Opposition, Now.

The Cancel Culture Must Be Defeated

This essay has been started and stopped numerous times, which is why it has been awhile since the last essay. The subject matter kept evolving on a daily basis. Every day, the narrative shifted, and the reasons therefore became more and more clear.

At the outset, I should acknowledge that a true First Amendment free speech issue requires some government action - i.e. a government regulation that has the effect of suppression speech through viewpoint discrimination. Attempts to “cancel” an artist or creator or entrepreneur by an online mob on the basis of viewpoint discrimination is not a First Amendment issue, but it is still a free speech concept. 

While I have done my best (I hope) to leave my own political leanings out of these writings, for the purposes of this essay those leanings are relevant. I am a civil libertarian, and my voter registration is as an independent. Over the years, I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and write-in candidates. I believe all people should be free to do as they please, unless they harm the person or property of another, at which point government regulation of the least restrictive means is appropriate.

There is a battle for individual freedom of thought and speech unfolding right in front of us in plain sight, and I hope you see it clearly, free of distraction that the constant flood of information and misinformation can present.

I trust by now you have been watching the Dave Chappell/Netflix/LGBTQ saga unfold. Here is a cogent $0.25 tour. During a recent comedy special on Netflix, Dave Chappelle said many things. Some members of the LGBTQ community (which is certainly not monolithic - it is comprised of many different groups of people) were offended by some of the things that Chappelle said in that comedy special. Those certain members of the LGBTQ community, some of whom work at Netflix, attempted to force the company to remove Chappelle’s content from Netflix, thus deplatforming Chappelle. A planned walkout of Netflix employees only drew dozens, instead of the thousands that the mainstream media were hyping.¹ Netflix’s CEO rightly resisted the demands of this mob of dozens, and Chappelle took to the stage to state that he would not bend to anyone’s demands:

What can be done if someone attempts to cancel your business interests?