We are now beginning to hear the other side of a much-needed debate advocating for the need for robust and open debate. Too many careers have already been threatened or ended by a misstep or two on an invisible ever-changing minefield containing far too many untethered and unsustainable ideas. And whatever happened to do unto others? Here is the final paragraph of the Harper’s Letter signed by numerous artists, thinkers and writers who fear for the future. The document is titled: “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate”:
This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away. We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other. As writers we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we won’t defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn’t expect the public or the state to defend it for us.
It has become politically incorrect to state your position unless that position agrees with the protesters. They are doing the very thing they are protesting about. Silencing any that disagree. If you say or do anything that is not part of the masses you fear retaliation. The country is more polarized now than we were prior to the civil war.
So specifically who is and who is not allowed to complain about someone for doing or saying something they find offensive?
Who is and who is not allowed to ask that someone be fired for doing or saying something they find offensive?
What should the sanction be against someone “incorrectly” doing either of the above? And who decides when it has been done incorrectly?
Which offenses are and which are not complaint-worthy and which are and which are not firing offenses? There is clearly a line, but where is it exactly?
Any “cancellation” advocacy by an individual is clearly free speech, but the actual firing of someone in response seems to be THE issue. So, therefore, please elucidate when an employer is and is not allowed to fire an employee for their perceived offensive action or statement. Won’t an employer do what is in their best interest (firing or retaining an employee), and who decides when the employer has acted wrongly and what should the penalty be?
Or if none of these questions have answers, what’s the point of the finger-wagging? And why now? People have been ousted for saying and doing offensive things for as long as I can remember. Did the “wrong” person or people get fired recently?
Thanks for any clarification.
Michael: Assume that I didn’t like your comment (even though I do). Would you see any difference in moral repulsiveness between these two possible actions: A) I vigorously or maybe even angrily reply to your comment on the same social media outlet where I found it, or B) I gather together my closest 2,000 friends and start a mass emailing campaign at your place of employment, arguing that they should fire you (for being “insensitive” or worse), or else we will expand the campaign to smear your employer? Let’s assume that your employer doesn’t want trouble and you are an employee at will. And let’s assume that your opinion had nothing to do with your personal employment. Your thoughts?
This Tweet from James Lindsay illustrates what is often going on instead of engaging in meaningful discussion. Here’s how the “discussion” proceeds.
These tumultuous times are making for some strange bedfellows. In this article, the National Review is lending its voice in support of its long time gadfly Matthew Yglesias, who is taking fire from the Woke brigade as a result of signing the Harper’s Letter. https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/its-come-to-this-we-must-defend-matt-yglesias/?fbclid=IwAR1eBhLrfsb8SK0QfYE38I9UXdzhjmBhDjC1y75hWq5TO8guvRvlGzwhktU
Jesse Singal at Reason, commenting on The Harper’s Letter:
“Because the American left is basically a war zone at the moment—or online it is, at least—what happened next shouldn’t surprise anyone: A group of us posted the letter and celebrated it, while another much angrier group denounced it and held it up as proof of…well, whatever it is they hate about us and want to get us fired over (this crowd likes calling the manager). Now, it shouldn’t have surprised me—I have been through multiple rounds of this stuff—but I have to admit it did.
One such reaction came from Parker Molloy, a staffer at the left-leaning Media Matters, who insisted, of a letter that includes Rushdie and Kasparov, “not a single one of them have been censored anytime in recent history.””
https://reason.com/2020/07/08/the-reaction-to-the-harpers-letter-on-cancel-culture-proves-why-it-was-necessary/