I cannot believe we have reached a point where having an opinion that is slightly different from the norm can get you labeled as the absolute worst thing to walk the earth.
I am not saying every opinion out there is good, but to be publicly shamed, ridiculed and even so far as being barred from potential job opportunities for stating an opinion that does not hurt anyone is not something that should be normalized nor encouraged.
Sadly, due to the easy access we have to the internet and social media sites, it is easy for an opinion or a hot take to go viral.
Cancel culture, or the idea of canceling an individual, stems from the belief that individuals who have genuinely hurt other people should be held accountable for their actions. When explained this way, one might believe, “Of course people have to be held accountable, because people need to learn that their actions have consequences,” and that is true. Our actions, good and bad, have consequences.
Unfortunately, cancel culture is a double-edged blade that is being used to cancel individuals who simply have an opinion that differs from the masses, or rather, more alarmingly, the hive mind.
If anyone has jumped onto Twitter (the site where most cancellations happen), it seems like every other week there is a cancellation fest going on.
The times that I have seen a cancellation with my own eyes, I think, “What did they do to deserve being canceled? Was it something they did years ago and do they regret said past actions in the current day?”
I am not the type of person who likes to start drama or who adds more fuel to the fire, but many times I genuinely want to ask people who are being extremely vocal about a cancellation why they believe said person needs to be canceled.
Unfortunately, many of these people tend to either be bandwagon followers or somehow manage to share a collective brain with the extremely vocal minority that lurks on Twitter or Tumblr.
I will admit, my opinions can be different from what someone might expect when a certain topic is discussed. And the idea of facing backlash for simply stating my opinion is a genuinely terrifying thought for me because we have reached a point where even my opinions can bar me from applying for a job or pursuing my career.
Once again, I am not saying that every opinion is a good opinion, but, is an opinion that does not hurt anyone also a valid opinion?
Just thinking about this makes my head spin, but I also want to voice out my opinion even more. Props to the people who stand by their opinions and who do not need to apologize for simply stating their opinion, because many times, they do not have much to lose, and, in the best-case scenario, they even get a huge amount of support.
But when you are just a 21-year old student who still has much to live and learn, even something as simple as having an opinion that, how we say in Spanish, “No tiene nada que ver,” can leave a permanent record that will probably follow us for the rest of our lives.
So, with all those thoughts out of my head, I leave you with this: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
