Bullies, Trolls and other Mystical Beings
Much Ado About The Cancel Culture
“Cancel him, cancel him.” The mob cried, smartphones in hand.
“Cancel him, cancel him.” They continued, chanting on the streets of Twitter, down omment sections of YouTube and Instagram pages.
Sometimes these protests feel like a steampunk alternate version of witchhunts of the past.
The past, they say, has a way of coming back to haunt us. Karma like a rabid dog will always find a way to take a chunk of our sometimes juicy behinds. However, these days, Karma has a cyber boost.
Mark Zuckerberg’s internet has a way of reminding you of your not so proud digital past. Trolls, mythically begin to unearth bones you wished to remain buried. The internet is supercharging karma, it is scary and I find myself asking this question.
When is it Karma?
If life has taught me anything, it is that every story has at least two sides and most often than not, outsiders are not privy to the most crucial details.
An easy example would be that of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. When accused of being physically abusive, many people were quick to cancel Johnny Depp. Look what time revealed, but the damage was already done.
The internet has proven to be like the wild west at the most sensitive time in human history. So my question is this. When is it karma or dumb mob mentality? And if it is karma, when has it ever needed human help to balance the scales of justice?
I am by no means trying to say that the internet hasn’t been right on many occasions, but it seems to be better at jumping into conclusions, which doesn’t do much good to anyone.
The internet has given us an opportunity to speak and be heard and I believe we should consider it a privilege and treat it as such. In that vein, speaking without context and understanding of the full picture should disqualify anyone from speaking authoritatively on any subject.
Cancel Culture Strips People Of Their Humanity
Humans change. Humans evolve. That it is human to make mistakes. Cancel culture often denies that. It often denies the ability of people to change positively.
This is not to say that people don’t become worse, or that as a society we don’t hold people accountable for their actions. However, cancel culture feels like an overcompensation, like hypocrisy.
It reminds me of how we tend to think that everyone but ourselves has bad intentions. It reminds me that we are prone to punishing people in whom we see traits we dislike in ourselves.
So, in the end, are we fighting for justice, or is this a sick play at vengeance.
