I have urged caution before at the current penchant for 'cancelling' things from the past which appear to be offensive in the present. It is a poor use of the word cancel, in the first instance, because the term that should be used is obliterate. A cancelled event can, after all, be rescheduled. That which has been destroyed is difficult, often impossible, to put back together again. That is what is intended. But I digress.

One of the most benighted attempts to 'cancel culture' in the recent past happened in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a chaotic and disastrous attempt by Mao to regain the initiative and defeat his perceived enemies in the CCP. Tens of thousands of teenagers were released from their school studies to roam the towns and country to destroy the "Four Olds", one of which was 'old culture'. Priceless books, scrolls and artifacts, not to mention temples and monuments, were seized, looted and smashed and are now lost forever. This is "cancel culture" at the extremes.

In a recent article in The Guardian (13/8/20), Nick Cave has lamented this parlous turn of events. He noted that "the refusal to engage with uncomfortable ideas (has) had an asphyxiating effect on the creative soul of a society."

He also said,

“Political correctness has grown to become the unhappiest religion in the world. It's once honourable attempt to re-imagine our society in a more equitable way now embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer (and none of the beauty) – moral certainty and self-righteousness shorn even of the capacity for redemption.”

I really could not have put it better myself, though coming from someone with street cred like Cave it sounds all the more convincing. But as I have also said before, there is always room for a case by case approach, involving a lively discussion from across the spectrum of opinion. There may be statues and books that are beyond the pale, but even those might better find a new home in a museum, the more to learn from past mistakes. 

Not such a good idea.