It's One They Always Get Wrong

Call the start of our own roaring 20's the age of cancel culture. Gosh, our 20's are quite a lot different than the 1920's, that's for sure. Back then Americans loved America more, respected their country, flew their flag with pride and honor, appreciated the Constitution, and even while they may have disagreed with their president, still respected the White House.

I should note, I do not have much confidence or faith in our current president, Joe Biden, and Harris may well be a worse disaster than Biden is. But that's for another day.

I still respect the White House. Not for who is in it. But for what it stands for.

With cancel culture comes an underlying misconception many people seem to have. It's what drives that culture and gets the cancel wheels in motion. It is the misconception that hidden somewhere in the Constitution is the right to not be offended.

Folks, it doesn't exist. You have the right to be offended. But do not have the right to not be offended, and this is an important distinction to make.

A lot offends me, although I do find the word itself to be a bit of a strong one. It takes a lot to truly offend me. Let's just say, I don't like certain things. That's a better way of putting it.

I don't like the words of Louis Farrakhan or Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Their words are as racist as some of the words spewed by the KKK back in the day, and I didn't like their words either.

I don't like any athlete who kneeled for our national anthem in protest of things that have nothing to do with what that and our flag stands for.

I am a strong Trump supporter, but it doesn't mean I liked his words against John McCain that he "preferred his heroes not to have been captured." As a veteran myself who comes from a long line of other veterans in my family, that hits home particularly hard. Especially coming from a then, presidential candidate.

But I also did not like McCain making a decision on a very important bill, against it, just because of a personal vendetta of words.

I have the right to not like these things. I have a right to speak out about these things and tell you I don't like them. I have the right to have my own say and take my own action against these things.

I can withhold support of someone or stop going to games. I can refuse to attend rallies.

But cancel them or otherwise shut them down? I can't do that, and you can't either, and that's the way it should be. Because especially during a time in which nearly anyone can find anything offensive, this could open up a whole new can of worms that even the cancel culture advocates may find they really don't like either.

There are consequences, of course, to offensive things. Not legal ones, but public ones. Kaepernick lost his job. The NFL lost fans and revenue. When Kathy Griffin tried to be funny holding up a severed head of president Trump, she was fired from her New Year's gig, lost endorsement deals and pretty much had her career trashed.

The court of public opinion is the gauge and the guide of what happens regarding offensive things.

We can react. But that is all we can do. The offensive person still has a right to be offensive. There is no law against it.

To that end, giving in to offended people as though they do have a non-existent right is a dangerous path. It is a dangerous precedent. Tearing down statues because people find them offensive, despite the history they represent is dangerous. Changing sports team's names that people find offensive is dangerous. Cancelling a pancake syrup because people find it offensive is also dangerous.

The thing here is that the groups who are part of this cancel culture are largely made up of a minority of people. Not a majority. And so, it is essentially an attempt to silence the voice of the many in support of the voice of the few.

The problem is, they still get to have their say and you don't. Because they are cancelling you and getting away with it.

I am not suggesting that the minority should not speak out about what offends them. Quite the contrary. Sometimes there are things that are legitimately offensive that should be addressed and changed.

Take the Civil Rights Movement. There was a time when racism was prevalent and the KKK ruled the land. They were the majority. Their view was permitted under the Constitution. They had a right to believe in and say what they wanted. But the minority also had a right to say they opposed it.

Eventually the minority opinion became the majority opinion, and the landscape of race relations was forever changed. Racists and the KKK now operate in the shadows, not right in front of you.

You could say that racism and the KKK were cancelled and use that as an argument for the current cancel culture. For the importance and need of it.

But the thing is, that movement, and many movements before it, took time. And let's face it. It was the right thing to be offended by. For the right reasons. It did not get cancelled just because a few people were offended by it. It got cancelled because eventually most people were offended by it.

That's not how offense works now. It's not how cancel culture works now. The way it works now is on the basis of fear tactics and violence, and a shutting down of things or else.

And it doesn't matter what they find offensive. It doesn't matter what the rest of us think. And at the same time, we're not supposed to voice our opposition to the offense. We're supposed to just shut up and accept what they have determined to be offensive and leave well enough alone and just let them have their way.

And they get their way only because they are using the same tactics the KKK and others used to get it. Violence. Fear mongering. Midnight lynchings. A literal shutting down of the opposing voice.

But, here's the thing. The KKK and their movement didn't get their way. The new majority was successful in shutting them down through a natural course. Not the automatic one that is how it works now. In other words, people were allowed to push back.

That's not allowed now. Because now if you push back, you are called a bigot and a racist. Your town is burnt down, and businesses destroyed. Careers and livelihoods are tossed to hungry alligators.

Being offended is not inherently bad. Sometimes it is reasonable and has a purpose. And sometimes it is useful in bringing about change that is good. We all have that right. To be offended and say something about it.

But only when our offended voice becomes the majority do we get the opportunity to bring that change. Cancel culture, if it is to exist, must be the product of the majority agreeing that something should be cancelled. In the meantime the minority can continue to speak in their defense until minds can be changed.

Forcing the issue is not a good thing, and people need to be reminded every day what rights they do have, and which ones they don't have.

Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user jbooba. Mercedes Typewriter 1920 Vintage - Free photo on Pixabay