Bungacast /518/ We Have Never Been Postmodern ft. Geoff Shullenberger
Oct 31, 2025
Geoff Shullenberger, managing editor at Compact, dives into the complexities of free speech, cancel culture, and online behavior. He debates whether 'right-wing cancel culture' truly exists and how it differs from the left's approach. Exploring René Girard's ideas, Shullenberger discusses mimesis and scapegoating, delving into their relevance in today’s digital age. He analyzes the intersection of libertarian thought, Silicon Valley, and new state-capitalist dynamics, all while reflecting on how troll culture embodies both transgression and moralism.
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Origins And Evolution Of Cancel Culture
- Cancel culture began as a politically inchoate, crowdsourced spectacle enabled by the internet's context collapse.
- Over time it took a progressive institutional form focused on enforcing internal orthodoxies within institutions.
Viral Public Shaming Cases
- John Ronson's examples like the suburban dentist and Justine Sacco illustrate early mass public shaming dynamics.
- These incidents show rapid global amplification that ruined ordinary people's lives overnight.
Right-Wing Targeting Differs In Kind
- Recent right-wing 'cancellations' often target random service workers rather than institutionally powerful figures.
- That shift reveals a moralizing desire for shared public standards at odds with the right's traditional trollish bravado.
