Alfred Dawes | Time to cancel the cancel culture

With Elon Musk taking over Twitter, we are now entering a period of uncertainty with respect to the cancel culture that has dominated the first two decades of the 21st century. Cancel culture thrives on Twitter, where the virtue signallers and moral busybodies feed off the energies stoked by the liberal moderation team. The castration of free speech on the platform is framed as a necessary pushback against, racist, misogynistic, hate speech from the right wing. What it has evolved into is actually a silencing of opposing voices of whatever agenda dominates the groupthink.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon where the desire for cohesiveness and conformity results in members reaching a consensus without critical evaluation of facts. Members want to fit in and to be on the correct side of what they perceive to be the ideal conclusion, even if it is illogical. Facts do not get in the way of the mob as they have already surrendered reason to the conclusion already reached. This even as they confabulate thoughts that led them to that opinion. Groupthink occurs with both the right and the left, but the censorship and cancelling on social media and in mainstream media is controlled by the left.

The cancel culture is the infestation of civilisation by the thinking that people ought to be destroyed if they have ever said or done anything that can be considered offensive to any group. About to get famous? Go and clean up your timeline before someone finds an inappropriate joke or picture. We know which groups we ought not to offend. We have also seen the consequences where apologies were never heartfelt enough or deserving of a second chance. Many deserved their punishments for their heinous activities, yet there are so many more who simply made genuine mistakes that should not have had to cost them their livelihoods. What is most unjust about cancelling is that we are programmed into accepting who can be cancelled. Some are cancelled for far less than what is swept under the carpet for others.

NOT A CONSPIRACY

It is not a conspiracy. One does not need a secret society when there are enough with vested interests in a particular outcome, to ensure that the minions who want to virtue signal and fit in with a cause will dedicate their thumbs to that end. All one needs to do is to programme them. Mainstream media and big tech wield tremendous influence over what we are exposed to, and the angles from which they are presented. The talking points surrounding a particular issue are repeated across different news outlets often enough until they become the truth. Associating a particular person or event with words that emote a negative emotional reaction can make us hate without knowing.

A dictator means they are evil, with images of military outfits and suppression of political dissidents immediately conjured. Insurgents are terrorists fighting Western armies invading their countries. On the other hand, the brave Ukrainian civilians taking up arms to defend their homeland would never be labelled insurgents. Their heads just aren’t wrapped up enough. Gaddafi was a brutal dictator and his forces had to be destroyed in order to protect the lives of peaceful protesters. Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction identified by those who beat the drums of war. The list goes on.

The programming of our perception of events is easily accomplished through mainstream media. With the rise of social media, the thought was that everyone would be given a platform. This has been the case except in situations where groupthink has decided that a particular narrative is the correct and morally upright one, and all dissenting views must be silenced. Nowhere was this seen more than during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was decided that vaccines were the only way out of the pandemic. Those who did not believe in taking the vaccines were vilified as morons putting everyone else at risk, and the reason why we could not get back to normal. Even those who advocated for the vaccines, but stopped short of supporting mandates or condemning antivaxxers, were given the cold shoulder.

LAUGHED OUT

God forbid one would promote “dangerous and unproven remedies” as early treatment options; they were laughed out of the virtual rooms with their “horse dewormers”. Flagging opinions, questions and even scientific studies as false information by the larger platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, led to nonconformists being silenced. Many were banned for raising legitimate concerns that are only now being confirmed as real issues with the vaccines and early treatment options. Even doctors lost their jobs for spreading “misinformation”. It was never debated what constituted misinformation, that designation was handed down to the Cancel Committee.

Groupthink continues in the way we view the causes of the current war in Ukraine. It explains why you can get cancelled for saying that children who do not have the emotional maturity to choose a career path should not be given the right to transition to another gender. The cancellers believe in their invincibility, their ability to destroy anyone. They are more morally upright than the outgroups who disagree or are quiet. Opponents are selfish, stupid or plain wicked, and in some instances need saving from themselves. If cancel culture is not reined in, then a singular belief system will be established as the only moral and practical solution. Those who create this belief system are far enough from the Twitter arguments to quietly succeed. This is why Musk must restore balance to the Twitterverse, even with a snap.

- Dr Alfred Dawes is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and CEO of Windsor Wellness Centre. Follow him on Twitter @dr_aldawes. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and adawes@ilapmedical.com.