Cancel culture is such a problem for democracy because when disagreement arises, the offending party must be erased from public life. No one deals with the disagreement. Violence simmers with those in self-constructed bubbles ignoring the underlying arguments being made.

Of course, this culture can unfold among both social progressives and conservatives. But, a certain cosmopolitan liberalism (of the classic sort) is especially efficient at "canceling."

The solution to cancel culture isn't benign tolerance of every idea. But it's learning to face one's interlocutor without the desire to eliminate them from the face of the earth. It is the refusal to participate in the sacrificial destruction of one's neighbor.

I keep thinking, each time someone is "sacrificed" in the public sphere for saying or tweeting something offensive (which may in fact be profoundly offensive) of the scene in Gladiator: "Are You Not Entertained?"