Political correctness, cancel culture, and Orwell's memory holes...

Volpone

Zombie Hunter
In Orwell's "1984," the protagonist had the important job of editing the past. If something was no longer appropriate he would go back and find any references to it and edit them out--down the memory hole. We're kind of there now. You can't have "The Dukes of Hazzard" or pretty much any Lynrd Skynrd or Alabama album cover because of the Confederate flag. Any statue of a historical figure from before around 1920 has to come down because they almost certainly did some thing or another that is no longer appropriate. Dire Straits' big 1980s hit--and the first music video to extensively use computer animation--"Money for Nothin'" had to be edited because one of the verses is about "the little faggot." So now there's a random additional instrumental solo in the official version of the song. Hell, for various reasons I was rewatching RoosterTeeth's "Red -vs- Blue" series and I realized somehow I'd missed the episode where Church is driving Sheila, the tank and can't figure out how to operate it. Sheila keeps telling him to "retard the throttle," retard this, retard that--with the joke being that it sounds like she's calling Church a retard. But you can't say "retard" in 2020--even though there are so, so many of them now--so they've edited it out. That bit of the video has been disappeared down the memory hole.

My point, I guess, is can't we all just be grown-ups? Whether we agree or not that future uses of the word "retard" or the Confederate flag are appropriate, just say "Y'know, things were different in 1979 or 2004. We didn't realize the Confederate flag and retard jokes were inappropriate." and just deal with it? Can't George Washington continue to be a great man even though he lived in a time where it was legal to own slaves--and an economic necessity for a farmer like himself? Can't we still laugh at Louis CK even though we know it isn't appropriate to just get your dick out in front of strange women?
 

The Question

Eternal
I don't see how they can keep sorted what's "no longer appropriate" -- or why it's the profoundly (hell proudly) mentally ill we're for some reason allowing to act as arbiters of what's appropriate and what isn't. Seriously, this is the set which includes people who think it's just swell to sit kids down in front of misogynistic clowns -- actual, literal clowns, wigs, prosthetic body parts, and freakish makeup included, presenting themselves as grotesque caricatures of women, in libraries.

Yet corporations and governments are caving to these deranged fucks when they tell the rest of us what's acceptable?

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Edit to add:

Whoreclowns. That's a word now.
 
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Volpone

Zombie Hunter
My spirit animal is Robert Downey Jr. in blackface, saying "retard."
 

Starship Coyote

Original Gangster!
Can't we still laugh at Louis CK even though we know it isn't appropriate to just get your dick out in front of strange women?

Wait, what?
 

jack

The Legendary Troll Kingdom
I think cancel culture speaks for itself. If you're dumb enough to do something hateful and stupid to someone in public, you deserve to be outed, shamed and "cancelled". I don't know (or care) about the edits you're speaking of. Money for Nothing was a great piece when it popped. Kind of irrelevant these days since MTV doesn't even really do music anymore.
 

The Question

Eternal
Vote with your wallet. A business caves to cancel culture? Cancel that business.

Eventually, the cancel mobs will simply be ignored. Cancel culture will be... canceled. It's already happening, and it will continue to gain momentum.
 

The Question

Eternal
Here's an idea whose time has apparently come:

All of the "shall nots" which restrain government overreach in the Bill Of Rights (or are supposed to) also apply to any organization operating under government regulation.
 

The Question

Eternal
^^Nobody gives a fuck about your "privilege" horseshit. Pack it back into the bag you brought it in.
 

jack

The Legendary Troll Kingdom
I'm just sick of all the dog whistling. Civility? What the fuck is that?
 

The Question

Eternal
There's a whole lot of "here's what it *slobber* aaaaackshuallyyyy means" coming from people who want to malign their opposition. It's the new strawman fallacy.

It's okay for people to only be saying what they're genuinely saying.
 
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