I get frustrated by persistent complaints about so-called "cancel culture."
Not that I think it's entirely non-existent. I'm sure it does exist in places.
Not because it tends to be an accusation made by people who generally lean right against people who generally lean left, when it seems clear that left-leaning voices are excluding from conservative media just just as effectively as right-leaning voices are excluded from progressive media.
Not even because it is old news. Censorship, boycotts, tarring and feathering (both literal and figurative) have been part of our political discourse since before the revolutions.
What really irks me, what makes me nuts, is that the real issue has always been having the bravery to speak out in the first place.
We are promised the right to speak and print your views by the constitution, short of directly inciting violence. We are not promised it will be easy, or that we can escape the consequences of our speech. Nor are we promised that public or private resources (e.g., lecture halls in institutions of higher learning) will be allocated to us to speak abhorrent or hateful views. Which of course sets up a very thorny -- but equally valid -- political discussion about what views are deserving of society's support. But just having an idea does not automatically entitle me to public support in broadcasting it.
Of course, to have an effect on public thought requires speaking in a way that others can engage with. Some people go with rage, spite, and condemnation -- these things will get people engaged, but probably just the people who already see things the same way. Some go with deception, exaggeration, and hyperbole -- these things have worked well in Russian, Soviet, and Stasi disinformation campaigns in European experience, and seem to be pretty effective in US social media too.
To me, the battle for free speech is an internal battle for the courage to speak. And the best way to be heard is to speak with all the rationally and courtesy I can muster.
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