Here I go, wading once again into the culture wars like an idiot. But still, this kind of stuff can affect us writers. What I'm talking about is the current Cancel Culture.
For those who don't know, Cancel Culture is when we find something - anything - objectionable someone has done in his or her past, and we insist that, based on that past, the person should be excluded from polite society. The most recent example was that of Carson King in Iowa. For those who don't know, Mr. King is a 24-year old Iowa man who held up a sign at a college football game asking for beer money as a joke. Playing along with that joke, lots of people sent him money, and he soon found himself with over $1 million.
Now, if I had that kind of money, I'd pay off my car, put some money away for my kids' college, and pay off my mortgage. I might give a little to charity to assuage my conscience, but I am almost certain I wouldn't do what King did, which was to give everything to a childrens' hospital. That in itself made me know he's a better man than I.
Unfortunately, better people are not allowed, so enterprising reporters from the Des Moines Register dug into his past and found tweets he made that were racially insensitive...from eight friggin' years ago when he was 16. King was not a public figure running for office or someone known for his donations - he is a regular schmoe who gave lots of money to a childrens' hospital that treats kids with cancer. Then scumbags in the media decided he had to be destroyed for that. Luckily people fought back against that kind of stupidity, and King will be just fine.
So what was the point of that tirade? That we all have likely said or done really stupid stuff in our past, especially when we were teenagers. I'm grateful there was no Twitter or Facebook when I was 15 or 16, and I'll bet a lot of us feel the same way. Teenage years are for being dumb. You do dumb stuff, learn from it, and grow and mature. As people who live publicly, writers say all kinds of wacky stuff. Do we really want folks looking into us to determine if we've strayed from societal orthodoxy, especially when we were young and stupid?
How about we enjoy what we do now, mmmkay? Yes, adults who do stupid stuff in the moment should be called out, but even then, unless it's totally egregious, shouldn't we be willing to forgive those who say or do dumb stuff and realize their mistake? Be careful of what you want to cancel, for tomorrow, you may find yourself in the crosshairs.
For those who don't know, Cancel Culture is when we find something - anything - objectionable someone has done in his or her past, and we insist that, based on that past, the person should be excluded from polite society. The most recent example was that of Carson King in Iowa. For those who don't know, Mr. King is a 24-year old Iowa man who held up a sign at a college football game asking for beer money as a joke. Playing along with that joke, lots of people sent him money, and he soon found himself with over $1 million.
Now, if I had that kind of money, I'd pay off my car, put some money away for my kids' college, and pay off my mortgage. I might give a little to charity to assuage my conscience, but I am almost certain I wouldn't do what King did, which was to give everything to a childrens' hospital. That in itself made me know he's a better man than I.
Unfortunately, better people are not allowed, so enterprising reporters from the Des Moines Register dug into his past and found tweets he made that were racially insensitive...from eight friggin' years ago when he was 16. King was not a public figure running for office or someone known for his donations - he is a regular schmoe who gave lots of money to a childrens' hospital that treats kids with cancer. Then scumbags in the media decided he had to be destroyed for that. Luckily people fought back against that kind of stupidity, and King will be just fine.
So what was the point of that tirade? That we all have likely said or done really stupid stuff in our past, especially when we were teenagers. I'm grateful there was no Twitter or Facebook when I was 15 or 16, and I'll bet a lot of us feel the same way. Teenage years are for being dumb. You do dumb stuff, learn from it, and grow and mature. As people who live publicly, writers say all kinds of wacky stuff. Do we really want folks looking into us to determine if we've strayed from societal orthodoxy, especially when we were young and stupid?
How about we enjoy what we do now, mmmkay? Yes, adults who do stupid stuff in the moment should be called out, but even then, unless it's totally egregious, shouldn't we be willing to forgive those who say or do dumb stuff and realize their mistake? Be careful of what you want to cancel, for tomorrow, you may find yourself in the crosshairs.
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