Goshen College, I think we can all agree, is a left-leaning university on the political scale. You could say the same thing with other universities but as right-leaning. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing in itself. But with that in mind, I’ve had personal experience with friends expressing their hesitation and concern to share their opinions because they don’t follow the mainstream thoughts of the class, or their classmates. And these thoughts aren’t outrageous thoughts, but because they don’t share the same views as the professor or class at large, they don’t get shared. 

This is because of the fear of cancel culture, which hinders people from expressing how they really feel. Cancel culture in itself isn’t a bad thing, but instead of holding people accountable who actually need to be held accountable, it allows others to bully, haze and ruin people’s lives for holding and sharing opinions deemed unpopular by the mainstream population. And it’s only gotten worse with social media. 

With so many people on social media, it’s not difficult to find people with different views than your own. But these sites curate the content that you interact with based on your data, creating echo-chambers where you only hear the same opinion. Because of the election being just a week away, I can bet that based on your analytical data, you’re either seeing a lot of pro Trump ads, or a lot of pro Kamala ads. I’m in this same boat and it’s really annoying when all I want to do is stay up to date on how “Old Moo” is doing on Instagram reels. So when people eventually interact with others that have different views, it’s no surprise that instead of having a conversation about those differences, we stand on our opposite hills and die fighting on them, taking each other down on the way.

Wednesday in convocation, we had Gina Leichty share her journey from a college student to Mayor of Goshen. And I thought the convo was good. At the end of the convo, she started talking about her hopes for this upcoming election, to see the first female president sworn in. I think everyone in attendance held their breath at this point, worrying that something was going to happen. What we were waiting for, I don’t think anybody knew, but it certainly wasn’t a “Clash of Clans” jingle. 

While it was all okay in the end, I fear what the reaction would’ve been had Liechty endorsed Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris. Politics have become so divisive that it’s impossible to have civil conversations about the things that impact everyone. This goes back to the fear of being canceled and shunned because of your opinions and values.    

While cancel culture can work, I think it has been used in such a negative way. It is impossible for people to make mistakes, learn and change, because even the smallest misstep can result in your whole life being ruined. Cancel culture in its current form hurts our society and divides us by allowing people to further isolate themselves from ideas they deem morally incorrect without the proper discussion to fully understand the situation or context. 

With social media increasing its hold on society every day, and individuals becoming more narcissistic and rooted in their own beliefs, the future looks grim for advocates of free speech and those with new ideas that go against the grain.