Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject. —- John Stuart Mill
Opinions are not always popular. In the world of social media and cancel culture, these unpopular opinions can render you a social outcast, whether amongst friends, family, or the broader society. You can view a running list of some cancellations here. If you have been furiously looking to lose a friend, perhaps multiple, or perhaps all of them so that you can finally live your life in pure blissful isolation surrounded by books and homegrown food off the grid, your search is over!
Pre-Steps: Have Friends
If you already don’t have friends, congratulations! You’ve made it and had a head start! If you want to go through the whole process, the first thing you have to do is engage in things other than politics and enjoy mutual activities with strangers that encourage bonding such as sports leagues or being picked last in dodgeball. This is a critical step to ensuring you can destroy said friendships with politics! Maybe even throw in some religion!
Step 1: Do Not Rush to Exit the Fog of War
We see it happen all the time, something happens, a hate crime perhaps, a heinous crime, and people rush to sympathies for the purported victim. Justice for Jussie! Justice for Bubba Wallace. See Wilfred Reilly’s book, “Hate Crime Hoax” for countless examples of people rushing to judgement. It’s what that hate crime represents, not what the truth is. If you plan on being the person that says, “hey guys, this seems horrible if true, but maybe we should wait for the facts” you’re going to have a bad time with your friends and probably get called a racist. Now that’s what I call killing two birds with one stone.
Step 2: Acknowledge nuance and form a reasonable opinion
Imagine this, a pandemic hits, you’re going to have a couple of groups that naturally form. The group that wants to shut down the country with unproven methods of control will have the power to do so. The group that thinks the pandemic is made up and doesn’t exist will also yell a lot. Don’t you dare stand in the middle and formulate an opinion that explores the grey areas. You may as well waterboard a masked child while telling him Santa isn’t real and that elves are just exploited laborers. If you’re the only one in a grocery store, wearing a gas mask and a hazmat suit, sir this is a Denny’s, please leave the fruits and vegetables alone.
Step 3: Actually read the bills being criticized by your friends.
Chances are, if you find yourself among friends chanting “Gay” to oppose Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill”, you are among people who have not read the bill and are likely devout students of Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer, pinnacles of American intellectual excellence.
As Brad Polumbo documents in his article “Attacks on Ron DeSantis over Florida’s 'Don’t Say Gay' bill have no basis in reality”, it simply "prohibit[s] a school district from encouraging classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels." In July 2021, a former teacher in NYC showed first graders a cartoon that depicted masturbation. Polumbo notes that this law as written does not ban students from discussing their same-sex parents or “preventing that student from talking about their family at a show-and-tell like anyone else. There’s nothing stopping students from discussing these issues of their own volition or anything preventing a teacher from answering questions about sexual orientation if a student approaches them.”
Step 4: Refuse to let people re-define language
Speech is critical to your communication skills. After all, this is how you have made the friends that we discussed in the pre-step. It is important that speech is agreed upon by society, including the definitions of words used in that speech, to ensure we even can communicate. If I ask you to define a woman, that should be no harder than asking you if it’s easier to grow an orange in Florida or the Sahara Desert. If you believe that men and women, because of modern medicine are virtually chemically and physically indistinguishable to a random observer, you have joined in letting people re-define language. This is a slippery slope we ought to steer clear of. After all, there is a chemical and physical difference. At the DNA and bone structure level. There is no logical coherence to believing that you can change gender or sex but not being able to believe you are a different race. And believe me, people will try to change their race if they find it beneficial. Don’t take my word for it. This individual had surgery to appear Asian.
The moral of the story is that if you sympathize with Lia Thomas identifying as a woman but are against her swimming against biological women, congratulations. You are back at step 2 and everyone hates you.
Step 5: Be a statue of a former icon of American history
Yes friends. Even statues can lose friends and alienate themselves. Former heroes of American History are finding themselves cancelled in our present day, stripped of their accomplishments, and punished for certain evils and misdeeds that were committed at the time. Not all statues are created equal. Certain abolitionists statues have been defaced by woke mobs.
If you enjoy these practical steps and are interested in more, I will be back for Part 2 soon! In the meantime, share with friends and family if you still have any left!