An interesting example of early cancel culture in the Radar Magazine click farm, stoking nuclear paranoia for clicks. Unfortunately, many other click farms still have stories up about this today.
Not early at all. The phenomenon always existed. "Cancel culture" is just a new name for an ancient thing.
Eg, before "Cancel culture" as a common term we had protests against Harry Potter, and before that against D&D, and before that against rock music (Elvis was scanalous!) and before that against witchcraft.
It's as old as humanity, and if anything we've gotten a bit more polite over it in modern times in that burning people at a stake is less of a thing.
As someone had my own fights decades ago, there seems to be difference though - at least in the second half of last century people fought against things and phenomenons, but not against people behind these. This was true even in Soviet Union - as dissidence we fought against system, corruption etc, but never against people directly in a way cancel culture does.
Revisionism. There always were people who were singled out and attacked for various reasons.
The very word "boycott" comes from the last name of Charles Boycott from the 19th century, who was not boycotted politely at all. In fact people working with him, including 12 year olds got death threats, and his property was systematically destroyed.
I don't know why there's this idea of that people were more civilized once upon a time, but I can't see any evidence of that ever being the case.
He also wasn't the first by any means, but for whatever reason his last name caught on as the word for what was done to him.
That's not what I meant. I'm fully aware of things done in history including "cancelling" whole nations. Things changed in Europe democracies after WWII though. The hate between various groups of people during and immediately after war was beyond belief for many and they really didn't want to see the result of this hate again.
That's why democracies in Europe have accepted rather extremist political movements after WWII. That's why the collapse of Soviet Union was relatively peaceful and people even serving actively communist dictatorship had all their rights to live their lives in new democratic states. If you commit a crime, you will be punished, but you will have a right to live your life even if your views are very different from mine. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen at all, but it hasn't been socially acceptable to cancel people.
I see it changing and I don't like it. I remember what happened during WWII and after that in my country.
Comments
Not early at all. The phenomenon always existed. "Cancel culture" is just a new name for an ancient thing.
Eg, before "Cancel culture" as a common term we had protests against Harry Potter, and before that against D&D, and before that against rock music (Elvis was scanalous!) and before that against witchcraft.
It's as old as humanity, and if anything we've gotten a bit more polite over it in modern times in that burning people at a stake is less of a thing.
It's basically a new term for shunning and shaming.
As someone had my own fights decades ago, there seems to be difference though - at least in the second half of last century people fought against things and phenomenons, but not against people behind these. This was true even in Soviet Union - as dissidence we fought against system, corruption etc, but never against people directly in a way cancel culture does.
Revisionism. There always were people who were singled out and attacked for various reasons.
The very word "boycott" comes from the last name of Charles Boycott from the 19th century, who was not boycotted politely at all. In fact people working with him, including 12 year olds got death threats, and his property was systematically destroyed.
I don't know why there's this idea of that people were more civilized once upon a time, but I can't see any evidence of that ever being the case.
He also wasn't the first by any means, but for whatever reason his last name caught on as the word for what was done to him.
That's not what I meant. I'm fully aware of things done in history including "cancelling" whole nations. Things changed in Europe democracies after WWII though. The hate between various groups of people during and immediately after war was beyond belief for many and they really didn't want to see the result of this hate again.
That's why democracies in Europe have accepted rather extremist political movements after WWII. That's why the collapse of Soviet Union was relatively peaceful and people even serving actively communist dictatorship had all their rights to live their lives in new democratic states. If you commit a crime, you will be punished, but you will have a right to live your life even if your views are very different from mine. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen at all, but it hasn't been socially acceptable to cancel people.
I see it changing and I don't like it. I remember what happened during WWII and after that in my country.