Why ‘cancelling’ people is sometimes a good idea

Here we go again. People are being “cancelled”. The philosopher Peter Singer. Cancelled. The singer Morrissey. Cancelled. The government adviser Andrew Sabisky. Cancelled. All of them in some way or another have been told this week that their views are not acceptable, or that their job, event, or contract, is over. Finished. Cancelled. Goodbye forever.

Which is a good thing, isn’t it? Peter Singer believes parents should be able to euthanise disabled babies. Morrissey supports the right-wing group For Britain. And Andrew Sabisky has said he believes in compulsory contraception to avoid creating a permanent underclass. It’s perfectly reasonable to think, isn’t it, that people who hold such views do not deserve a place in public life. And you’re free not to buy Singer’s books, and not to go to Morrissey’s concerts, and you’re free to call for Sabisky to be sacked and to be pleased when he effectively is.

But should we be worried about this so-called cancel culture? What its critics say is that it’s closing down free speech. It is apparently not enough to unfollow someone on social media, or stop buying their albums or books. The person being cancelled must also be removed from office, or public places. If they have a job, sack them. If they’re speaking at an event, call it off. The critics call it mob rule and trial-by-media and say it’s an attempt to erase certain opinions.

But is it really? Let’s look at what happened to Sabisky, Singer, and Morrissey this week, because to varying degrees they’ve all been “cancelled”. Sabisky resigned from the

British Government because of what he called “old stuff online”. In Singer’s case, a venue in New Zealand cancelled an event he was due to speak at because, they said, of concerns raised by the public. As for Morrissey, it was revealed many people seem to be staying away from his concerts in the UK, possibly because of his opinions.

All of this is a form of cancelling in a way, and there are some elements of it that are unsubtle at best. Take Peter Singer, for example. I’ve spoken to Professor Singer in the past about this and his views on disability, while controversial, are part of a deeply considered philosophy that seeks to balance the competing interests in society. I’ve also interviewed Morrissey and my impression there is that some of his behaviour is about being contrary and some of it is about being conservative – he has always been concerned about immigration and if you didn’t hear that in his songs, you weren’t really listening.

The point is there’s no consistency to cancelling. Some commentators say it’s part of a new conspiracy to suppress right-wing opinion, but that certainly doesn’t apply to Peter Singer – he’s a Marxist. The idea of “cancelling” is also far from new; I remember Professor Singer telling me about the demonstrations against him when he joined the staff at Princeton University in the 1990s. Opinions have always come with consequences.

The critics of cancelling say the problem comes when the consequences are losing your job or being hounded out of public places, but cancelling is really just a form of hitting out at, or avoiding, people, or things, you don’t like. It’s happened to me. Occasionally, a reader of The Herald has said they avoid reading my column because of my opinions. It’s a form of cancelling and that’s fine.

I have also cancelled people myself. On social media, I have hidden or blocked people who get on my nerves and I’ve cancelled people in real life too. On one occasion, I wrote to a friend who’d done something I considered shocking and told him I never wanted to speak to him again and I avoid speaking to people I don’t like. Don’t we all? It’s cancelling. It’s life.

It’s also unrealistic to think that you can avoid that. If you express an opinion, you have to deal with how others might feel about it. You also have to accept your views may disqualify you from some jobs, in a school say, or a church, or Downing Street. You are free to express your opinion but other people are free to react to it.

And do not worry about opinions being suppressed. Peter Singer found another venue for his event. Morrissey will continue to release albums. And people like Sabisky will be offered plenty of opportunities to express his views by newspapers and think-tanks.

They may have been cancelled by some people, and in that moment their freedom of speech has been compromised. But freedom of speech cannot mean freedom from consequences or reaction. We all have the right to speak. But we also have the right to stop listening.

I wrote to a friend who’d done something shocking to say I never wanted to speak to him again