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this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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No, it is a fair question. Over the past few years, a person being cancelled has been defined as someone doing something which makes them a social pariah.
For Jon Stewart, his show got cancelled by his streamer. People will still work with him.
That's not a new phenomenon. We've always had social and professional pariahs. What's new is that social media has made it easier for everyone everywhere to find out you're an asshole. Used to be only the powerful people could ruin your career and get you fired and blacklisted. Maybe you pissed off the wrong executive. Maybe you refused the sexual advances of a powerful person. Maybe you were a homosexual or a communist. Today, there are more protections against that sort of abuse at the hands of the powerful people, and there is greater power in the court of public opinion. But the effect is the same.
"Canceled" is a term assholes came up with to rebrand "consequences" to make it seem like something that isn't their own fault.
Not sure I agree with this particular take. My recollection is that this usage of cancelled started in progressive internet spaces and was absolutely used to describe consequences for being an asshole.
It's the exact same trajectory woke took -- it was language used by left-leaning people that got co-opted and intentionally diluted by conservatives.
With "asshole" being defined as whatever the general population performing the cancellation deems it to mean, of course. History has not been kind to many of the cancellations of eras past and likely won't be kind to some of the ones going on today.