Americans like to refer to the “marketplace of ideas,” a hypothetical place where we as a nation agree to disagree. But that marketplace hasn’t existed for quite some time.
What we have now is a steady march toward rigidly enforced social justice and identity politics, led by an unforgiving, woke mob that refuses to tolerate ideas that contradict its own. It’s called “cancel culture” — with good reason.
Take, for example, Gone with the Wind, a classic movie, and also one of the most popular films ever made, that HBO Max recently removed from its library due to “the ethnic and racial prejudices” depicted in the film.
“These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible,” a spokesperson for HBO Max said.
It’s as if the public can’t be trusted to have an honest conversation about the harm Gone with the Wind’s racial stereotypes have caused. Instead, it must be removed from the American conscience completely.
So must Cops, a reality show that followed around various law enforcement officers. The Paramount Network announced that it wouldn’t renew the show due to concerns about the “glorification” of police and the criminal justice system. Again, are we not allowed to make up our own minds?
According to the online mob, the answer is no. Because anyone who dares to speak against social justice orthodoxy is immediately shamed and sometimes silenced.
This is what happened to author J.K. Rowling recently when she mocked a headline about “people who menstruate.”
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” she tweeted. “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Rowling was accused of being a transphobic bigot, and several of the prominent actors who have starred in movies based off of her bestselling books apologized on her behalf.
The same happened to Greg Glassman, the founder and CEO of CrossFit, after he criticized the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation for calling “racism” a “critical public health issue.”
“Your failed model quarantined us and now you’re going to model a solution to racism?” he said on Twitter.
Reebok and several affiliated gyms dropped their partnerships with CrossFit after Glassman’s tweets, so Glassman did the only thing he could do at that point: He stepped down.
“On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members,” he said in a statement. “I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ’s or affiliates’ missions.”
The only question is, who’s next?
