>>11773387I would call it a "mind virus" sort of like religion. I believe in the importance of defining one's own personal ethics and building a moral framework out of it. And I think it's valid (though not obligated) for an individual to feel a moral imperative to do things like divesting from a corporation or distancing yourself from a person whose actions violate your ethics. But I personally don't see it as valid to extend that beyond your own agency and into that of others. Discussion and debate is great but not manipulative persuasion. We need critical thinking and a healthy level of individualism to keep things from spiraling into chaos.
With cancel culture I think it becomes a hivemind phenomenon, emerging out of the primal desire to "fit in" and the fact that so many people in the modern world maintain some sort of false, idealized image of their self through social media platforms.
And obviously there's a sense of superiority that comes from condemning another person. As well as lack of empathy in online interactions.
I definitely do not support the idea of "cancelling" people or making a spectacle out of it. It creates a feedback loop that makes the population more predisposed to mindlessly picking up on a narrative instead of thinking for themselves.
Lastly, I think I and everyone else are vulnerable to that type of shit, it manifests in many forms beyond the cancel culture phenomenon.
I would like to think that my condemnation of Stallman's actions comes from a rational place but I'd be idiotic to claim that I'm not influenced by the social/cultural environment at large.
