The Republican Party’s excessive use of “cancel culture” — as well as its use of “critical race theory” and “wakeness” — has turned the phrase into a general-purpose epithet that can be hurled at the left.
Cancel culture” is a victim cry and an accusation (the left is made up of intolerant tyrants!) but has no real meaning. It’s a way to avoid accountability or even mild public criticism for behavior deserving of social shame.
When a right-wing politician who hailed the January 6th mob loses a book deal, he is not “fired,” his publisher is exercising good moral and commercial judgment.
When Twitter and Facebook eject a defeated former president from their networks, they are not “quitting” him, they are forcing him to find his own platform from which to subvert democracy.
The best evidence that “break culture” is a flimsy taunt comes from people who both left and right agree are immoral tyrants. Russian President Wladimir PutinWidely regarded as a war criminal, he now laments that the economic sanctions imposed in response to his brutal war of aggression amounted to a campaign to “wipe out” Russia.
Meanwhile, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has denounced his forced resignation after a 165-page state investigative report found he molested at least 11 women.
“One manifestation of extremism is this so-called abort culture,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, told a group of Hispanic clergy this week.
“Abort culture says if you don’t agree with me and my opinion, you should be canceled. Anyone can be canceled at any time. And it happens with frequency today. Nobody is immune.”
Yes, how unfair is that? You can mind your own business – yelling and swearing at employees, grinning at female employees, groping them – and then, bam, you have to step down to avoid being impeached by your own party.
Mr Cuomo has denied allegations that he inappropriately touched women.
When perpetrators of unacceptable behavior invoke the “abandon culture” as a defense, they are not only revealing their nefarious nature, but also the people they are trying to impress.
They appeal to right-wing culture fighters in the US who want freedom to insult, humiliate and bully others.
This includes Republicans who curry favor with the MAGA crowd who want to avoid criticism or the consequences of supporting a coup attempt, suppressing votes, or spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Tossing around “break culture” is an attempt to discourage others from making moral judgments and blaming people for their bad behavior. It is ridiculous for politicians to demand that they evade public judgment in a democratic system based on voters’ ability to hold their leaders accountable.
In its account of the January 6 uprising and other transgressions, the bipartisan organization Protect Democracy wrote: “Without accountability, false narratives maintained by political leaders perpetuate and distort the public’s understanding of recent history. Newly encouraged evildoers recruit and mobilize others to use similar tactics.”
In summary: “Lack of accountability is not neutrality but affirmation: an invitation to wrongdoers to escalate wrongdoing and to others to follow suit.”
In other words, democratic societies demand accountability to enforce their values.
Whether it’s by a foreign dictator, a predator in high political office, a defeated former president spreading lies about an election, or a senator who voted to acquit that president for instigating an insurrection and defeating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj blackmailed, the cry of “cancellation comes culture” should ring the alarm bells.
It’s probably a desperate attempt to escape the consequences of terrible behavior. (© Washington Post)
https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/invoking-cancel-culture-is-just-a-way-for-perpetrators-of-unacceptable-conduct-to-escape-accountability-41468752.html Invoking the “abandon culture” is just one way for perpetrators of unacceptable behavior to evade accountability
