On Cancel Culture – it does not exist – it is called accountability.

On Cancel Culture. It does not exist – it’s called accountability. 

If you are one of those jerks who feels that being a racist and/or being an idiot, like self-proclaimed contrarians, is okay – well then, you do have a right to say what you want.  But you also should be prepared for being held accountable for what you’ve said. If you create a toxic work place, for example, you should be fired. It is simple, really. Of course it is imperfect, but the rule is very simple – treat people properly, with respect (dare I say, even kindness). You don’t have to be a dick. 

Accountability is largely absent within our society – injustices occur daily and we are at an inflection point where justice appears to be on the verge of total collapse. Case in point, all of Trump’s felon associates – most of whom have escaped genuine justice. The most notable is Trump himself, who has never been held accountable in his life. Multiple bankruptcies, lots of money received from the Feds, Trump is a real piece of the work who represents the worst of America and capitalism…

Let’s take a look at recently released animal rights activist Walter Bond who served 10 years for property damage. “I was arrested in 2010 for a string of arsons spanning Colorado and Utah which I did commit under the moniker ALF (Animal Liberation Front) ‘Lone Wolf’… I have never been allowed a visit in all my time in prison.” Shocking really, 10 years for property damage! (http://supportwalter.org)

Now let us take a look at a couple of other cases – Roger Stone was found guilty of seven felonies, including witness tampering and lying to federal investigators. His punishment was a paltry 40 months, the prosecutors assigned to the case sought 7-9 years, but even this light sentence was commuted by his beneficiaries and fellow crooks, Donald Trump and William Barr. Stone is also friendly with the Proud Boys and seemingly loves Putin, a conspiracy theorist and probably a racist. Never mind his crimes or lack of any moral compass - no justice here. But 10 years for Walter Bond for doing right by animals, motivated by his moral beliefs.

I’m not beating up on the morally-bankrupt Republican Toxic Party only – we can also find an example of failure to hold the powerful accountable in looking at Diane Feinstein, supposedly a Democrat and senator from California. Billions of dollars were awarded to her husband, Richard Blum (Perini Corp, URS), in military appropriations in an apparent conflict of interest by the sub-committee she served on for years and sometimes headed. 

During Feinstein’s service as a member of the United States Senate’s Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON), as reported by Peter Byrne and covered in Businesswire:

• From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein’s knowledge, her husband’s group held a majority interest in two defense contractors active in Iraq and U.S. military bases.

• While setting MILCON agendas, Feinstein supervised her own staff of military construction experts and lobbied Pentagon officials in public hearings.

• From 2001 to 2005, URS earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by MILCON; Perini secured $759 million from MILCON projects.

SF Gate reported on federal contracts worth potentially billions awarded to Blum’s company – in just the period of February through April 2003 - for troop mobilization, weapons systems training, and anti-terrorism efforts.

And so what happened when these unchecked conflicts of interest of committee member Feinstein were revealed? Not too much. Never mind her recent stock sales – after Congress was briefed but ahead of the American public being informed of the full extent anticipated from the arrival of Covid19 to the U.S. Again, no justice. Instead, Feinstein continues to wield power to the detriment of American citizens (including sponsoring the 2005 Patriot Act and the 2007 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, the basis for Bond’s ten-year sentence). 

Former opinionist Barri Weiss recently made a stink as she left her position with the NY Times, publishing a carefully-written resignation letter that described feeling bullied by left-wing colleagues and perceived restrictions on her right to free speech. The resignation letter she posted did not reference her own long-term attacks on viewpoints she disagreed with. In 2018, Glenn Greenwald wrote in The Intercept:

I’ve watched as Weiss has become celebrated in right-wing circles as some sort of paragon of free expression and academic freedom, and mourned by centrists as the tragic victim of online PC mob silencing campaigns (imagine being a columnist and editor at the New York Times — with full access to the most influential media platform in the world — and seeing yourself as the victim of silencing and censorship), even though her entire career is grounded in precisely the viewpoint suppression, vilification, and censorship campaigns she now depicts herself as loathing.

Never mind the rest of her ilk – the propagandists employed by Fox Fake News like Hannity and Carlson. If there is a cancel culture, how could they still be on the air?

A group of distinguished writers and scholars recently lamented the stifling of free speech (https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ ). Some of the signatories are notably guilty of their own suppression of opposing viewpoints – yet they have the luxury of doing so from their privileged position as established writers.  Ironic. It’s as if they view the audacity of criticizing their arguments as an attack on society at large.  While the internet has enabled too many trolls, to paint a broad brush against all critics of your values and arguments as a threat “cancelling” you, is disingenuous at best. 

How to debate when the other party does not care to engage in good faith? If no matter how much talking is done – at every turn they don’t care, dispute facts. and deny science (for example), and will never yield? What then is the point? We are not talking about international relations – we are talking about American discourse or the lack thereof. How do you debate a fanatic?

Accountability of those in power is the most important tool in a democracy (and Republics, for those seeing the USA as such). We need to hold people, especially those in positions of influence, accountable for what they say and advocate. That is the only way to actually ensure freedom of speech and debate and Justice.

No Justice – No Peace. 

PS On the other hand, Norman Finkelstein did get academically destroyed by Jeffrey Epstein’s defense attorney Alan Dershowitz after Norman exposed plagiarism in Dershowitz’s book The Case for Israel - there is a lot of stink coming out of Harvard - see this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dershowitz–Finkelstein_affair . So some good people do get the ax because they have integrity - let’s not forget them during this hysteria brought forth by the right-wing extremists. But that’s another story.