DROPPING PEOPLE
One young voter cut off his friend BECAUSE he voted for a different candidate.
Some agitators are suggesting that it may be appropriate to drop a friendship BECAUSE that friend works in the data mining industry.
Cancel culture has moved on into hidden areas of our lives.
Evil always goes to the shadows when the lights are turned on.
A close relative’s daughter won’t talk to her BECAUSE she “may” have voted for Trump. The daughter has bought into the reports that US citizens are being deported and her naturalized spouse may be picked up by some “Brown Shirts.” (It doesn’t matter that the truth is far different.) Think about this. Trump will spend four years in office, then what? He’ll be gone, but the relationship will have been damaged forever!
Opinions!!! Really???
We are being encouraged to drop people not because he or she is a child molester or a thief, but because he or she has a different OPINION!!! But you are OK with a friend who drives drunk on occasion? This is a sad movement in American history.
It started with accusations of “Communist” in the 1950s. Then, a decade or so ago it moved to the “Me Too” movement (accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior were to be “believed” just because the accuser was coming forward … as though lying couldn’t happen … even though it did as in the case of those LaCrosse players at Duke). On to the Cancel Culture, where one opinion could be stamped out by another group shouting louder.
Is THIS new movement an improvement or just another rendition of a sickening tune? A “brown note” in our public discourse? It certainly doesn’t sit well with rational thought or the Constitutional right of “free speech.” We used to fight for other’s rights to be wrong. Now we “drop” any friend or member of our family who disagrees with our silly opinions.
Along with this crazy (insane, really) illness comes those who “move to France” anytime someone from the other party is elected to high office. They are so invested in their own little opinions that they refuse to live next to ANYONE who may not (or may) agree with them. Others are so invested in their own opinions that they take up a weapon to kill the offender who says something they oppose. (“If you use the wrong pronoun I will blow you away!”) Nice! [That was sarcasm.]
Evil always goes to the shadows when the lights are turned on.
You may be questioning whether I am making up this issue … I’m not. Dazeddigital.com has THIS article by Nick Strasburg: “Your friend has an evil job. Should you cut them off?”
In the article it becomes clear that the idea of “evil job” is an opinion. “As more young people pursue morally dubious careers in defense tech, private equity and AI, their friends are weighing up where to draw the line.”
I found this article to be one of many about “canceling” friends, neighbors, family members, and other associates under the radar of societal norms. In other words, in the shadows!
Your opinions (on anything from politics, money, or how to hang the toilet tissue) reign over relationships. The disagreement is not handled as a “your opinion isn’t my opinion” but as “your opinion makes you worthless in my world.” That is sick and evil. That type of thinking is what caused the Holocaust. Jews (and frankly anyone who disagreed with the State) became “worthless” and millions were exterminated. It is this kind of thinking that pulls down statues, burns buildings, and destroys the social fabric for NO OTHER reason than ONE opinion.
INSTEAD,
What if we refused to participate in this craziness?
What if we decided to laugh when someone shows how important his limited mind is to himself? We could laugh and invite the poor dude to lunch. We don’t become community by being individual kings and queens.
It is easy to imagine that opinions DIVIDE … it makes sense on one fragile level. But a multitude of opinions is actually healthy and, by the way, honest. Just go to WallyWorld and inspect the lipstick aisle and you will find they aren’t all “Rose Red.” Believe it or not, there are green, tan, silver, and black shades, too. If your OPINION mattered, the store would only have the ONE shade you imagined everyone wanted to wear. Going through an estate sale you’d only find ONE type of shoe, ONE type of hat, or ONE type of necktie (royal blue, you’d imagine?). Honest!!!
It is when we inspect the opinions of others that we often find the truth. (It is true also that sometimes the multitude of opinions hide it.) So, when I check Gooble reviews for a hotel I find that some people are overly critical of the age of carpet (even if it is clean), and some can’t stand a bathroom sink that is beginning to stain. I laugh when those folk give only one star. (“Listen, Sweetie, I’ve rested well in places that had a cockroach … because cockroaches can be killed, but lack of rest could make me unsafe on the road.”) I certainly understand that your opinion is precious to YOU, but if only one of the last 50 reviewers mentions a roach I’m not going to pay an additional $40 for a night’s rest.
Finally, sometimes (rarely) ONE opinion is all that matters. You want a RED car! So, buy a red car. It matters to you because … you hate all the other colors? It doesn’t matter one bit to me, actually. I hope to never be in the position to tell you that there will never be another red car made (because the red paint is made with red dye #3 which causes cancer in California lab mice).
Mankind can survive with differences of opinion, but not with cancelling friends and family.
Copyright 2026 Donald Whelpley
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
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It saddens me to mention that I made a grammatical error very near the end… “I certainly understand that YOU’RE opinion…” I am attacked by remorse that I did not catch that rascal!
Being human is good, however.