Cancel culture craziness

[apl68]

I guess this thread is moving to a discussion of PC symbols. I welcome the changes.

Did you hear about Trader Joe's changing some product names after some protests?

Arabian Joe
Baker Josef
JosephsBrau
Pilgrim Joe's
Trader Giotto's
Trader Jacque's
Trader Joe San
Trader Jose's
Trader Ming's

Good for them!

I suppose, but it does seem like a foolish distraction at times.  Not long ago I saw a Black Lives Matter activist quoted as saying that removing offensive images from syrup bottles and butter packages was nice and all, but that's not what they asked for.  They asked for serious police reform.  That job hasn't yet been completed.

In recent months every print issue of the New York Times I've seen has multiple full-page ads by corporations of one kind or another signalling their virtue.  I suspect that these ads draw a certain amount of skepticism.  It's hard to see who they benefit, apart from the NYT's bottom line.

[marshwiggle]

Not long ago I saw a Black Lives Matter activist quoted as saying that removing offensive images from syrup bottles and butter packages was nice and all, but that's not what they asked for.  They asked for serious police reform.  That job hasn't yet been completed.

In recent months every print issue of the New York Times I've seen has multiple full-page ads by corporations of one kind or another signalling their virtue.  I suspect that these ads draw a certain amount of skepticism.  It's hard to see who they benefit, apart from the NYT's bottom line.

Simple principle: *effective solutions to longstanding problems requires time and lots of unsexy, behind-the-scenes effort. Virtue-signalling is easy and cheap!

Guess which one wins!!!!!!

(*Longstanding problems are longstanding because they probably don't have "perfect, once for all time" solutions; they are a constant work in progress because their societal context is constantly in flux. So the job will never be "complete".)

[downer]

I am all in when it comes to skepticism regarding the motivations of corporations in their "virtuous actions." They are looking after their financial interests.

Nevertheless, they are responsive to social criticism sometimes. Maybe that's on issues where they can get credit for change without it costing them anything significant, but still, it is change. And their "virtue signalling" may have some effect in binding their future actions.

Words matter and actions matter. Some matter more than others. Some make very little difference. But I don't see any point in holding on to old problematic words or lamenting the change of stereotyping labels.

[Treehugger]

Note: I was thinking about the disconnect between language and reality today right before I saw this thread. But not because I was thinking about cancel culture. Instead I was looking at a "philosophy" sub-forum on another site and thinking "Just because something is called 'philosophy' doesn't actually make it philosophy."  <snicker>.

I trust you're aware of the attitude philosophers generally take to "theorists" of all stripes? If not, let me assure you that it's not at all kind. Literary theory, in particular, comes in for a serious kicking.

That said, I think you'd find most philosophers to be relatively generous with what they're willing to count as belonging to the realm of philosophy, regardless of whether they think it's good or bad. The analytic/continental rift is increasingly less socially important.

Ok, I just glanced at this forum and a leading thread topic is: "Which is more important? Being tall or having a lot of money?"

Would a professional philosopher call that an interesting inquiry? Is it philosophy? Are they that generous?

And here's another. Thread title: "I want to send my possessions to Mars, so the universe will know I existed."

Philosophy? Or not so much? <snicker>

[Parasaurolophus]

Ok, I just glanced at this forum and a leading thread topic is: "Which is more important? Being tall or having a lot of money?"

Would a professional philosopher call that an interesting inquiry? Is it philosophy? Are they that generous?

And here's another. Thread title: "I want to send my possessions to Mars, so the universe will know I existed."

Philosophy, or not so much? <snicker>

Sure, it isn't. But... you're talking about an internet forum, and not even an academic one. Ordinary people don't have a clue about philosophy, which is why it struggles as a discovery major and why it's constantly, and to our eternal frustration, lumped in with religious studies. If you look at all the colloquial uses to which 'philosophy' gets put, it's hardly surprising some random internet forum misses the mark. Even on this forum, 'philosophy' gets bandied about where the poster actually means 'ideology', 'doctrine', or something else.

Shrug.

[Treehugger]

Ok, I just glanced at this forum and a leading thread topic is: "Which is more important? Being tall or having a lot of money?"

Would a professional philosopher call that an interesting inquiry? Is it philosophy? Are they that generous?

And here's another. Thread title: "I want to send my possessions to Mars, so the universe will know I existed."

Philosophy, or not so much? <snicker>

Sure, it isn't. But... you're talking about an internet forum, and not even an academic one. Ordinary people don't have a clue about philosophy, which is why it struggles as a discovery major and why it's constantly, and to our eternal frustration, lumped in with religious studies. If you look at all the colloquial uses to which 'philosophy' gets put, it's hardly surprising some random internet forum misses the mark. Even on this forum, 'philosophy' gets bandied about where the poster actually means 'ideology', 'doctrine', or something else.

Shrug.

I see. This is probably less amusing to someone actually in philosophy. I didn't mean to come across as snide. I actually get a kick out of stopping by this non-philosophy philosophy forum to see what people are currently attempting to debate. Sometimes it's really funny.

But my point was that the word (in this case "philosophy") doesn't create the thing.

[mahagonny]

I won't even bother to explain what's so loopy about this. Maybe just say 'Well...California."

"I'd just finished a long evening walk in my neighborhood and was relaxed for the first time in days when I saw the white woman washing her Lexus. She probably didn't know she was about to throw her whiteness at me like a rock—nor do I think she meant to. I paused to wave as she sprayed water across her soapy SUV. I didn't want to startle her with my large, black presence. She made eye contact but didn't wave back. We were both on the sidewalk. I motioned to ask whether she'd take a few steps back into her driveway so I could pass while preserving social distance. My alternative was to step into traffic on a curved street. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked wearily into her driveway, making a little room.

Maybe she was just frustrated—as we all are—by how COVID-19 has shifted the formerly straight-forward rituals of our lives, like taking walks or washing cars. Maybe she was tired. Maybe she'd had a bad Zoom meeting. There are a million reasons why she might have been rude. The reasons don't matter, though—the impact does. And what I experienced was a white person being ticked off by my black presence in front of her house, and exercising her privilege to make her annoyance known. How else could I experience it? We relentlessly teach people of color that their non-whiteness is the most salient, determinative thing about them, and, indeed, lived experience frequently confirms this—of course we view what we experience through the lens of race. (Paradoxically, we simultaneously teach white people that race doesn't matter and they should be colorblind. No wonder we struggle to make progress.)'

https://time.com/5871387/white-people-must-be-twice-as-kind/

[Treehugger]

I won't even bother to explain what's so loopy about this. Maybe just say 'Well...California."

"I'd just finished a long evening walk in my neighborhood and was relaxed for the first time in days when I saw the white woman washing her Lexus. She probably didn't know she was about to throw her whiteness at me like a rock—nor do I think she meant to. I paused to wave as she sprayed water across her soapy SUV. I didn't want to startle her with my large, black presence. She made eye contact but didn't wave back. We were both on the sidewalk. I motioned to ask whether she'd take a few steps back into her driveway so I could pass while preserving social distance. My alternative was to step into traffic on a curved street. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked wearily into her driveway, making a little room.

Maybe she was just frustrated—as we all are—by how COVID-19 has shifted the formerly straight-forward rituals of our lives, like taking walks or washing cars. Maybe she was tired. Maybe she'd had a bad Zoom meeting. There are a million reasons why she might have been rude. The reasons don't matter, though—the impact does. And what I experienced was a white person being ticked off by my black presence in front of her house, and exercising her privilege to make her annoyance known. How else could I experience it? We relentlessly teach people of color that their non-whiteness is the most salient, determinative thing about them, and, indeed, lived experience frequently confirms this—of course we view what we experience through the lens of race. (Paradoxically, we simultaneously teach white people that race doesn't matter and they should be colorblind. No wonder we struggle to make progress.)'

https://time.com/5871387/white-people-must-be-twice-as-kind/

There always many different ways to experience an event. The choice is yours ...

[mahagonny]

I won't even bother to explain what's so loopy about this. Maybe just say 'Well...California."

"I'd just finished a long evening walk in my neighborhood and was relaxed for the first time in days when I saw the white woman washing her Lexus. She probably didn't know she was about to throw her whiteness at me like a rock—nor do I think she meant to. I paused to wave as she sprayed water across her soapy SUV. I didn't want to startle her with my large, black presence. She made eye contact but didn't wave back. We were both on the sidewalk. I motioned to ask whether she'd take a few steps back into her driveway so I could pass while preserving social distance. My alternative was to step into traffic on a curved street. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked wearily into her driveway, making a little room.

Maybe she was just frustrated—as we all are—by how COVID-19 has shifted the formerly straight-forward rituals of our lives, like taking walks or washing cars. Maybe she was tired. Maybe she'd had a bad Zoom meeting. There are a million reasons why she might have been rude. The reasons don't matter, though—the impact does. And what I experienced was a white person being ticked off by my black presence in front of her house, and exercising her privilege to make her annoyance known. How else could I experience it? We relentlessly teach people of color that their non-whiteness is the most salient, determinative thing about them, and, indeed, lived experience frequently confirms this—of course we view what we experience through the lens of race. (Paradoxically, we simultaneously teach white people that race doesn't matter and they should be colorblind. No wonder we struggle to make progress.)'

https://time.com/5871387/white-people-must-be-twice-as-kind/

There always many different ways to experience an event. The choice is yours ...

I was thinking, shades of Dostoevsky's "Tales of the Underground" but then, no, obviously the right way to experience this is "I can write a piece about this and get ink, because I am badass."