After all these years of cancel culture stories I finally have a satisfactory opinion about it.
It fell into place after listening to various podcasters giving their thoughts on the Charlie Kirk murder (today is September 18th, 2025). According to legend, a lot of folks have been fired from their jobs after their comments on the event didn’t sit well with employers. Of course, it’s up to everyone to decide who they want to associate with and who they don’t, in whatever way they think is best and I totally understand wanting to distance oneself from those whose outlook renders them abhorrent. However, I think cutting ties with people because they don’t “think right” should be a last resort.
Anyone who reads these blog posts knows that I don’t hold particularly mainstream opinions. Hopefully, the idea gets across that I’m on a journey to discover truth to whatever extent I can. That is a virtue that almost anyone will recognize and I’d hate to be cancelled for exercising a universally recognized virtue, the product of which is rarely accepted.
Most of the people who get fired aren’t exactly discovering any great truths, but many of them might be on an intellectual journey where they, one day, may. I’ve had some pretty bad ideas in the past that I thought were good ideas. I was young and immature then, but, over time, I began to wisen. My perspective broadened, I came to understand things more deeply and now, I’m in a respectable place in life as a relatively wise, tolerant person. Luckily, during the immature times, I was never cancelled (maybe mostly because cancellation wasn’t happening back then).
There are people out there who are intellectually lost, immature and hold shallow, stupid ideas that they will one grow out of on the way to becoming good people. Sure, there are plenty of folks, maybe most, who will always be the same people they were when they were 16. Plenty will get worse rather than better. But we don’t know who are on the road to becoming better people and who aren’t. It would be a shame to cancel those who are on their way to being better.
Those who are on a journey to becoming better people should probably be tolerated when they’re wrong and those they associate with who are wiser should guide them rather than cut ties. Personal evolution is slow and people require a lot of patience.
Just as often, the people cutting ties with or cancelling others are just as stupid and immature as the people they’re cutting off; maybe more so. What it comes down to is that most people aren’t wise enough, mature enough, they don’t have enough perspective or insight, they’re too stupid, tribalistic, petty, etc. to wield a weapon like cancellation.
In short, I oppose cancellation. At least, I oppose it for people expressing bad ideas. It’s probably better to call people out for their faults and show them how to be better. If they’re wrong and you’re right, it should be easy to point out why. If they don’t improve, maybe those around them will. Maybe you’ll say, “to hell with that, these people are evil and need to be dealt with”. Maybe they bad people, but you don’t know that. Maybe they’re just misguided and will come to regret what they’ve said. Sometimes people are just low-quality and always will be, but sometimes they aren’t and I think good people should be there for those who may eventually evolve and keep in mind that they don’t know who those people may turn out to be.
