It’s time to cancel Cancel Culture

Published by FREE MARKET CONSERVATIVES on

BY RAMSHA KHAN

Barely a day goes by without an attempt by the woke left to cancel another person, event, or thing. J K Rowling. Rule Britannia. Charles Darwin. Our society and culture is under constant assault from people who don’t respect history, don’t respect freedom of speech and thought, and don’t respect the country they are living in.

In 2020, it seems like anyone or anything can be a victim of the woke mob’s vicious cancellation. If historic figures, or historic songs, can be attacked by the woke brigade, then nobody is safe.

If there is one thing that should be cancelled, it is cancel culture. Cancel culture is a problem which stems from “woke popular culture” which trivialises serious issues in order to seem virtuous and noble. However, this absolutist morality is anything but moral. Cancel culture aims to punish the behaviour of individuals and organisations which are deemed as “bad.” 

Whilst it is true that bad behaviour should be questioned and scrutinised, cancel culture does not do that. Cancel culture in 2020 means showing intolerance towards, and attempting to erase, people with differing opinions or historical events which changed and shaped the world we live in today. Ultimately, we cannot expect historical individuals to live by the precise standards of now; and we cannot expect individuals now to abide by a specific set of dogmatic political requirements which the majority reject.

What is equally if not more concerning, is that the culture of “cancelling” an individual or group can often involve public shaming; intimidation of individuals or institutions; and concerted attempts to destroy the livelihoods of “wrong-thinkers”. 

The process of cancel culture demonstrates a lack of morality and compassion from the woke progressives pursuing it. Those with real compassion don’t try to wreck and ruin others. Those with real morality show mercy. Those with ideas worth listening to are confident enough in them that they are happy to debate, rather than seek to erase, people they disagree with.

Cancel culture operates essentially by “punishing” the perceived “transgressor” through various methods: public ridicule, hysterical twitter mobs, and demanding that people be fired.

We must stand up to this existential threat. In 2020, people should not be punished for having the “wrong opinion”. They should not be pressured into silence by out of control mobs. We must reject them totally. The United Kingdom is supposed a free society, a free democracy. If anyone should cancelled, it’s those who wish to destroy those freedoms. 

Ramsha Khan is a writer and journalist. Follow her on twitter: @Ramshaaleeze