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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 8, 2025

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It was "Cancel Culture is out of control" when (as found downthread (news article)) someone got their sponsorship cancelled for a different person's offensive speech before they were born.

This is Cancel Culture under control. It's entered the range where I can see valid arguments for both sides and the relevant tradeoffs. I still want even less of it, but having social policies/practices that are a bit off from with my desires is normal so it's not worth highlighting anymore.

This is Cancel Culture under control.

For at least some of these cases I'll agree with you (I haven't looked into all of them). Maybe we should have an explicit societal Overton Window — much wider than the last few years — that frowns upon calling for or celebrating acts of literal violence. There is some fuzziness around exactly where the edges should be, but I don't think society is expected to tolerate a high level of anti-social (not just asocial) activism.

Agreed. Arguments to abolish cancel culture is just an argument for an even more shameless culture than we already have. It’s nihilism disguised as principles

Busybody pile-ons full of people feeling giddy at the prospect of ruining someone's life for an opinion is is shameful.

A business owner in Sacramento was just mistaken for a guy in So Cal whose wife talked shit about Kirk. He was getting threats from people running away with ignorant moral righteousness fueled by social media amphetamines. Again, shameful.

The right discovering that they believe liberalism itself is nihilism reminds me of a central Asian Muslim student who attended a classical liberal seminar years back with me. He said it all just sounded like moral relativism to him. (He ended up sleeping with a Marxist woman that night we both were trying to get at, lol, but I digress. Totally principled guy!)

Busybody pile-ons full of people feeling giddy at the prospect of ruining someone's life for an opinion is is shameful.

No one’s life is getting ruined by this. It’s not like they said the dreaded N word or anything. But yes they may have some hardship, hopefully it will teach them to have some empathy.

Liberalism is when you keep your job while being a horrible person? Okay guess liberalism should DEFINITELY die then

I guess I feel bad for some on the left now the same way I felt bad for conservatives amid covid, when they were the pariahs

Hardly comparable. Conservatives couldn’t travel, shop, or be employed

Liberals can’t…make fun of a recently murdered celebrity? Oh boo hoo