For added context, here's the archived letter (hosted by Harper's) being referenced by Shadi Hamid (a Brookings Institute fellow and "Senior Contributor" to The Atlantic).
In addition to said letter having signatories that's all over the place politically (including Atwood, Chomsky and Cathy Young in the same list), Hamid continues:
This has been the golden age of furtive text messages and private group chats. Over the past month, I've gotten hundreds of messages from people (PoC and white alike) about how they're quite consciously suppressing their opinions and ideas in public
If you're unimpeachably woke, then by definition you won't see "cancel culture" as a big deal, because, in this particular instance, you're on the right side of cultural power. As my woke friends will often point out, this has always at least partly been about power
Of course, the catch is that no one is—or can be—unimpeachably woke. The creed is always changing and "progressing," so by definition it needs to eat its own at regular intervals. That's also how you maintain and enforce in-group solidarity
It's the less financially and professionally secure who will be affected most by this chill on speech. If you're a young, aspiring journalist or academic, you—especially if you're white—have no incentive to say things that would've been considered normal and boring two years ago
I suspect that this is precisely the point though: From a wokeist perspective, the chill on speech isn't a bug but a feature
From what I could glean, Hamid himself (along with Harper's) has been targeted by those same mobs, and has realized that those pushing "cancel culture" or "woke" BS are a threat to themselves and everyone else.
At minimum, it's a very clear case of self-awareness, especially among those from the Leftist intelligentsia, that they too would pay the price for "woke" BS, and that stifling free speech would also backfire on them.
Some of the leftist academics are finally realizing that they will be lynched by their own students if things keep going the way they are. They've realised that the purity spiral they set spinning might violently throw them out.
TBH I don't see how this can really backfire. It seems like the worst case scenario is that nothing changes, so this seems like a solid development for free speech.
I mean you have the classic response of "debate doesn't work cause people debate in bad faith" and some signatories back pedalling but I think this letter is a potential truth bomb for a lot of people.
They'll get no sympathy from me. The warnings of "cancel culture" by those on the right were ignored for years. No one ever lost a job for publicly expressing a left leaning opinion. It's only now, where the natural conclusion of their virtue signaling ideology has worked against them, that they believe it's a problem. They made this poison, it's only fair they take a few spoonfuls along with the rest of us.
Not to mention, the insincerity of the pushback is thinly veiled in the underlying letter:
The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength throughout the world and have a powerful ally in Donald Trump, who represents a real threat to democracy.
This isn't about protecting free speech and free thought. This is about realizing that they overplayed their hand, with conservatism on the rise globally. It's about taking back control of the power they're losing.
Frankly, it's a scary state of affairs. In America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, countless people feel scared and not free to speak their minds. And it's mainly due to how converged online communication is filtered through a select few platforms: primarily Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
If you dare have the "wrong" opinion about a controversial subject (hint: it's called "controversial" because there isn't a unanimous opinion), the woke mob will try their damnedest to find where you live, where you work, and try to destroy you in every way short of outright killing you.
The only people truly free from this fear are the super rich like Notch, Elon Musk, and JK Rowling. They don't really have to worry about the Twitter mob because there's nothing they can do to hurt these people. Maybe it's because they realize that, at the end of the day, Twitter does not reflect the real world. Notch is set for life from the Microsoft buyout, Tesla cars are still gonna sell, and whatever book Rowling writes next will sell like crazy (or the licensing fees from Harry Potter movies/games/etc keep rolling in).
I don't even like Rowling, but I'm glad to see she isn't giving in to the vitriol constantly lobbed at her from people who may finally read another book.
As the woke purity test gets harder and harsher, more and more people are going to check out from it as the movement's cannibalism continues. However, I feel it'll get worse before it gets better. More people are going to lose their jobs because of a tweet they said 10 years ago, or whatever. More people are going to be pressured into suicide. I just wonder how long it'll take before companies realize they need to ignore the Twitter mob, too.
I just hope things don't get too much worse for society...
For added context, here's the archived letter (hosted by Harper's) being referenced by Shadi Hamid (a Brookings Institute fellow and "Senior Contributor" to The Atlantic).
In addition to said letter having signatories that's all over the place politically (including Atwood, Chomsky and Cathy Young in the same list), Hamid continues:
From what I could glean, Hamid himself (along with Harper's) has been targeted by those same mobs, and has realized that those pushing "cancel culture" or "woke" BS are a threat to themselves and everyone else.
At minimum, it's a very clear case of self-awareness, especially among those from the Leftist intelligentsia, that they too would pay the price for "woke" BS, and that stifling free speech would also backfire on them.
EDIT: Polishing
Some of the leftist academics are finally realizing that they will be lynched by their own students if things keep going the way they are. They've realised that the purity spiral they set spinning might violently throw them out.
TBH I don't see how this can really backfire. It seems like the worst case scenario is that nothing changes, so this seems like a solid development for free speech. I mean you have the classic response of "debate doesn't work cause people debate in bad faith" and some signatories back pedalling but I think this letter is a potential truth bomb for a lot of people.
There's a multitude of ways. Guilt by association. You know, if you agree with someone that free speech is important, you basically are that guy now.
Also: Didn't some already critizice the letter because some of the signatures were from people they disagree with?
They'll get no sympathy from me. The warnings of "cancel culture" by those on the right were ignored for years. No one ever lost a job for publicly expressing a left leaning opinion. It's only now, where the natural conclusion of their virtue signaling ideology has worked against them, that they believe it's a problem. They made this poison, it's only fair they take a few spoonfuls along with the rest of us.
Not to mention, the insincerity of the pushback is thinly veiled in the underlying letter:
This isn't about protecting free speech and free thought. This is about realizing that they overplayed their hand, with conservatism on the rise globally. It's about taking back control of the power they're losing.
Frankly, it's a scary state of affairs. In America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, countless people feel scared and not free to speak their minds. And it's mainly due to how converged online communication is filtered through a select few platforms: primarily Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
If you dare have the "wrong" opinion about a controversial subject (hint: it's called "controversial" because there isn't a unanimous opinion), the woke mob will try their damnedest to find where you live, where you work, and try to destroy you in every way short of outright killing you.
The only people truly free from this fear are the super rich like Notch, Elon Musk, and JK Rowling. They don't really have to worry about the Twitter mob because there's nothing they can do to hurt these people. Maybe it's because they realize that, at the end of the day, Twitter does not reflect the real world. Notch is set for life from the Microsoft buyout, Tesla cars are still gonna sell, and whatever book Rowling writes next will sell like crazy (or the licensing fees from Harry Potter movies/games/etc keep rolling in).
I don't even like Rowling, but I'm glad to see she isn't giving in to the vitriol constantly lobbed at her from people who may finally read another book.
As the woke purity test gets harder and harsher, more and more people are going to check out from it as the movement's cannibalism continues. However, I feel it'll get worse before it gets better. More people are going to lose their jobs because of a tweet they said 10 years ago, or whatever. More people are going to be pressured into suicide. I just wonder how long it'll take before companies realize they need to ignore the Twitter mob, too.
I just hope things don't get too much worse for society...
A certain name (GS) has been dropped from the list.
I wonder why.
Atwood is scum.
Welcome to the party?