Like many of you out there I have been hearing more and more about "cancel culture". Also, like many of you out there, I had no stinkin' idea what the hell it was. More importantly, I did not care one little bit about the whole thing, but, as usual, politicians started talking about it, and it forced me to look it up.
According to no greater a source than the Pop Culture Dictionary, it is defined as:
Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (cancelling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group sharing.
Two things. First, this could apply to about 95% of us at any given time in our lives. Second, get a life.
From around the early 1960's until 2020 we called this whole nonsense, political correctness. It was just as big a waste of time under that name. Suddenly everyone was afraid to say the wrong thing for fear they might hurt the feelings of a guy they never met. Same thing today but on steroids.
Here is how I've handled this whole PC/Cancel Culture BS.
If you are so sensitive to criticism, or hearing someone take another side on an issue, that you feel compelled to lash out and try to get them fired, then you will never be happy again. There will always be another viewpoint, or person who doesn't like the color of your shirt, and the sooner you realize that, the easier it will be for you to get through the day.
It is OK to be different, or to have different ideas, without trying to kill that person because of it. Guess what, trying to get even makes you guilty of cancel culture yourself. I haven't kept count in my life, but I will guess that I have pissed off about 832,000 people at one time or another. Hard to believe, I know.
When someone has confronted me about something I've said or written, I tell them all the same thing. "I'm sorry that you are unhappy with this but I stand behind what I said/wrote. It is my opinion and I'm allowed to have one."
It is probably time that we all grow up and learn to accept the fact that some people are going to be different or have different views on an issue. That does not mean that you have to accept their side but it also doesn't mean that you have to bite your tongue either. There is nothing wrong with letting them know that they are, in your opinion, full of shit.
There has been enough lying and remaking of the truth lately for 200 generations. At some point we all need to start pointing out when people are making stuff up and call them out on it. It is not being PC, or being a cancel culture person, it is just letting them know that you are not going to accept their lies and will make sure that everyone knows they are lying.
And by the way, this problem is on all sides of the political scale. It is not a liberal issue or a conservative issue. It is a bullshit issue and I for one am having no more of it. I will always listen to and respect an opinion of someone who is making it based on facts. If you are just repeating some nonsense you heard from some idiot then please don't waste my time.
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