MyPillow’s reaction is not to cancel culture, it is capitalism

The phrase cancel culture has grown by leaps and bounds in meaning and scope in recent years. It is now being exercised by right-wing people to punish liberals who want to socially ostracize and punish people and organizations that stray from their values.

It’s also a clever rhetorical way to diminish the words of your detractors.

Now, there are good reasons to be wary of Twitter mafias and purity police who wander aggressively on social media to silence and punish those people who do not reach progressive ideals.

There is the story of the University of Southern California professor who was overwhelmed to say a Chinese word that sounded like the word N. There have been numerous cases of students on college campuses shouting loudspeakers with which they disagree. , suppressing their right to share their opinions.

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There was also a turning point in 2020 when a fight between the younger and more progressive generation of journalists in The New York Times fought hard against its senior and classically liberal writing to publish an opinion by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton.

via Torrenegra / Flickr

Progressives were against giving Cotton, a right-wing extremist, a platform to share their views. Thus, canceling it. While older staff thought it was editorially ethical to share the voice of an elected official, regardless of the disgust of their opinions.

The excesses of the canceled culture have worked to have a creepy effect on public discourse. Comics are afraid to make jokes for fear of being taken seriously and public figures should be prepared for a backlash if they say something that violates progressive orthodoxy.

Canceling culture has sparked an important debate about how we weigh and challenge ideas in a new world where everyone has a microphone. This debate is not resolved at all.

However, conservatives who lament the rise of the canceling culture should be careful not to confuse it with responsibility for their words and deeds.

An example is MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

via Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Lindell is a self-made man who overcame his cocaine addiction to start a business that contributes more than $ 300 million a year. He has become a well-known name for creating what he calls “The Most Comfortable Pillow You’ll Ever Have” and starring in commercials with his thick mustache, obvious work and a large crucifix.

The pillow mogul has also become one of Trumplandia’s most visible members, something that could come to bite his business this week.

He recently co-chaired the president’s re-election camp in Minnesota and helped fund Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood. After Trump lost the election in November, they moved on with the false theory that he was a victim of election fraud.

This conspiracy theory was a catalyst for the hundreds of insurgents who swarmed the Capitol building on January 6 and killed five people.

Lindell has claimed that the insurgents were antifa activists, not supporters of Trump.

Last Friday he had a meeting with Trump where he was photographed with some papers with intriguing notes.

The notes seemed to suggest that the president should invoke the “martial law if necessary” and the “Insurrection Act,” which mobilizes the military and the national guard.

This meeting was the last milestone in many of Lindell’s business ties.

Over the past few days, Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and HEB have dropped MyPillow products, which has led Lendell to claim to be a victim of the cancellation culture.

“They have attacked my company,” the right-wing media channel Right Side Broadcasting. “They’ve attacked companies I’ve worked with … They’re trying to cancel me.”

“I just talked about the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond … Drop MyPillow,” Lindell added.

His sentiments echo those of the president’s son, Eric, who claims that the countless companies that have severed ties with his father after the uprising simply participate in the culture of cancellation.

“We live in the era of canceling culture, but that hasn’t started this week. It’s something they’ve been doing to us and to others for years,” Eric Trump told The Associated Press. “If you don’t agree with them, if you don’t like them, they will try to cancel you.”

Sorry, Mike and Eric, it’s not a cancellation culture, it’s a good old-fashioned boycott.

Lindell should only be blamed for the business problems. He publicly aligned himself with a historically unpopular political figure and remained by his side after inciting the insurrection in the Capitol building.

He must have known that he was endangering his business by giving public support to a man who is one of his favorite in the country.

Lindell is not the victim of an awakened crowd, she is a perfect example of what happens in a properly functioning capitalist system.

Republicans love the free market. So Lindell should have no problem accepting what happens when you make your band toxic after associating it with violent right-wing extremists.

One of the freedoms of the capitalist system is to vote with your wallet. Businesses and consumers don’t want to support a brand that is headed by a man who supported an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government. They prefer to give their cushion money a lot of money to someone else.

Historically, Republicans have always claimed to be advocates of personal responsibility. Blaming for canceling culture for your failures can be an easy way to calm a cultural warrior base. But in the end, it doesn’t stop you from having to face the consequences of the real world for your actions.