"Cancel Culture" isn't a good thing. It's a GREAT thing.

Anyone who pays attention to the news is aware that a huge number of famous people are suddenly on some cosmic naughty list, despite whatever they did that primarily made them famous and revered.

Just a few examples:

George Washington: Brilliant military strategist. Outnumbered by the British, but fought them off regardless and became the first president of the country he helped to found.
HOWEVER: He and his wife owned slaves, regarded them as property, and those famous "wooden teeth" of George's were actually stolen from the mouths of the slaves.


Thomas Jefferson: One of the great thinkers of history. Not only did he draft most of the Declaration of Independence, he also gave deep thought to religion and even attempted to refashion the Bible.
HOWEVER: He was another prolific slave owner. He raped Sally Hemings, and then his "legitimate" descendants tried unsuccessfully to deny inheritance rights to the other descendants who resulted.

Margaret Sanger: Nurse, activist, fought hard for women's rights to contraception.
HOWEVER, she apparently thought the word "women" applied only to white women. Other ethnic groups, especially the poor ones, were undeserving of self-determination, according to Sanger. Forget contraception for them -- she went straight to sterilization. Hitler liked her style.

Michael Jackson: The King of Pop, who redefined music and dance for generations. Overcame an abusive childhood and professed a desire to make childhood a beautiful thing for his fans.
HOWEVER: Somewhere along the line, his perceptions blurred. If he loved children, he could have showed it better by keeping his hands off them.

Michael Richards: The zany-haired costar of Seinfeld. Kept people laughing for nine years as Kramer.
HOWEVER: The laughter stopped one evening as he stood on stage and lambasted audience members with racial slurs.

Lance Armstrong: Professional cyclist who seemed unbeatable, even by cancer.
HOWEVER, much of his amazing prowess came from the array of illegal drugs he used. Now you never see his name anywhere without an asterisk following it.

Woody Allen: Filmmaker and comedian who helped bring Jewish-flavored comedy to the American mainstream, entertained with self-deprecating irony and made nerds feel that they belonged.
HOWEVER: As many of his films seemed to indicate, he sincerely believed that men best enjoyed relationships with young women -- VERY young women, such as high school age. But when he first married his partner's adopted daughter and then was accused of molesting his adopted toddler daughter, movie audiences decided to find something else to watch on Netflix.

Christopher Columbus: Sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Not a small feat, considering he was in a wooden ship, without so much as a Garmin GPS. Inspired numerous other European explorers to follow in his wake, eventually settling the American continents. Without such bold explorers, we'd still be living in Paris, London or Zurich, maybe.
HOWEVER: They didn't just "explore." They walked in and took over. They spread disease and massacred the people they encountered in these strange new lands. Everyone who followed did the same thing, which is why we have Indian reservations, none of which bear the slightest resemblance to Paris, London, or Zurich.

Suddenly, none of these people are praised unreservedly anymore. They once had holidays proclaimed for them, had statues erected in their honor, and had cities and institutions named for them. Now the statues are coming down, the names are being erased from the buildings, and the names of the holidays are changing.

Some people think this is unfair. "They were products of their times!" people say. "Lots of people owned slaves, it was 'the thing' back then. People were more ignorant. If they'd only lived a little longer, they might have changed their minds about slavery, eugenics, child molestation, racism, cheating, and genocide."

Maybe they would have. George Wallace did, sorta. But that only came about after he was shot and ended up paraplegic. A few of the examples above have "lived a little longer," and they've either faded into obscurity, or dismiss or deny the accusations of misconduct.

So why do I say that cancel culture, which means holding people accountable for the evil they do in the world, regardless of their accomplishments, is not just a good thing but a great thing?

Because, as Maya Angelou famously said, "...[W]hen you know better, do better."

Any aspiring general, President, pop star, film auteur, anthropologist, or athlete has the opportunity to do better, because what's happening now makes it IMPOSSIBLE for them not to know better! I'm optimistic that these reversals of historic fortune will serve as cautionary tales to the up-and-coming: "I can do many things, but unless they serve humanity, reflect kindness and avoid causing others pain, they are worthless and won't give me the 'posterity' I long for."

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is in the process of learning this. I hope it happens in her lifetime.