Thoughts on #CancelCulture. My friend Raymond Miller once said to me "If I get something wrong - drag me so I'll learn!" I've kept this thought in mind lately. 1/2

I've misstepped, got things wrong on issues I didn't know enough about, displayed ignorance sometimes. On social media, I get called out for this. Sometimes it is gentle. Often it is not. But feeling shame doesn't have to be a net negative. 2/2

I try to sit with the red, hot feeling of getting something wrong and being shamed. I try to watch the thoughts of being "wronged" pass by me. Then, when my body has calmed down, I try to see what I can learn from it all. 3/3

I think the fight against "CancelCulture" is, in part, a rejection of this feeling and how fruitful it can be to actually be able to feel shame, learn from it, and do better. Because I still can't find many examples of so called "CancelCulture decimating people's livelihoods. (4)

5. Twitter can be a cesspool, but it also forces you to be constantly confronted about your beliefs. It can be ugly, tiring, upsetting, but often there's something to learn from people getting really mad at you.

6. Some claims in the Harper's letter seem unsupported. Is there a list of people who have actually lost their livelihoods for not conforming to "politically correct" ways of thinking.

7. If people "fear" it without evidence that it actually happens, that points to something deeper. Maybe the fear is a problem.

8. Books ales, careers, etc, don't seem to be affected the way the letter implies. If this is about freedom of speech, well that is exactly what is happening when people on Twitter say they are horrified, saddened or disappointed by someone's position.

9. Getting shamed on Twitter doesn't equal someone's career being over. Shame can be instructive. Is Cancel Culture really even a thing? Or is it, as Roxane Gay terms it "Consequence Culture?" Just wondering...

i screwed up the numbers on the beginning of this thread. apologies. There are nine tweets to the thread. I screwed up. SO CANCEL ME!