Elon Musk vs. The Woke Mind Virus

I mean, you have talked about this woke mind virus in really apocalyptic terms. You should explain why you don't think it's hyperbole to say things like it's pushing civilization towards suicide. First of all, what is the woke mind virus? And if we don't deal with this, nothing else can get done. Tell me why you think that. I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech. So those are two of the aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous, is that it's often anti-meritocratic. You can't question things. Even the questioning is bad. Another way, almost synonymous, would be cancel culture. And obviously people have tried to cancel you many times. Many times. Yeah. I mean, every week. Yeah. From left and right. I've had it from both sides. This is the cancel culture that now pervades America, yet people on the left, the very people responsible for it, claim it doesn't exist. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocks those who fear its growing influence. Odds are you're not actually canceled, she tweeted. You're just being challenged, held accountable, or unliked. The representatives claim that this is merely accountability culture is common on the left. Don't believe it. Accountability means a duty to explain. Accountability involves confronting a person with their actions in a way that allows them to explain themselves or ask for forgiveness and otherwise continue the dialogue. The purpose of cancellation is very different. It seeks to bring all conversation to an end, to strike fear in the public so that no one else dares to speak up. That is cancellation, and it extends far beyond criticism. Cancellation involves social media mobs engaged in public shaming and the creation of blacklists. It seeks the destruction of the career and reputation of anyone who differs with a leftist position. The bullies, says social critic Douglas Murray, want to stop the rest of us talking or thinking. Virtually no one is immune. Not Kevin Hart, not J.K. Rowling, not Woodrow Wilson, not Drew Brees. Not the famous or the unknown, not the living or the dead. So many have been burned at the social media stake. One has to wonder if the mob is going to run out of victims. But this fire will not burn itself out. We have to stop it. How? First, if you ever find yourself in the cancel culture crosshairs, don't apologize to the mob. Apologize when you've done something wrong, not when you've exercised a constitutional right. And furthermore, your apology won't save you. It merely hands the bullies another victory. Stand firm. The storm will pass. The mob always moves on. Second, find allies among reasonable people, not necessarily people who vote the way you do or agree with you on every issue. Just people who still believe in free speech and are committed to open dialogue. Third, the rest of us must only support institutions and businesses that value free expression. Money talks, which is why cancel culture is such a potent weapon. People and even big businesses are terrified of losing their incomes. Finally, defend targets of the mob, wherever they fall on the political spectrum. This is a free speech issue. It should unite liberals and conservatives against the left. The very soul of our republic depends on an open exchange of ideas. We must take on and defeat a cancel culture that would hold a free people hostage in their own society. I'm Paris Denard for Prager University.