I keep seeing versions of this critique of public shaming/cancel culture/online abuse. It's flawed.

1) Being wealthy/famous doesn't preclude you from experiencing adversity. Treating such people as beyond human suffering is both ignorant & cruel. https://twitter.com/BDSixsmith/status/1293056682105483264

Psychological suffering, depression, anxiety, does not discriminate between the wealthy & the poor, the famous & the unknown.

2) This is a prime example of the ad hominem fallacy: A speaker's identity doesn't invalidate their thoughts.

You don't have to be poor to think poverty sucks. & you don't have to have suffered immense adversity to think online hatred can have devastating consequences. But since we're all so obsessed with identity these days, allow me to speak from the perspective of adversity.

Online slander was one important cause of my 8 years of trials & 4 years of wrongful imprisonment. & in freedom now, I continue to face public shaming, online abuse, & attempts to "cancel" me, to erase me, to intimidate me and those who support me into silence.

All of these consequences feed into each other, & come from the same place: our destructive impulse to punish & erase people we don't even know. This is disastrous for our public discourse & the health of our democracy.

The internet is the 21st century public square. Telling people to "just log off" or "just ignore" online abuse, is akin to telling people to just not go to the park if they don't want to be called a whore, or just ignore it.

This isn't to give support to a mindset of ever-present micro-aggressions. That's flawed thinking, too. Intent matters. This is not a bipolar scenario, where we either accept harassment run amok or coddle each other as delicate snowflakes. There's a middle path.

This middle path is both rational and compassionate. It is rational because compassion, kindness, empathy--these things actually lead to a better understanding of our fellow humans. They create opportunities for social harmony. They help preserve free and open debate.

Indulging our impulse toward hatred gives us no new information, increases tribal divisions, & decreases our own happiness. It may feel good in the moment to flip someone off, but even a novice student of mindfulness knows it's a bad strategy for personal fulfillment.

The same is true of writing off those who are alarmed by the degree to which hatred and abuse have become the norm. Saying, "Boo hoo, they're rich and famous," skirts the actual issue, and does not better equip you to help create a functioning society.