The Cancel Culture Claims Another Victim in North Carolina
For people who question whether the "cancel culture" is real, not only is it real but it can actually kill people. A case in point is a former professor at the University of North Carolina who lost his job after being attacked by the Leftist mob. After his forced retirement, he was found dead in his home. Even though the cause of death has not yet been determined, this is looking like yet another instance in which being tried and convicted over Twitter has runious effects on people's lives.
Even though the "cancel culture" is bemoaned by heroes of the Left such as Barack Obama, it has taken on a life of its own in the past few months. The young radical soldiers of Twitter, who have likely never served a day in uniform in their lives, have appointed themselves the ultimate arbiters of American ideals. All those who do not conform to their tightly conceived notions of what it means to be woke may end up paying with their job and their livelihood. This was exactly what happened to Mike Adams.
Prof. Adams Was "Retired" for Expressing His Views on Twitter
Adams was an unabashed conservative professor at UNC Wilmington, a university that is trending about as left as the area where it is located. He took to Twitter to criticize the lockdown ordered by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Regarldess of the type of humor that he chose, Adams was exercising his First Amendment rights of free speech. He criticized the action of a governor the same way as any citizen could.
The mob's incitement against Adams started the same place that many of these efforts do; on Change.org. An online petition circulated calling for the University to fire Adams for his tweets. Adams was a ternured professor in criminology. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the petition was circulated widely on social media. Ultimately, many of the signatories did not even live in North Carolina, but were trying to have their say in a matter that involved other taxpayers' money.
The University bowed to the left-wing mob as universities often do when they think that they are under attack. UNC ultimately forced the 55-year old Adams into early retirement, paying him a $500,000 pittance in exchange for his entire career. Adams was set to retire on August 1 under the terms of that agreement. However, Adams was found dead in his home a week before his retirement when police went to his home for a welfare check.
Adams is being mourned by conservatives across the country as a hero of free speech. Moreover, his death should serve as a glaring reminder of what happens when the Cancel Culture runs amok. While it is easy for a Twitter Warrior to sit behind a screen and bandy accusation against someone, they end up having real effects on that person's life and livelihood. When people lose their jobs due to mob incitement, it means that they are often not able to work for the rest of their lives. In some cases, potentially like Adams, it could even lead to their death.
Ivanka Trump Warned About the Cancel Culture All the Way Back in the Spring
Ivanka Trump called attention to this dangerous culture when her graduation address to Wichita State University was cancelled after liberal agitation. Her raising the issue has at least shone a spotlight on what happens with increasing frequency in this country. However, the phenomenon of people paying with their job for their beliefs is just in its early stages so long as the Twitter Warriors are allowed to continue cyberbullying without any check. The combination of liberals acting like fascists and businesses that acquiesce to them will cause a toll in human lives that shows no signs of ending. In other words, we have a name for what is happening without any concrete way to put a stop to it.
In the meantime, Adams is just the latest victim of leftism running out of control in this country. The Cancel Culture seemingly knows no bounds and is just beginning to gather steam as young tech-savvy liberals gain expertise in online agitating. There is a real threat to conservatives in this country who are merely trying to express their own views. However, they face a growing threat to their businesses and livelihood for their political beliefs, which the exact opposite of what out Founding Fathers intended.