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A recent conversation got me thinking about the economics of being cancelled. Like, for instance, I don't much worry about being cancelled, because my jobs are unique and I'm the only person doing them. If I lost some business it wouldn't matter because I'd still have enough.
I would assume someone like JK Rowling feels much the same. She's already rich, she's already doing something that no one else can do (being JK Rowling) and she knows she can say what she wants, speak her mind, and damn the consequences.
The people who seem the scaredest of being cancelled, and therefore the most likely to parrot whatever woke propaganda that comes along regardless of how nutty it is, are very likely people who are endlessly replaceable and would have a very hard time finding work if cancelled.
Lo and behold that's exactly who the mob is mostly made up of. Journalists (let's be honest anyone can do that), actors/actresses (there are always others nipping at their heels), PR people, government employees...people who could not work in their field AT ALL if blacklisted
People who work for tech companies, the education system (including the t-shirt coach), sports (Drew Brees) - if they run afoul of the powers that be, they would have all opportunity for employment removed possibly forever. This is a strong motivator to toe the line.
Most of the woke mob is made up of people with a huge financial interest in saying what is prudent due to financial pressure on them to do that. It doesn't mean they are bad for doing so, it simply means their motives are as pure as the driven slush and should be viewed as such.
A friend was saying there is a lot of inequality involved in being cancelled. This is true. A poor person who gets cancelled is not only financially set back, but their way of making a living is FOREVER destroyed. Louis CK can live off his millions and still tell jokes...
...but some low level functionary working at Google or as a publicist for some small company has no such luxury - if they say the wrong thing it's game over, dude, game over. No more doing the career they trained for, ever, ever again. That has to have a huge effect on people.
So while I would love for more people to speak their minds and push back on the pitchfork and torch mentality, it's obvious to me why they don't. They won't be able to earn a living. I can hardly blame them and I don't judge them too harshly for it.
While I generally agree with the principle that companies should have the right to fire who they see fit, there's no denying that the threat of having one's livelihood destroyed has a chilling effect on free speech.
Those with luxury of freedom to say what we want without consequences are lucky. It may be we have to carry the banner for a lot of people who are scared and can't say what they really think.
If you can speak up, do. If you can't, I understand why, and trust that others will.
If you can speak up, do. If you can't, I understand why, and trust that others will.
Mobs suck, even when they have noble reasons underlying them. We need to push back on mobthought even when we agree with their viewpoint, and I wrote a little something about that here: https://atomicfeminist.com/2018/07/20/5821/
