I’m just a blogger and podcaster who likes to discuss her own personal opinions in public. But even though I’m not a professional who is employed by a major outlet, I know that what I put out to the public could easily be taken down in some parts of the world. I’m already criticized enough on social media because of my beliefs, mostly from the ultra leftist crowd. I can’t imagine what could happen if they take control. In fact, I’m worried, since it feels like it’s becoming more and more realistic by the day.
Here in Canada, we have something called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document which is entrenched in our constitution. This document celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. According to the Canadian government’s website, section two, which lists our fundamental freedoms as Canadians guarantees the freedom of media and press. Of course, you can’t explicitly target groups or individuals with hate, but I’m worried that the line on what really DOES constitute hate broadens to a point that we can’t even say what we want to say anymore. We’re getting there. I know many people (myself included) who don’t want to be boxed in because of our ethnicity, but worry that if we talk about how we celebrate our heritages, would be told that we need to “decolonize our thinking” and start thinking from the perspective of people of our background. Huh? What does that mean, our “background?” Everyone has a different background. My background is different from my parents, both culturally and generationally. We have different experiences. My parents and I might share a genetic background, but our experiences are different. But sometimes, I worry about saying something wrong/not PC by today’s standards. I think we all are. I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to have a perspective at all. I was heavily critical of Girl Guides of Canada changing “Brownies” to “Embers” (at least they didn’t use “Comets,” which I was not happy to see make the final list) as well as Ryerson’s change to Toronto Metropolitan University (why didn’t they use a name of an Indigenous person of historical signifacance?). I was very open about it and thank goodness I’m not a celebrity. I’d probably have been kicked off social/cancelled! If we truly want equity, shouldn’t we be looking at the REAL issues? Like, for example, language challenges that many immigrants face? Mental health of their children who face stress and anxiety because they straddle two cultures? Why does one have to be so careful when they ask how someone can bridge two cultures, to help the two cultures understand why they feel a certain way (e.g. culture one has very set gender rules and cannot understand WHY one identifies as non-binary (and to be honest, I STILL don’t fully understand it myself). Or simply how to explain that students in Canada are expected to speak up in class and why it’s important for them to do so. There are times when we should be allowed to be critical of other cultures). Why do we (or rather, DE&I groups) forget that they have two cultures? I want to (and will) continue to discuss this in an open manner, and not have people stop me from doing so because my views don’t fit the current “woke” narrative. One of my biggest peeves is how we discuss social class. But that’s for another article or podcast.
Sure, the Charter still guarantees me my right to talk about it, but for how long? And when are we going to stop being so sensitive (Mother’s Day is coming up and this is the first year I’ve seen emails about opting out of receiving Are going to get to a point where we’re interpreting the Charter in such a way that one might no longer be able to do so? We’re already destroying history. Why do we want to cancel figures who are now considered racist (or sexist, or anything ___ist)? Why can’t we learn from mistakes, or discuss why we now see it as wrong? I studied post WWII China in university as a history major. The Cultural Revolution AWFUL and CRUEL (and I’m being nice about this). Traditional Chinese culture, something that is thousands of years old, was basically, well, CANCELLED (that wasn’t all. There was also a human-created famine). If we’re not careful, we’re heading towards this kind of society. And with inflation, sure, there’d be a “famine” as well. Historical figures, be it Aristotle or Confucius, had views that would be considered wrong by 2023 standards. Yet, without them, our modern cultures would NOT exist. We can’t erase these guys from the books just because they said something that would be considered “cancellable” today. A lot of people don’t seem to understand this. And these people have a lot of clout. Enough to influence governments. I worry about what we can and cannot say in media in the future.
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