Cancel Culture + Creating Movements
Happy Sunday,
Here's what I've been reading:
A Taxonomy of Fear - As an immigrant who lived under authoritarianism, I've been considering the disturbing similarities of that experience to how Cancel Culture is curbing the free exchange of ideas.
According to Thomas Chatterton, “a generation unable or disinclined to engage with ideas and interlocutors that make them uncomfortable … open[s] the door—accessible from both the left and the right—to various forms of authoritarianism.”
In “Taxonomy of Fear,” Emily Yoffe expertly outlines how speech is being silenced. Here's an excerpt:"
The cultural rules around hot button issues are ever-expanding. It’s as if a daily script went out describing what’s acceptable, and those who flub a line—or don’t even know a script exists—are rarely given the benefit of the doubt, no matter how benign their intent. Naturally, people are deciding the best course is to shut up. It makes sense to be part of the silenced majority when the price you pay for an errant tweet or remark can be the end of your livelihood.
Unlike countries where failure is frowned upon, in America, we’re encouraged to risk it all and change the world. We will inevitably come up with bad ideas. Do we want to live in an America where people are afraid to contribute to our most pressing problems because they fear being canceled for a bad idea?
Your Startup is a Movement - If you’re thinking about starting a company, or improving the way you pitch anything, you should familiarize yourself with Movement Marketing, aka “Earned Marketing.” In this article, David Sacks summarizes how companies like Tesla use Earned Marketing to capture people’s attention for free and leapfrog competitors who are too busy wasting money on Superbowl ads. Here’s one of my favorite excerpts from the article:
Political movements rally people to a cause larger than themselves. So too do startup movements. Tesla begins all of its product unveilings by explaining the need to move the world to sustainable energy. Salesforce talks about moving business to the cloud. What is the larger cause that your startup stands for?
Many founders are like bad politicians — they are “policy wonks.” They just want to talk about their features. I’ve got news for you: Nobody cares about your features. At least not yet. First people need to understand the problem you’re solving. Then they need to understand your solution. Only then will they be interested in your features.
🎧 🐁
Snitches vs. Rats - On a lighter note, last week, I noticed 21 Savage had dropped a new album when I was scrolling through Spotify.
When I pressed play, I was expecting some good old gangsta rap I could bump in the background while making my daily dose of avocado toast. What I was not expecting was Morgan Freeman delivering monologues throughout the album.
Not only does Morgan have the most soothing voice ever — checkout March of the Penguins if you don’t believe me — but he also drops some serious knowledge on Savage Mode II.
For instance, on the “Snitches & Rats” interlude, Morgan Freeman says, “Snitches and rats are not the same thing, let me break it down to make sure y'all see what I mean.”
He continues:
A "snitch" is someone minding other folks' business to find information they can sell for a price or trade for some other form of compensation.
A "rat" is a traitor, a conceiver, planner or physical participator.
He doesn't sell secrets for power or cash, he betrays the trust of his team or his family hoping to save his own cowardly ass.
The difference is, at least a snitch is human, but a rat is a fuckin' rat, period.I’ve been using the words “snitch” and “rat” interchangeably throughout my life. Thanks to Morgan Freeman, I will know better not to do this in the future.
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Bardia