Cancelled

I'd like to thank everyone who has humored me during my journey of trying to spread some knowledge and wisdom to the world; one of the benefits to self publishing is that you don't really have to answer to anyone but yourself and the small circle you hold yourself accountable to (and possibly whoever you web hosting company is, but they'll host pretty much anyone). Obviously this dynamic changes the more you find yourself having to rely on others. Any time your personal opinion as expressed through your constitutionally protected free speech begins to affect the income of a person / corporate entity, you run the risk of finding yourself cancelled.

A friend of mine once said that the only way any progress happens in society is when those who need progress can affect the money. What he was saying is that progress only happens when those in power have a financial incentive to produce progress, whether that incentive be to create more wealth, or to protect the wealth they already have. I identify with his statement, however I believe it to be an oversimplification of the state of things to assume that financial resources are the only driving factor for individuals' actions. That's not to say that his idea was incorrect, but I believe that the currency that will motivate individual(s) to action will vary based upon what they cherish.

For many of us, monetary currency is a highly motivational factor. We'll get up early, go to bed late, deprive our families of the limited time they have with us and spend countless hours doing repetitive tasks that we have absolutely no passion for just to keep the income flowing. Obviously this isn't the only way to draw income, but it is the way a large percentage of the population does it. For a small minority of the population, income is drawn through passive sources such as investments and business ventures. For some of these entrepreneurs income is just a byproduct of power and influence. For these individuals / entities, loss of said power and influence will equate to a loss of income and its associated lifestyle. For these individuals, then, the currency they cherish is not monetary income, but instead their power and influence.

For an example of this, one need only look into any election campaign. I personally find it difficult to understand why anyone would be willing to part with millions of dollars to earn a public office with an embarrassing salary. This only makes sense if the power and influence of the office are of greater value to the incumbent than the income expenditures necessary to attain the office. I'll avoid speculating on what someone would do with that power and influence, but I assume that most of you reading this are an imaginative bunch so I probably don't need to dig up examples.

Whatever the currency in question, most people will take whatever actions necessary to protect / increase it. This becomes even more relevant in the entertainment industry where having influence can equal box office numbers, album sales and streams, and increase a personalities star power. It's no wonder, then, that people and entities tend to avoid bad publicity and associations like the plague. Just ask Kevin Hart, Paula Deen, Roseanne Barr, and the myriad other personalities who have experienced the wrath of cancel culture. Whether or not their cancellation was justified is not the issue at hand here, and as such I'll keep my personal opinions to myself. What is worth highlighting is the fact that their cancellations were not due to some high moral ethic being expressed by the entities responsible for their cancellation. There is always an agenda at the root of any cancellation. In some office building someone has to weigh and balance the cost of keeping a personality versus cancelling them. Usually that cost isn't just counted in dollars. Someone has to weigh the publicity, influence and financial cost of canceling versus not cancelling.

The purpose of this post wasn't to tell anyone how to feel about cancel culture, but just to educate someone, anyone that it exists, that it needs to be paid attention to, and that the more we see it utilized the less of an impact it will have. Do some people need to be cancelled? Certainly, but I also believe that it's important to remember that we all have some dirt that would call our character into question were it paraded before the judging eyes of the general public. This doesn't mean that everyone should get a pass, but it does mean that we should analyze the motives behind our actions. We should all have a chance to grow out of who we once were into who we are becoming. No one should be repeatedly chastised for actions that they have acknowledged, apologized for and moved past. At the same time, no one should get a pass for actions they can't acknowledge, apologize for and move past. You can't clean the dirt off until you get out of it.

All of that being said, I want to thank everyone who's been on this journey with me. I'll be shuttering this blog post for the forseeable future. The time and energy cost to me isn't worth the non-existent impact that I seem to be having within this particular outlet. All of the posts that have been published up to this point will remain available, but I will be redirecting the time and energy that has been directed to this medium to other ventures. Thanks everyone for reading and see you in the business.