The Problem With Cancel Culture
Vladimir Putin, Qanon, and Conspiracy Theories
I recently saw some videos and articles discussing Russian President Vladimir Putin comparing current events with “cancellation”. Claims that the west is trying to “cancel” Russian culture in the midst of Russia invading Ukraine.
One can see this as a red herring argument, the fact most countries generally disagree with or outright condemn the current invasion. However, I think this points to a more fundamental problem… the co-opting of the critique of cancel culture by the political right.
While there are legitimate critiques of cancel culture this gets overshadowed by over and arbitrary usage. Suddenly legitimate critiques, condemnation, and accountability are labeled as “cancel culture”.
Differentiating between accurate criticism, deserving condemnation, and rightful calls of accountability versus the phenomenon of “cancel culture” needs to be established.
Right-Wing Populism
The political right often uses populist rhetoric when discussing this concept of “wokeness”. However, this is often used as a red herring to distract away from the faults of the political rights’ own ideology, policy, and stances.
Ruth Wodak describes right-wing populism well in her work The Politics of Fear.
Right-wing populism can be defined as a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and usually combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered populism because of its appeal to the ‘common man/woman’ as opposed to the elites;
- The Politics of Fear by Ruth Wodak
This is ironic given those on the political right, especially in the United States, are the elites. These are the individuals who are millionaires, billionaires, and have vested interest in various industries that would seek the undermine the ‘common’ man/woman’s interest.
While there seems to be debate as to the cause of the rise in right-wing populism in the western world, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
The scapegoating associated with this political ideology has eroded public trust in institutions, expertise, and the idea of knowledge itself. While it is also argued that ‘wokeness’, a concept associated with the political left, is radically skeptical about knowing, right-wing populism is inherently anti-intellectual.
Anti-Intellectualism In America
Anti-intellectualism can be defined as a composite of related strategies to uphold certain ideas (and systems) put forward by those in power. It is too contradictory and incoherent to be an ideology in of itself.
Nevertheless, anti-intellectualism can be argued to be as American as the Constitution. Historically, the roots of anti-intellectualism can be traced back to early European settlers who believed in evangelical Protestantism. We see this with modern-day creationism and similar sociopolitical issues.
This religious underpinning of anti-intellectualism is one of three main forms of anti-intellectualism observed in the US. Sociologist Daniel Rigney details three forms of anti-intellectualism prevalent in American society.
Religious anti-rationalism: the rejection of reason, logic, and fact in favor of emotions, morals, and religious absolutes.
Populist anti-elitism: the rejection of elite institutions as well as those categorized within the social and/or intellectual "elite" (e.g., professors, old-money politicians).
Unreflective instrumentalism: the belief that the pursuit of theory and knowledge is unnecessary unless it can be wielded for practical means (e.g., profit).
Right-wing populism is a form of anti-intellectualism. Furthermore, the distinction between conservatives of the past and neoconservatives in the 1960s cemented the conservative party’s attitudes towards intellectuals. This is where the USA Republican Party adopted many of its current views and practices.
Capitalism is seen as suffering from the weight of activists and social programs. Those deemed ‘intellectual’ (professors, teachers, social workers, government officials, etc.) halted the progress of the free market in favor of government intervention. This perceived threat leads to more hostile attitudes towards the role of the intellectual and knowledge-producing institutions.
Ironically, around the same time period, post-modernism was beginning to emerge. Post-modernism deserves its own article, but I will define it as a philosophical position consisting of certain characteristics.
These characteristics include a radical skepticism towards knowledge and knowing, relativism, deconstruction, subjectivism, and more. Post-modernism’s skepticism towards science and its methods is damaging, to say the least. This school of thought has eroded trust, understanding, and resolve in science.
The combination of right-wing populism and post-modernism has led to a post-truth world.
Putin and Misinformation
In philosopher Lee McIntyre’s book Post Truth we are given a description of the modern-day disdain for facts.
Unlike anti-intellectualism which favors ‘common sense’ and intuition over empirical facts, post-truth does not deny or undermine facts as long as they go along with the speaker’s ideology. Merely, facts or truth are used as a means to an end, the person making the argument wants you to believe whatever they want you to believe despite the evidence for it.
The phenomenon of post-truth is more so a subversion of facts/truth rather than a disdain for them.
Post-truth amounts to a form of ideological supremacy, whereby its practitioners are trying to compel someone to believe in something whether there is good evidence for it or not.
- Post Truth by Lee McIntyre
The fact right-wing proponents such as Tucker Carlson will repeat Russian propaganda about USA-funded Biolabs in Ukraine showcases the issue with a post-truth world.
People will merely state anything to justify their needs, Putin and his conglomerate will push outright conspiracy theories to justify their invasion of a sovereign nation. But the most troubling part about all this is people will believe it.
The point of misinformation and disinformation when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and covid-19 is to overwhelm us.
rather than focusing effort on convincing people of a falsehood, the Russian strategy takes a tack reminiscent of a strategy long employed by the tobacco industry: to sow so much doubt about what is true that it sends people into decision paralysis. Faced with a cacophony of wild and conflicting claims, people do nothing, unsure of what is right.
The rise of right-wing associated conspiracy theories like Qanon and the co-opting of Russian-backed conspiracies by the political right should not be surprising. Right-wing populism relies on fear-based tactics, what better way to sow distrust of the political left than propagating conspiracy theories about them?
This isn’t to say there aren’t left-wing-based conspiracies but the sheer veracity of right-wing associated conspiracies has grown, with even the anti-vax movement becoming more popular amongst the right.
Final Thoughts
How do all these different topics relate to cancel culture? With the propagation of misinformation, disinformation, anti-intellectualism, post-truth, and science denial in American society there is a need for a scapegoat.
Ruth Wodak states one aspect of right-wing populism is scapegoating. The creation of the “other” as a means to gain power and legitimacy. Right-wing populists will often rely upon stereotypes, distorted traditional values, conspiracy theories, and more to devalue their opponents.
Rather than admitting to the complexity of a given sociopolitical issue or national situation, the right-wing populist blames it on those perceived as bad, the other.
Cancel culture has become that scapegoat. Rather than addressing pressing issues within the nation, right-wing talking heads often complain about ‘wokeness’ or cancel culture.
Instead of cancellation, there seems to be outrage amongst those on the right. This outrage fuels misinformation, conspiracies, disinformation, and general distrust of democratic institutions. This does not lead to any solutions, but it further divides us as a nation.
Being outraged about cancel culture doesn’t solve the issues with cancel culture just as much as being sick of a pandemic doesn’t stop covid-19 from killing people.
We need to trust our institutions again, we need to work towards making our institutions better, we need to accept the fact access to information doesn’t equal knowledge, and we should value intellect.