The cancel culture club

Make no mistake about it, the religion of America is Free Market Capitalism. The first commandment of that religion is ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before the Almighty Dollar!’ At the end of the day, when forced to choose between an exclusive club membership and the love of the income stream provided by the worship of the Almighty Dollar, most will choose the latter as more often than not the sooner depends upon it!

The second commandment of that vaunted national religion is, “Thou shalt reserve the right to do business with whom thou chooses.” Most places it is written as “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” The U.S. Constitution and its First Amendment have no place in governing the consumer-driven private sector Free Market. This often comes as a shocking suprise to many. The “freedom of speech” argument is usually the fall-back position of many who for years used the free market rules to exclude from their midst anyone of whom they did not approve. Many are aghast when they realize they are for once on the wrong end of it.

There is a downside to being a member of a political party or movement that requires outrage and indignation as its primary fuel source and propellant for its message. It has a tendency to endow its followers with an attitude fabricated from an unearned sense of entitlement and superiority. Along with that attitude is a sensitivity so fine that even the slightest criticism of their World or its order, regardless of merit or however miniscule, is taken personally and often to the extreme. In a some cases, the outrage is conjured up out of pure perception as in the case of the War on Christmas. In other instances, off-the-cuff comments or gestures by those perceived outside the market driven mainstream who may be seeking its access, extreme reaction is taken in response.

By far, the most difficult things to change are deeply enculturated values, norms and viewpoints. For most people, the acquisition and reinforcement of these began from the very moment they became aware of their immediate environment. Change of such things happens slowly at glacier speed if it happens at all. Slights against or attempts to make any changes considered radical to those long established values, norms and viewpoints are usually met with kneejerk visceral blowback. The term “radical” can be considered anything perceived to threaten erosion of that unearned entitlement or feeling of superiority. It doesn’t require a great deal of imagination to know how inflated a sense of indignation could be when a shocking realization is made. When it is understood that it was not policy implemented by a hostile administration but by other free market capitalists exercising their right to do as they please in an effort to improve their bottom line, the wailing and moaning and gnashing of teeth can become deafening. This has been seen multiple times over my lifetime be it members of an unpopular administration being denied service at five-star restaurants, fringe group advertising being declined by certain publications and social media platforms banning a lame duck President for spreading misinformation.

Over the past few years there has been steady traction gained by the movement to not destroy but remove Confederate monuments and statues from the public domain and place them in private venues such as museums as well as rename schools and military bases named for Confederates. This has been probably the largest success at changing long standing enculturation and has been met with commensurate criticism and indignation from the expected quarters. Regardless, a majority will likely agree that this is something that was long overdue. The issues leading to the late War Between the States were settled on the field of battle with a clear winner and loser. Many of those aforementioned monuments did not appear in public places until years after that conflict. The Confederate battle flag was not even widely displayed until it became the symbol of opposition to the Civil Rights Movement some eighty years after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

The latest faux outrage over two corporate entities making decisions to better serve their bottom line could not have been more overblown. When Hasbro degenderized their Potato game and Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced they were discontinuing certain of the late Doctor’s works for the purpose of respecting current racial sensitivities and cultural norms, the reaction by some would make you think that President Biden was standing by doing nothing while a lethal contagion was being allowed to spread throughout the nation unchecked.

Cancel culture can be a very loaded term and in a politically and culturally polarized environment it can be applied to any perception of expulsion, dismissal or ostracism. In reality it is only the modern nomenclature for a phenomenon that has gone on since Homo Sapiens divided themselves into tribes then kingdoms then nations. Anything that might threaten the integrity of the group will be challenged and at very least questioned. That is fine though. In a multicultural society that is America, accommodating the dignity of historically marginalized segments of the citizenry does not mean the majority becomes less dignified. That only happens if the majority perceives that it makes them less dignified and goes out of their way to exorbitant extremes to preserve an unacceptable status quo. When we hold up a mirror to our collective face, it is wonderful to see a reflection of the true composition that is our beloved United States. If economic pressure is brought to bear as a means to force change, it will happen. Given that America is all about the money, the power of the boycott is certainly fair game and an effective tool within the milieu of free market capitalism. At the end of the day, culture really and truly is a club. A more perfect Union requires inclusion of all. If some archaic and counterproductive parts of engrained culture requires cancelation in order to move us all forward, it is the price we pay for progress.