Tuesday, November 19, 2019

A modern day quiet cultural revolution - Part 2

Cancel culture was a top news story over the past week. Former hockey coach and commentator Don Cherry was fired by Rogers/SportsNet. Cherry misspoke and refused to apologize for his comments during Coach’s Corner, comments that were not really out of character for him. Complaints against Cherry were so numerous that they overwhelmed the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council website and phone lines. Rogers/SportsNet, a private company trying to make a profit, acted to protect its brand, and Cherry did the same. I doubt this incident would have raised the same kind of furor had it happened in previous years. Don Cherry has done a great deal for veterans, soldiers, and Canadians in general, and does not deserve the treatment he has received. For me the whole thing is unfortunate, but evidence that a cultural shift has happened. 

The photo (top left) is more evidence of the “feardom” that has replaced freedom of speech even amongst journalists. Rotten Tomatoes rating of Dave Chappelle’s latest NETFLIX Special speaks volumes about what is politically correct these days. Why the wide discrepancy between the critics score and the audience? Well, if you watch the special, Chappelle has a segment early on that pokes fun of the letters “L G B T” and especially the “T’s.” Apparently the critics didn’t see the humour, the audience however, disagrees. Trust me, the comedy is riotously funny, but Chappelle seems to have crossed some invisible line in the eyes of the critics. None of the scores for his other specials have such widespread disagreement between the critics and the audience. Chappelle hasn’t changed over the years, he has always been controversial, but the environment has shifted under him. 

So what are we to make of this cultural shift? Important things have changed. People are afraid to speak to certain issues compared to the recent past. Our thoughts and words are now policed for fear of offending someone or some group. Offensive speech or ideas are now said to “trigger” those who are offended. An ironic choice of terms taken from gun culture. There is a suppression of disagreement, a lack of serious debate on many issues. There is even legislation in Canada (Bill C16) that prescribes which words can be used in general discourse. At the same time there is a genuine hunger for dissent. Witness the sudden rise in popularity of Jordan Peterson because he represented someone that could articulate arguments that are counter cultural. He rose to prominence because he disagreed with the C16 legislation around pronoun usage for people claiming to be transgendered

Serious discussion or disagreement for many issues has now been effectively outlawed, a very bad precedent has been set. 

In addition the cultural shift is anti-national, that is, it diminishes the principles and values that makes Canada and Western societies desirable places compared to many other places. It implies we are no better than they are. It stems from the idea that Western values like rule of law, individual rights, free markets etc. are in no way superior to non-Western or third world nations. Clearly that's not true. Canada and Western societies in general still attract droves of immigrants from non-Western nations, simply because our way of life is superior in many ways and the immigrants know it.

Worse still, the cultural shift embraces "identity politics" as mentioned in my previous post. So your skin colour, gender, ethnic origin, religion etc., automatically puts you into a group with similar "identities," and therefore you are assumed to act with your group and its characteristics. I know that's crazy, but that's what is happening. For example, the idea of "white privilege" is a quality in one's identity if you are white, and is bestowed on anyone that is white and well-off in Western society. I've been told I have white privilege by someone who had no idea who I was, nor what has happened in my life and has not defined adequately just what that means in my case. Its assumed, and its nuts. 

Its high time that we push back against this cultural shift. We need to speak out when we recognize how the negative aspects of the new culture are impacting each of us. My blog and my other social media outlets is how I will push back. How will you help? 

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