A lot of people and organizations have been canceled over the last 4 or five years. Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered by the left-wing orthodoxy to be objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is objectively described as bullying on social media in the form of group shaming.
In March of 2022, we may be witnessing the greatest cancel of all time, the cancellation of Russia. Its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine for no other reason than it was cozying up to the west was roundly criticized by every point on the political dial.
The war galvanized the world against Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. The cancel was on. Russian energy, airlines, companies, sports teams, even cats, were persona non grata in the world community.
The intention is to isolate Putin from resources and support for his military operations. That is all well and good, but just like what has been going on for years, cancel culture can have unintended consequences.
When Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging women to have sex with them, The Cosby Show was canceled. But it came back when people had a realization that there were a dozen other regular actors on the show that were not morally bankrupt.
Putin and his military, maybe even the Russian legislature, the Duma, are all legitimate cancellation targets, but the citizens and culture should not bear the brunt of the global cold shoulder.
Russia has produced much of the greatest literature in the history of the world. Russian literature of the 19th century is among the richest, most profound, and most human traditions in the world.
Some of the worlds’ best-known pieces of classical music we know and love came from Russia, and the turn of the 19th century witnessed their most prolific era.
Shall we cancel classics like Swan Lake, Dostoevsky, or Peter and the Wolf? Do we raid libraries for the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Chekov?
No. Russian authoritarians and their minions are the evil at hand, not Russia as a brand. The Russian restaurant or bakery in your community is not your enemy. Russian immigrants are likely to have been fleeing just the sort of aggression and bullying that Ukraine is suffering now.
Cancel culture is a slippery slope. Stay focused on the real evil in play in the Russia/Ukraine war. Be fair and accept people for their true intentions, not their accent or national origin. It’s the American way!
