Society changes and ‘updates’ over time, it is just how it works. If you’ve got the latest update, there seems to be a downgrade in the system: freedom of speech is no longer a human right. Except it’s not the government who’s taking away this right, it’s the people. Instead of being thrown in prison, you get canceled. Side effects of being canceled: depression, cyberbullying, expulsion from the place of work and/or university. Side effects may vary with each victim. 

Cancel culture is the definition of hypocrisy and achieves nothing: the advocates of cancel culture say they use “canceling” as a method of social reform, though what successful social reform combats hate with hate?

Initially boycotting someone on social media is how it started, then it developed into death threats, cyberbullying, and doxing (exposing someone’s personal information such as home address and phone number). Doxing then resulted in sending letters/emails to the individual’s school, university, organization, and/or place of work with the intent to get the individual suspended or expelled. While this may sound unbelievable, this actually happens, people have been banned from universities and fired from their jobs because of mistakes they’ve made.

Here is a situation that went viral: a man and his girlfriend were using the N-slur in a Snapchat video (they were white) the public acknowledged their ignorance, and responded by getting them expelled from their university. Try to summarize that for a protest sign: “take the education away from the ignorant!” What this couple did was wrong, no one is denying that, but there are measures that can be taken to educate these individuals on the history of the N-word and why it cannot be said.

In real life, people are going to be mean, rude, xenophobic, or simply have different opinions but the difference is it impossible to dox someone’s grocery store cashier. At some point, society is going to have to relearn to just take a hit and let it go. As hard as it sounds, and as unfair as it may seem, it is just the way life is and people cannot keep expecting trigger warnings hanging as game handles on top of everyone’s heads.

Unrealistic standards of humans, influencers, and peers contribute to this as well. Social media doesn’t only feed unrealistic expectations when it comes to beauty standards and lifestyle- it also makes most members of society expect everyone to meet this perfect mold where they haven’t made a single mistake in their lifetime, and is the perfect amount of nice and ‘real’. Humans make mistakes, they originate from a mistake. What makes humans different from animals is the fact that they learn from mistakes, animals get eaten for their mistakes. 

Humans should be able to live in harmony. Let’s put differences aside and create diverse communities. So what if someone’s neighbor is too liberal or conservative? At the root of it, all humans are simply trying to make sense of the world, whether you are Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, or Atheist all humans bleed red, and they all have struggles. The rich struggle as much as the poor, the majority as much as the minority. Humans look at the same moon and wake up to the same sun. Let’s rip up these new terms and write a whole new one where all people are allowed to have differences in politics and still eat at the same table.