1. Thread. On getting cancelled and humbly asking for support. Please read my (long) thread, and if you think that you'd like to provide any support for me, then go to my Patreon. Thank you in advance https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5465341&fan_landing=true

2. 2020 is the year of cancel culture. People have written about it, debated about it, denied it exists, contended that it is a threat to civilization, contended that it is exaggerated. I am not going to address any of that. I'm just going to tell you about getting cancelled.

3. In March of this year, I was fired from a small college, not for my performance, but for my speech. How do I know? Because my teaching evaluations were always very good. My reviews were good. And my scholarly productivity was very strong. My speech? That was cause for concern.

4. I also know that the decision to fire me was not made by my colleagues. It was made by administrators. I'm not great or even good at many things; but I am great at being a professor. It is hurtful, humiliating, and infuriating to be fired from the one thing you are good at.

5. So what happened? What did I say that led to getting fired? Let's start at the start. I spent most of my adult life trying to be a successful professor and academic, which to me meant working hard to learn as much as I could but *also* always being intellectually honest.

6. What do I mean about being intellectual honest? I mean always telling the truth about any intellectually substantial topic to the best of my fallible ability. Academics and intellectuals are lucky and privileged and therefore have a duty to be honest.

7. I had discovered, through graduate school, that many professors are hypocrites and liars. They believe some things privately but remain silent or even lie about them publicly. I understand but didn't agree with the silence, but the lying? That's reprehensible.

8. In 2014 or so, I started to realize how stifling what we now call "wokism" was in academia. Liberal bias was pervasive. I had always been a liberal, always voted Democrat, but I was becoming more and more alienated as I saw liberals stifle discourse with moral threats.

9. I started to write about political bias, mostly focusing on liberals, and to talk honestly about sex differences and human population variation. I always wrote with ethical sensitivity and iterated my support for equal treatment and my disgust with sexism or racism.

10. But it was terrifically difficult for me to get a job. I had publications on human variation that were controversial; and I had similarly controversial publications on progressive biases. I literally received no offers on my first year on the market.

11. And that despite having Roy Baumeister, one of the greatest social psychologists in the world, as my enthusiastic supporter and advisor and having a good publishing record. I can't prove "bias," but it seemed clear to me. I got a few offers my second year, and took one.

12. My affinity for conservatism was growing, even though I described myself as centrist. And I continued to write honestly and openly about controversial topics. My first year was fine. But in my second year, things changed.

13. A slanderous website (which I will not name or link) created a page about me, which caused controversy when I went to the University of Alabama to give a speech about human variation. People shouted at me. And the paper wrote a tendentious story about it.

14. Somebody sent the story to my bosses. I had a meeting. I thought it went well. I told them I would continue to pursue intellectually controversial topics with humility, sensitivity, and judiciousness because that's what professors should do. Nobody said I couldn't.

15. That controversy died down, but then some pseudonymous troll started emailing my department, lying about my views, calumniating me, and linking to tweets. One tweet in particular, which I will confess was poorly worded, but clear in meaning, I think, angered my bosses.

16. I had another meeting. I again explained my views about being intellectually honest, about pursuing the truth and promoting difficult conversations. My bosses expressed some disappointment. I was polite but never wavered from my view about academic freedom.

17. I had worried that this might happen. I saw the environment around me, saw the professors bullied into silence, talked to conservatives on campus and saw their reluctance to speak openly with others. But I still thought my politeness and willingness to debate would save me.

18. Unfortunately, it didn't. I was fired. The news was a quick punch to the gut. I had worked my entire adult life, as I said, to be a professor. And I worked tirelessly while employed, putting in 10 hour days and never taking weekends off. I always worked. I loved my job.

19. And it was gone...like that. It's hard for people to understand how devastating it is. My entire career was gone, because I am not hirable now in this chilled and profoundly illiberal environment. I'm an open conservative. I have controversial views. I'm done in the academy.

20. I ask anybody to look through my writings and my 40,000 tweets. Have I even said something derogatory about another person? No. I am polite and patient. I debate. I discuss. And still I was fired because I am intellectually honest, conservative, and have controversial views.

21. Many of my students sent me letters of support, which was touching and felt vindicating. I wish them the best. I loved teaching. And I never brought my political views into the classroom. Never. I received *no* complaints from students.

22. Now I am reading history, writing articles, and preparing to write a book. I am also relaunching a podcast with @ImHardcory when we finish preliminary stuff.But I don't have a job. And I probably won't for a long time. I tried to be open and honest. And I paid a price for it.

23. I hope that I might, with your generous help, be able to support myself for a bit. Any help is of course fondly appreciated. And if you don't want to, then I completely understand. But I promise I will continue to work hard. At least 10 hours a day. Continue writing.

24. And continue telling the truth as much as I can as a fallible and flawed human being. I don't live in luxury. I scrape by in an apartment in a small town. I don't buy anything, other than food. I am dedicated to my craft and to intellectual discourse.

25. I think we should treat everybody with dignity and grace and charity and I have always said so in my writings. People say nasty stuff about me, I know, but much of it is utter nonsense. I have no animus toward any group. I'm a dedicated individualist.

26. Thus, I believe in treating everybody as individuals, not as tokens of their race, sex, religion, or anything else. I have never said otherwise. And I will continue to promote that view while speaking openly and honestly about controversial topics and promoting conservatism.

27. BTW, the troll who sent many slanderous and mendacious emails to my college sent me one last email after I had been fired. It read: "I win." Let's not let him win though. Let's not grow comfortable with a culture that encourages such abhorrent behavior.

28. Instead, let's promote freedom of speech and inquiry, promote debate and discussion, promote tolerance and open mindedness, and discourage illiberal people from shrinking our discourse or making all conversations about personal motives instead of ideas. THANK YOU.