Important Sources — Fear & Truth

Argument 1

“Why Cancel Culture Is Good For Democracy” talks about the importance of cancel culture as it has created the leveled playing field for everyones opinions to be expressed, specifically without support from the government. It also explains that those who are opposed to cancel culture are the ones who have benefited from its absence.
“ The America that tolerated white supremacy in their policies and laws is the same country that wants to remind us how such forms of hate are still legal via free speech. Cancel culture is the poison to those in power that have benefited from unchecked free speech.”
“It’s not the fault of the general public that society’s more progressive than in previous decades. In fact, that should be the goal of a democracy.”

“Cancel Culture Is Chaotic Good” recognizes both the negative and the positive aspects of cancel culture. Despite this, the article highlights the impact cancel culture has made on injustices that would’ve otherwise been dismissed.
“Though we tend to focus on the negative of cancelling, we forget that there may be a good side—not just praise or approval, but the fact that injustices that were once allowed to thrive can now be revealed and acted upon by a group, and that group is made all the stronger by doing so.”
“So while it can be problematic, certainly very messy, and even judgmental, it’s cancel culture that also gives power to minority groups that historically have not had the luxury of speaking out. We need to understand that it can be powerfully misused, but can also shine a light on severe injustices that have been accepted for so long.”

“Cancel Culture Is Good For The Country” is an interview with author Ernest Owens, who wrote the book The Case For Cancel Culture. This interview addresses popular questions regarding cancel culture such as what is considered cancel culture and what is the purpose of cancel culture. Ms. Owens speaks about her understandings of cancel culture as well as what cancel culture means to society.
“And then it hit me that people in power hate cancel culture because it’s forcing to hold themselves accountable.”
“Cancel culture, in my definition, is when we decide to cancel a person place, the thing that we feel is detrimental to our way of life.”
“It’s something that is bigger than yourself. It’s something that speaks to your morals, to your way of life, to your livelihood. In some cases, there are there are people who cancel for reasons that us personally may not agree with. But the mere act of canceling is a tool.”

“The Decline of Freedom of Expression and Social Vulnerability in Western Democracy” is highlighting the importance of freedom of expression. This article comments on the state of Americas democracy and the effects that self censorship have caused.
“[US] writers are not only overwhelmingly worried about government surveillance, but are engaging in self-censorship as a result”
“Karen Stenner argues that those who want to impose their own way of seeing reality do not tolerate complexity, nor do they wish to understand that certain events are rooted in a variety of factors.”

“Fear of cancel culture is driving employers off social media - and stunting DEI efforts” goes in depth about the impact that cancel culture has caused in the workplace. Specifically how cancel culture has created an unforgiving work environment that does not allow for mistakes.
“If someone makes a mistake, there's [a lot of] shaming and blaming that goes on publicly on social media,” she says. “It doesn't produce discussion, it doesn't provide an opportunity for people to learn.”
“ “[Companies] are sometimes afraid to speak up or make mistakes because they don't want to be humiliated,” Caldwell says.”

“A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” covers the importance of discussion in a democracy. This letter urges people to engage in disagreement and argument, as it will strengthen democracy and our knowlage.
“The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away.”
“The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.”