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Comment by Crontab | Hacker News Reader

I think this shows the danger that anyone who posts under their real name faces. Make a bad joke, or hold a wrong opinion, and you can find yourself out of work.

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Freedom of association is a hell of a drug.

People aren't always rational or benevolent in their association choices.

They still get to make those choices.

It's interesting that the people who cite "freedom of association" as a justification for canceling people don't believe in freedom of association in other contexts, e.g. with respect to so-called "retalation" against corporate activists, which is just a company using its freedom of association. Freedom for me, but not for thee.

I don't respect principles wielded selectively and as weapons.

I don't know what you're talking about but also don't know how you can coherently make an argument that people both have freedom of association and can't "cancel" people. Is "cancellation" simply what you call it when people exercise their freedom in a way you don't approve of?

You are wasting your time debating with people who use terminology like “cancel culture” or “SJW”. They aren’t interested in arguing in good faith. If it was any other forum, I’d suggest simply mock them and move on. Here, you are best just downvoting and moving on.

If this forum wanted to avoid getting overrun by these people, they’d ban them. People who use terminology like “SJW” are toxic and spread like cancer, pushing away people interested in actual debate or intelligent conversation.

If Jesse Singal is your idea of a person who isn't "arguing in good faith" and who should be mocked, you're pretty far outside the mainstream.

https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/on-cancel-culture-the-new...

> pushing away people interested in actual debate or intelligent conversation.

It's fascinating how "actual debate" and "intelligent conversation" mean, to you, avoiding words that you don't like. The most parsimonious explanation for the spread of these terms is that an increasing number of people intensely dislike the things to which these words refer --- and that every day they're less afraid of being called "toxic" for criticizing our culture of censorship and pitchfork mobs.

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