned from that time. “human race would long ago have ceased to exist, if its preservation had depended solely on the reasonings of its members” (64) Though it is good for society to be politically correct and compassionate to everyone that lives in this world, we must also allow for the people that have done or said wrongs in their past apologize and show that they have grown from those mistakes. Though the current culture of society right now they just want to expose someone to try and stand on the moral high ground even if they themselves are flawed!
Enlightenment, Romanticism and Revolution
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Randy Apan, I agree very much with your sentiment that cancel culture runs mostly on unjustified mob mentality. There are too many hypocritical people on the internet who use their screens as cover when accusing other individuals of their wrongdoings. I understand that you wish for the accusers to let the accused apologize on their own to show that they have grown from their mistakes, but I have to ask: do you really think the accused would have apologized for their mistakes WITHOUT being “canceled”? In many cases (for example, comedian Shane Gillis and his questionable history of racist comments on his old show alongside his more recent homophobic tweets), it wasn’t until after people on the internet drew attention to another individual’s wrongdoings that they felt the need “apologize”. It is second nature for humans to defend themselves when they feel attacked, but if most of these “canceled” individuals truly felt guilty about their actions from the past, I believe they would have apologized long before they were canceled.
https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/snl-shane-gillis-racist-homophobic-remarks.html
Randy, I agree with what you said and think the the concept of being “canceled” is a bit extreme. I feel that celebrities especially are held to a much higher standard than people who do not have as big as a social media presence, which seems unfair since they are also ordinary people. Although keeping each other accountable is a positive, I think some people may be afraid to voice their true opinions because they are in fear of being judged by others and ostracized from different social groups. At the end of the day, we have to remember though that social media is only a small piece of peoples’ lives.
Randy Apan, I feel that your opinions are definitely justified. People should not be judged for their past selves, but for who they are now. After all, it is human nature to grow and learn and a key quality differentiating us from other animals. However, an essential part of growth is recognizing your mistakes in the first place and not just apologizing for them but truly meaning it, understanding why you were truly wrong. If they have already recognized their mistakes, public shaming is not only unnecessary but cruel. Yet especially in the case of people like politicians, sometimes it takes public exposure for them to even apologize for their mistakes and who can tell if they actually mean it. Of course, I still do not support the mob mentality of the online crowd when they gang up on someone who is simply ignorant, compared to outwardly racist, sexist, or just plain rude.