Cancel culture has taken over the online political right. They are destroying themselves.
Cancel culture has taken over the online political right. They are destroying themselves.
You cannot rely on them to save you. They can't even save themselves.
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Dear conservatives: We need to have an important conversation.
You are going to lose because of your influencers. And only you can force them to change.
I was a Democrat for 20 years and never questioned my political tribe…until cancel culture took over my knitting community.
I watched businesses be destroyed, people turn into shells of their former selves, and one man was admitted to the hospital on suicide watch.
I wrote an essay about my experiences that launched me into the public spotlight, going viral with over 4 million views before I was deplatformed by Medium last year for writing that pedophiles shouldn’t be kindergarten teachers (seriously). I’ve since republished the essay on The Red Pill Diaries.
I left the political left because I knew that my values didn’t align with theirs any longer. As they say, my party left me.
But over the past two years, I’ve watched the political right turn into the monster it claimed to be fighting. I’ve come to the unequivocal conclusion that the loudest voices in the online political right cannot be trusted any longer because they are no better than the woke left. They are just a different brand of authoritarian.
I abhor cancel culture.
There is nothing noble about you getting up every day with the goal of destroying another human being. There is nothing commendable about being a part of a mob. There is nothing stunning or brave about a witch hunt.
When I watched the political right start engaging in cancel culture after Joe Biden got into office, I thought I was hallucinating. Just months prior, this is the tribe that claimed they were the champions of diversity of thought, free speech, and individual liberties. All of a sudden they were canceling Chrissy Teigen for something she did years prior, spending 14 straight days complaining about Jill Biden using “Dr.” in front of her name, telling everyone who was LGBT to get out of their party, telling everyone who was a libertarian to get out of their party, etc. All these things happened, each frenzy building upon the last until we’ve now reached a point where we are on the brink of a moral majority part two on the political right.
For anyone that grew up during the 80s and the 90s, you remember the “satanic panic.” The satanic panic is what lost the political right the culture war over 20 years ago. Get ready…because it’s back.
And not only are influencers on the conservative right enforcing their authoritarian purity test on all of society who doesn’t want it, but they’re also turning on each other.
In the last month, the conservative online right has canceled Steven Crowder for telling the truth about the Daily Wire’s business practices, they canceled Maj Toure for saying that Matt Walsh shouldn’t call black children animals (Maj is right) and now they’ve canceled Eliza Bleu with a nonsense story that they’ve invented because they were all pissed off that she got attention from Elon Musk when they did not.
One by one, the conservative right is canceling the people who are trying to help them and build real efforts in the real world. And they really seem to target anyone who is having success in the world that they are not.
Steven Crowder exposes conservative inc at The Daily Wire for exploiting their creators? He’s full of himself, a liar, a schemer, and a betrayer.
Maj Toure wants to empower the black community? He’s a racist.
Eliza Bleu wants to help victims of human trafficking? She’s a whore.
Remember when Taylor Lorenz did the Washington Post expose on Libs of Tik Tok specifically to dox the owner of the account to silence her?
How is this different from online right’s favorite “journalism” outfit The Post Millennial joining the cancel mob, with their editor publishing this piece yesterday with the specific purpose of getting Eliza Bleu either canceled from this event or harassed at this event:
The above article is not news. An activist moderating a panel at a small event that will maybe have a few hundred people at it is not news. So, why is it being covered as though it is? Because Libby Emmons wants her canceled, no other reason.
Even with my own work I’m quite literally ripped apart every day by people who are doing absolutely nothing. I had a typo in an image of one of my articles yesterday (apologies, I’ve never been the best copy editor) that was fixed within an hour, and here’s how I was thanked by people who claim to be “anti-woke”:
People wonder why more people don’t leave the Democratic Party even though it’s objectively insane. But what incentive do they have when the political right is no better?
These people look like lunatics to anyone who legitimately cares about speech, the free exchange of ideas and creating a better world.
There is no reason for anyone to leave the political left because the political right is showing their ass every single day for the world to see. How on earth do they believe they are more appealing?
Instead of canceling, create something better.
It is no coincidence that these are the people being targeted by the online right, because those who have nothing to give the world often have a great deal of incentive to destroy the people who are capable of making real change.
In my book Actively Unwoke: The Ultimate Guide for Fighting Back Against Woke Insanity In Your Life, I argue that there are two types of people in the world: Creators and Destroyers.
Creators are people who give value to the world.
They are more likely to take personal responsibility for the things they experience in life and appreciate opportunities, tending to do a better job of taking advantage of them when they are presented.
Creators believe in themselves and what they are able to contribute, which is why they are more likely to create things that are of value.
That’s not to say creators can’t have bad days—they can. But, generally speaking, they focus their energy on building things up rather than tearing them down.
Destroyers are just the opposite.
The thing about destroyers is that they don’t think much of themselves.
The value we give to the world reflects how we feel about ourselves—if you don’t have high self-worth, why would you believe that you have anything to contribute to the world?
Instead of seeking validation internally, they look to others to define their value in the world.
And when they don’t receive what they are seeking, they tend to focus their energy on destroying the work of others rather than creating something of their own.
The online political right are destroyers. And that’s why they will never win.
When you can’t (or refuse to) create and build something of value to give the world, it is almost inevitable that you will default to destruction instead.
The reason that the conservative influencers are resorting to cancel culture is that they are absolutely incapable and unwilling to create anything positive to counteract what the woke left is doing.
The woke left is more dangerous than the woke right, but that’s only because they currently have power.
If you don’t like the way your influencers are behaving, you have to use your voice and TELL THEM. Influencers follow the audience. They listen to you, even if you are just a small account.
And if you refuse to speak up, or if you jump into the mob yourself, then don’t be surprised when there is no one left to fight for you after you destroy everyone who was.
What do you think?
Do you think the political right is behaving badly? Why or why not? Leave a comment and let me know! And please share this with your friends and family who need to learn this information.
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I think you have a point. Canceling, doxing, destroying are not privileged tactics of the left, only those who have run out of other ideas. The left did take it to new heights because of their domination of media and tech, but as the pendulum starts to swing I expect you are correct in saying the right will use the very same garbage maneuvers to attack their adversaries.
I wish we could sit down and have a long conversation. I have read more closely your thoughts over the last month. I had backed away for a bit when you were in the middle of getting cancelled because it all seemed petty. But today I find you very very fair, honest and wise. The "far right" saddens me as someone who leans a tiny bit more left than them. As a psychologist myself, I loved your piece on O'Keefe. The far right can't see the forest for the trees and end up fighting wind mills at times. They will shoot their wounded and eat their own (e.g., hating on the "He Gets Us" adds because, you know, Jesus wasn't a refugee.) When will we realize we all have a place at the table?