Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it – George Santayana
Cancellation culture is a relatively novel concept, coming to fruition with surprising vengeance only a few years ago. Former President Donald Trump provoked a passionate moral outrage among progressives when he claimed that there was a pervasive system of canceling speakers in 2015. He has been a target ever since.
At that time, his words were largely blown out of proportion, largely by the media, and paradoxically, the target on his back drove many voters toward him rather than away. Finally, the President was forced off various social media platforms, effectively erasing him from internet existence.
Of course, his controversial rhetoric offended the establishment, and even offended some moderate supporters, but nevertheless he was kicked off Twitter after being labelled a Russian conspirator, and a white supremacist, among other things. He is quite brash and often annoying, but that does not mean he should have been silenced
The cancelation against people as vocal as President Trump is actually quite sinister. It has all the Orwellian qualities of a real-life Ministry of Truth, an entity entirely devoted to indoctrination, erasing, and rewriting the past. Today even impressionable children are been ostracized, cancelled, and rejected, simply for expressing opinions that question the liberal status quo.
And, whether we like it or not, where America goes, Canada follows. This chilling decent into ostracism has become pervasive across this country. In Winnipeg, for example, the statues of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria were dethroned by activists in 2020 because they did not like their “colonialist” visage. They were essentially ruined, and so far, no one has been charged for this display of disrespect towards public property. It would have cost $800,000 to repair the statue of Queen Victoria, so the government decided to put the statues in storage. It was permanently cancelled. This was a disgustingly clear win for cancel culture.
A society that rewards this behaviour inevitably marches towards its own doom. No good can come from insulting and silencing dissidents, no matter how radical their words are. Canada is being driven into an endless culture war over the most asinine things, like whether or not children should be butchered in gender-reassignment surgery to cure their mental illness.
Because of this lack of diversity of opinion this country has atrophied in almost every aspect. We are, consequentially, unprepared for the hard times that will inevitably come. Politicians are charging ahead with increasingly destructive policies, and governments are turning on their own people. Radical useful idiots are increasingly siding with the stagnant leftist establishment. Clearly it is time for a serious realignment.
It is disturbing how few people dare open their mouths against this cancel nonsense; Canadians are a passive and compassionate people, but with a very unhealthy desire to keep the peace at all costs. It is the precious few who do, in fact, speak out that the rest of us must protect, because they will lead the charge for our national freedom and dignity. We must all strive to emulate them.
Why do we spinelessly tolerate this cancel culture nonsense? Don’t we remember the millions who died for our freedom? What would they say if they could see us in our pitiful state? We must use the strength we have to regain our freedom and prosperity before it is too late. We owe it to those who have gone before, and especially to those who have yet to come.
Sophia Leis is the associate editor at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. She is a third-year university student majoring in political science. She is passionate about Canadian indigenous issues, economics, and Western cultural influence.
