I live in Austin. I can report that conversations are still circumscribed among the college educated according to feminist social justice orthodoxy, and people in social settings are still highly unlikely to push back against the assertion of leftist ideological dogmas. So, cancel culture has faded on the internet, but the signs of its success are found in small group settings and institutions.
As I believe Scott Alexander said, institutions are often "sticky" and tend to retain their character independent of shifts in the broader culture. (This is one reason unpopular hegemonic ideologies are often able to persist so long despite seemingly lacking a popular mandate, eg Bush-era neoconservatism etc.)
The woke left, unfortunately, was able to "capture" - by which I mean instantiate their worldview as a baseline within - a large portion if not most of America's cultural institutions. Even if those institutions pare back the most flagrant woke excess it's going to be very difficult to fully eradicate it from the halls of power. So in a sense, mission accomplished for the left, even if they don't realize it.
Rob, you do not distinguish between the Left's cancellations which are in service of tearing down established practices and customs, and those of the Right, which try to protect them. It is custom which constitutes the culture and provides social cohesion, and while here and there in need of careful improvement, should not be indiscriminately torn apart in pursuit of a grandiose imagined Progressive future. That is nihilism, which has unfortunately become ubiquitous.
Those who today are considered educated people would some decades ago have been considered poorly educated or miseducated. When education has become the inculcation of approved attitudes rather than learning how to analyze and evaluate through argument without pre-determined result, it is not surprising that so-called educated people would outsource judgment, for that is largely what they have been doing all along.
While you might not encounter it, for Jews, conservative Christians, and white males, the Far Left is incredibly toxic, and will never change their ideology.
There are two political actors in the system and economy. One is the warrior, independent, worker, patriot, supporter of the patriarchy, libertarian, producer, accountable, responsible, hard-working, family-oriented... basically the normal good that we have recognized since the founding of Western democracy.
There there is everyone else... the matriarchy, collectivists, misfits, the malcontents, those that don't quite measure up to the previous, those that don't want to work that hard, those that pursue rent-seeking, gambling and looting professions instead of actually inventing, making, building, growing, fixing, selling or producing real products of value.
In democracy there is always a tenuous balance of the majority. With China in the WTO, NAFTA and other policies that were basically Wall Street enabled, we have shifted the economy to the detriment of the former and to the benefit of the latter... and thus changed the balance of power to the latter. We have more unaccountable, non-producing, administrative paper-pushers with most of the income and wealth today. They have had the power.
Cancel culture is just a tool of the latter to prevent the former from again getting power. They failed with the re-election of Trump. But it was close... too close. We see what the US would be like looking at Canada, the UK and Australia... all still dealing with the consequences of the shift in power.
Cancel culture isn't the important topic because it is only one of many tools they use to attempt to gain and retain power. The important topic is the identification of this latter type of political animal and the need for persistence to keep them out of power.
Famous author Malcolm Gladwell just admitted being unable to say how wrong he believes transgenderism is because of how intimidated he felt by the power of transgender enforcers. Graham Linehan was recently arrested for tweeting that women could fight back against men who invade their bathrooms. Maya Forstater was fired from her job at Global Development for expressing gender critical views. Midwife Amy Hamm fired and fined $94,000 for expressing gender critical views. Sall Grover was sued by man Roxannr Tickle for $200,000 for trying to keep him off a website called Giggle for girls and women. Israeli soldiers were awarded $395,000 after attacking Columbia University anti-war students with chemical weapons and spitting on Jews for Peace. Tufts University doctoral student, Rümeysa Öztürk, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for co-authoring and article critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza.
As much as the Woke Right might want to use the "vibe shift" to get their revenge, they still lack anything like the immense cultural power of the censorious left at its peak (~2017-2022), and cancel culture is, well, a *cultural* phenomenon, necessarily I would say.
They can claim a few scalps here and there and use their political power as an imperfect substitute to some degree (as Trump is currently doing with eg the universities). But while political power is of course very real and no less substantial than cultural dominance, it's fundamentally different in its application and effect. To the extent that the Woke Right doesn't internalize this, they won't be able to effectively wield the power they actually do hold. Likewise, to the extent the anti-MAGA left/center fails to understand this, they will not be able to effectively resist the power that is actually being used against them.
None of this represents a disagreement, really. Just thinking out loud.
I've long said that the endgame of cancel culture is not cowering conservatives, but Mutually Assured Destruction, and now we're seeing that play out.
When people who aren't mean girls put on their mean-girl act and fight back, it changes the dynamic. Once people dispense with the "don't punch down" rule (and is it really punching down if they manage to wield so much power?), things change.
The one part that hasn't gone away all that much is the self-censorship, though. Not out of fear of cultural obliteration, but out of the desire to avoid the hassles of MADing a canceller. In business school we called this risk avoidance "not buying a lawsuit", even if one was sure to win such a suit. Not saying that one would wind up in court, but launching a counterattack is a PITA.
It is a bit more than a simple social-intellectual fight. To cancel someone in an intellectual way it is still kind of mild. When a fraction like the Bolsheviks or the National-Socialists get the chance to acquire the complete power in a state then, first, are going mild on the opponents, followed by a "necessary" brutal demise of anyone who challenges them, even for and imaginary condition. This sequence already happened and could happen in any country. We are fortunate and we should be grateful to those who pushed the button and - temporarily - stopped the conveyor belt of the rippers... the "small percentage of highly aggressive people" with criminal mind.
Well said. To truly lead the right will not cloak their own attacks on free speech in the language of saving the country. Do not ban flag burning - start a marketing campaign in the flag’s defense so everyone but the crazies will change their behavior. Lead do not cancel.
I live in Austin. I can report that conversations are still circumscribed among the college educated according to feminist social justice orthodoxy, and people in social settings are still highly unlikely to push back against the assertion of leftist ideological dogmas. So, cancel culture has faded on the internet, but the signs of its success are found in small group settings and institutions.
As I believe Scott Alexander said, institutions are often "sticky" and tend to retain their character independent of shifts in the broader culture. (This is one reason unpopular hegemonic ideologies are often able to persist so long despite seemingly lacking a popular mandate, eg Bush-era neoconservatism etc.)
The woke left, unfortunately, was able to "capture" - by which I mean instantiate their worldview as a baseline within - a large portion if not most of America's cultural institutions. Even if those institutions pare back the most flagrant woke excess it's going to be very difficult to fully eradicate it from the halls of power. So in a sense, mission accomplished for the left, even if they don't realize it.
Rob, you do not distinguish between the Left's cancellations which are in service of tearing down established practices and customs, and those of the Right, which try to protect them. It is custom which constitutes the culture and provides social cohesion, and while here and there in need of careful improvement, should not be indiscriminately torn apart in pursuit of a grandiose imagined Progressive future. That is nihilism, which has unfortunately become ubiquitous.
“It was both absurd and revealing. Educated people were outsourcing moral judgment to a social media feed.”
21st century America — So pathetic!
Those who today are considered educated people would some decades ago have been considered poorly educated or miseducated. When education has become the inculcation of approved attitudes rather than learning how to analyze and evaluate through argument without pre-determined result, it is not surprising that so-called educated people would outsource judgment, for that is largely what they have been doing all along.
Love it— brilliant but brutal assessment !
While you might not encounter it, for Jews, conservative Christians, and white males, the Far Left is incredibly toxic, and will never change their ideology.
I have a simple explanation that I rely on.
There are two political actors in the system and economy. One is the warrior, independent, worker, patriot, supporter of the patriarchy, libertarian, producer, accountable, responsible, hard-working, family-oriented... basically the normal good that we have recognized since the founding of Western democracy.
There there is everyone else... the matriarchy, collectivists, misfits, the malcontents, those that don't quite measure up to the previous, those that don't want to work that hard, those that pursue rent-seeking, gambling and looting professions instead of actually inventing, making, building, growing, fixing, selling or producing real products of value.
In democracy there is always a tenuous balance of the majority. With China in the WTO, NAFTA and other policies that were basically Wall Street enabled, we have shifted the economy to the detriment of the former and to the benefit of the latter... and thus changed the balance of power to the latter. We have more unaccountable, non-producing, administrative paper-pushers with most of the income and wealth today. They have had the power.
Cancel culture is just a tool of the latter to prevent the former from again getting power. They failed with the re-election of Trump. But it was close... too close. We see what the US would be like looking at Canada, the UK and Australia... all still dealing with the consequences of the shift in power.
Cancel culture isn't the important topic because it is only one of many tools they use to attempt to gain and retain power. The important topic is the identification of this latter type of political animal and the need for persistence to keep them out of power.
Famous author Malcolm Gladwell just admitted being unable to say how wrong he believes transgenderism is because of how intimidated he felt by the power of transgender enforcers. Graham Linehan was recently arrested for tweeting that women could fight back against men who invade their bathrooms. Maya Forstater was fired from her job at Global Development for expressing gender critical views. Midwife Amy Hamm fired and fined $94,000 for expressing gender critical views. Sall Grover was sued by man Roxannr Tickle for $200,000 for trying to keep him off a website called Giggle for girls and women. Israeli soldiers were awarded $395,000 after attacking Columbia University anti-war students with chemical weapons and spitting on Jews for Peace. Tufts University doctoral student, Rümeysa Öztürk, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for co-authoring and article critical of Israel's conduct in Gaza.
Judging from your comments here - your audience went more conservative in the past few years and now seemingly can't take any criticisms either
As much as the Woke Right might want to use the "vibe shift" to get their revenge, they still lack anything like the immense cultural power of the censorious left at its peak (~2017-2022), and cancel culture is, well, a *cultural* phenomenon, necessarily I would say.
They can claim a few scalps here and there and use their political power as an imperfect substitute to some degree (as Trump is currently doing with eg the universities). But while political power is of course very real and no less substantial than cultural dominance, it's fundamentally different in its application and effect. To the extent that the Woke Right doesn't internalize this, they won't be able to effectively wield the power they actually do hold. Likewise, to the extent the anti-MAGA left/center fails to understand this, they will not be able to effectively resist the power that is actually being used against them.
None of this represents a disagreement, really. Just thinking out loud.
I've long said that the endgame of cancel culture is not cowering conservatives, but Mutually Assured Destruction, and now we're seeing that play out.
When people who aren't mean girls put on their mean-girl act and fight back, it changes the dynamic. Once people dispense with the "don't punch down" rule (and is it really punching down if they manage to wield so much power?), things change.
The one part that hasn't gone away all that much is the self-censorship, though. Not out of fear of cultural obliteration, but out of the desire to avoid the hassles of MADing a canceller. In business school we called this risk avoidance "not buying a lawsuit", even if one was sure to win such a suit. Not saying that one would wind up in court, but launching a counterattack is a PITA.
It is a bit more than a simple social-intellectual fight. To cancel someone in an intellectual way it is still kind of mild. When a fraction like the Bolsheviks or the National-Socialists get the chance to acquire the complete power in a state then, first, are going mild on the opponents, followed by a "necessary" brutal demise of anyone who challenges them, even for and imaginary condition. This sequence already happened and could happen in any country. We are fortunate and we should be grateful to those who pushed the button and - temporarily - stopped the conveyor belt of the rippers... the "small percentage of highly aggressive people" with criminal mind.
Well said. To truly lead the right will not cloak their own attacks on free speech in the language of saving the country. Do not ban flag burning - start a marketing campaign in the flag’s defense so everyone but the crazies will change their behavior. Lead do not cancel.