Ah, the cancel culture apology — for the Twitterati who have foisted this nightmare upon the world, the apology is the goal, the dopamine fix they need to get through the day, to prove to themselves that they have a proper place in the world, and that they are always right.

In other words, the apology is the automatically dispensed food pellet micenized humans crave.

It is the apology that drives cancel culture, because it encourages more acts of electronic subjugation, re-education, and humiliation. 

Take, for example, Ellie Kemper of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame.  When she was younger, she won a beauty contest.  While it is true that the Veiled Prophet Ball had a racially problematic (to say the least) past, it is also true that the sponsoring group integrated in 1979 — the year before Kemper was born.  Even still, after Twitidiots called her a "KKK Princess" for participating in the event 20 years later, she still for some reason felt obligated to apologize for things that occurred before she even existed.

"Hey guys – when I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown. The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past. I was not aware of this history at that time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved," Kemper said.  "I unequivocally deplore, denounce, and reject white supremacy. At the same time, I acknowledge that because of my race and my privilege, I am the beneficiary of a system that has dispensed unequal justice and unequal rewards."

Kemper was facing only mean tweets, disappointed looks from people she had never met before, and the odd feeling that people are saying, "You're too rich and too white and too cute" as if it were an insult behind her back.

That's why this auto-apology trend starting to halt is a good thing.  J.K. Rowling, John Cleese, Joe Rogan, Dave Chapelle, and Ricky Gervais (who is doing everything he can to get canceled even more often to better his career), and countless others, have started to say no to the baseless apology demands.

That is extremely important, because once the food pellets made up of the fear of others are gone, the micenized humans will — most likely, at least hopefully — go away.

Thomas Buckley is the former mayor of Lake Elsinore and a former newspaper reporter.  He is currently the operator of a small communications and planning consultancy and can be reached directly at planbuckley@gmail.com. You can read more of his work at https://thomas699.substack.com.

Image: Greg2600.