A fascinating solution that Anglo societies have converged on is to simply eliminate public spaces. The more all spaces become private, the fewer locations there are where those who "don't know their place" can speak without consequences.
Conversation
Note the close link between place and cancelation. "Deplatforming" refers to specific place access, and the private/public ownership of the platform matters, in a broader sense than the first amendment aspect of place.
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This is not well understood in the US because it's in the past, and remnants are not obvious, but the public around the world was historically NOT a place anyone could speak. It was very specifically an elite "platform" defined by who was NOT allowed to speak there.
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Which meant that "know your place" often meant "you can't say such things in public because it offends elites who have first right to such places; you can only say it skulking and muttering in ghetto alleys, and we'd better not hear you by accident!"
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Observation: I rarely hear loud complaints about cancel culture except from people who are already talking a lot. Makes me wonder -- who isn't talking to begin with because they unfortunately "know their place" all too well. Who are born canceled and stay that way?
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Personal angle btw... I've never felt either place or tone policed in my life. I have almost never wanted to say something and been unable to say it, or had to leave a place because I spoke out of place. And I obviously talk a lot and at great length in every place I can access.
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Either I "know my place" very well and have internalized my boundaries to the point I don't notice myself staying within them...
OR I have better ways to fight when I want to than words...
OR... I don't have much to fight about, and am too selfish to fight for anyone else...
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Like most people, it's probably some mix of all 3, alloyed with a healthy dose of just pragmatism of the don't-make-jokes-at-a-funeral variety... reasonable consideration for others.
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In case it isn't obvious, I'm agnostic on this whole matter -- having opinions about the morality of tone policing or place policing is like having opinions about the existence of weapons.
Weapons exist. Conflict is real. Get good at using the appropriate ones when needed.
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Replying to
Maybe shouldn’t say this on twitter but I totally feel the loss of the joy of heedlessly popping off in ostensibly clever/amusing ways but I also think it’s an objective improvement that people who were previously marginalized/silenced can now speak up/object/clarify/demand
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It's a sort of moving overton window thing in some cases, but I rarely feel such loss. Often because my tastes in jokes doesn't stress such boundaries. Like I've never particularly wanted to make the sorts of jokes that are now verboten.
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I also think that, if you’re not an asshole, learning why people don’t find the jokes funny in most cases makes you realize that they weren’t all that funny in the first place
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