How Cowardice Fuels The Cancel Culture Mob

The conversation about cancel culture usually focuses on the mean bullies who prowl the Earth seeking souls to devour and wrong opinions to punish. They are indeed the primary villains but they aren’t the only ones who keep the cancel culture mill churning. Cowards, though they are so often the victims, are guilty of emboldening the mob and perpetuating the problem. The story of cancel culture is, at least partly, a story of the gutless legions pouring fuel on the fire that consumes them.

Just a few recent examples. Last week, a high-ranking executive at Boeing, named (hilariously and appropriately) Neil Golightly, resigned from his position and issued a groveling apology over an editorial he had written over three decades ago in which he argued that women in the military should not be given combat roles. In the article, Golightly asserts that introducing females into these roles would interfere with male “cohesion, morale, efficiency, and aggressiveness.” He doubted whether “women and men can adapt emotionally to the socially radical step of fighting side by side.”