Kulturkampf

[benji]

Side effect of this conflict is seeing some amazing whiplash. Like people who banged the “actions have consequences” drum in response to the silly cancel culture discussion, now facing consequences for their actions and going “no mas… mercy.” And, naturally, the reverse where some are for cancel culture. Sorry, accountability culture. Slice of vindictiveness there. No morals or consistency. After this learning experience, will they come away changed? Unlikely.

They all are a little crazy. Driving a truck around with the faces and names of students who signed the pro hamas letter. Diabolical shit. A professor of religion and ethics talking about killing Jews. The fuck happened to colleges.

Colleges are places where the most extreme statements are uncritically accepted because to contest them is to side with the oppressors. It's always a one-way ratchet where "slippery slope" warnings are signs of complicity with injustice.

But it is quite remarkable how many people who lectured us that "freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences" are now declaring that it should in fact mean that and that accountability culture is a threat to speech, especially marginalized speech. It's like one of those things we're always told about The Other: "every accusation is a confession."