Tom Brady is a
Poster child for white privilege —
But, hey, let’s go Bucs!
Sleep soundly each night
Knowing an unhinged liar
Didn’t get your cash
Giant space lasers
Could transform Jewish life, but
Don’t tell the mohels
As you can see, the first month of 2021 was filled with rambunctiousness and cuddles.
Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. I’ve heard that cliché for longer than I can remember, and it has always rubbed me the wrong way. To me — in fact, I’d bet, to a lot of people in the workforce — this saying sounds bullshit wrapped in banality.
Not just that. It’s the worst kind of bullshit. It sounds inspirational, but it’s not. It just makes me feel bad about my career. It says that if only I had enough passion and used it to guide my choices, I wouldn’t be unhappy at work.
Now that I’m trying to reinvent my career, this objectionable advice comes up over and over again. Figure out your passion, the career gurus say, and the right path will emerge.
And if it doesn’t, I infer, it’s all my fault.
You can imagine my relief, then, when I discovered that I’m right to think this advice is bullshit. I started reading Designing Your Life a short while ago, and the authors have this to say:
Many people operate under the dysfunctional belief that they just need to find out what they are passionate about. Once they know their passion, everything else will magically fall into place. We hate this idea for one very good reason: most people don’t know their passion.
Passion only comes after we try things, the authors explain. That’s why it’s important to explore several different career ideas, with a methodological process they call prototyping, instead of barreling forward with a single assumption that is most likely faulty. “Passion is the result of good life design, not the cause,” they write.
As I’ve written about before, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Trying to identify a singular passion was an obstacle I could never conquer, and I’ve spent too many years being hard on myself because of it. It’s a relief to know I don’t have to jump over this hurdle. I just have to go around it.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a long-sleeve Lightning T-shirt, jeans, floral socks, and Stan Smiths.
How does Dave feel today? Dave can’t complain.
What are the factors affecting Dave’s mood today? Dave is enjoying the crisp, sunny weather, which is a nice change from yesterday’s frozen tundra.
Does Dave have any observations about Floridians in cold weather? Dave has noticed that Floridians have no idea how to dress in cold weather. He sees people wearing heavy sweatshirts with shorts and flip-flops when the temperature is near freezing. Dave may or may not be one of these people.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave looks resplendent in a Bucs cap, Emory T-shirt, brown hoodie, jeans, Disney socks, and Stan Smiths.
How does Dave feel today? Dave is hungry.
What are the factors affecting Dave’s mood today? Dave just learned that Nabisco has introduced gluten-free Oreos.
Why hasn’t Dave told us about his Jewish space laser? George Soros told Dave that I am not to discuss the Jewish space laser publicly till Simchat Torah.
There is no such thing as “cancel culture.”
Oh, sure, the phrase exists. And the alliteration makes it memorable. But I’m putting it in quotes because it describes a fictitious concept that is intellectually dishonest.
“Cancel culture” is deceiving because it attempts to recast the villain in a situation as a victim. The people who claim to be “canceled” are not victims. They are paying the price for reprehensible actions.
I agree with the alternative term that many people smarter than I have proposed: consequence culture. It is appropriate, important, necessary — in fact, morally imperative — to hold people accountable for what they have done.
The term “cancel culture” comes up a lot these days because some people1 are being taken to task for their participation in the violent Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
If you rose up to overturn democracy, you should not get off scot-free. You are not immune from the consequences. You are responsible for what you say and do.
The type and severity of offense may mitigate accountability, but it doesn’t eliminate it. Someone who plagiarizes a paragraph in a book shouldn’t face the same consequences as someone who plagiarizes an entire book. Even though the first infraction is smaller, it doesn’t let the perpetrator off the hook.2
No one who stormed the Capitol last month can be excused for their actions, even if they were a bit player in the act of sedition and domestic terrorism.3
Allegations of “cancel culture” extend way beyond the Capitol attack. I’m not even going to list all the recent examples; there are just too many. In all these instances, the story is the same: People claim they’re victims when they’re not.
I can’t help but notice that the people claiming “cancel culture” today were quiet when cultural elites (i.e., Harvey Weinstein) and liberal politicians (i.e., Al Franken) were held accountable for their abusive behavior against women.4
Let’s eliminate the phrase “cancel culture” from the national discourse. It’s a false narrative that shifts blame away from those who should be ostracized and onto those who are rightfully holding them accountable for what they’ve done.
1 In my opinion, not nearly enough people yet.
2 A bloodier example: Someone who stabs another person shouldn’t be excused because they didn’t actually kill the person. The punishment might be less, but punishment is still deserved.
3 A separate, but related issue, is the consequences people should face if they continue to believe in the flat-out lie that the election was stolen. They shouldn’t be penalized for being conservative, but I have no problem with society recognizing that they are incapable of making fact-based decisions and treating them accordingly.
4 One might argue that Franken’s ogling photo was much less egregious than Weinstein’s long history of sexual abuse, but both men still faced harsh consequences, including the loss of their jobs and the destruction of their reputations.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing his finest formal clothes: a blue Annapolis Capital Gazette T-shirt and gray sweatpants.
How does Dave feel today? Dave is cold.
What are the factors affecting Dave’s mood today? When Dave woke up this Groundhog Day, the temperature was a very chilly 282°. Brrrr. What? You don’t measure your temperatures in Kelvin?
What does Dave’s blue T-shirt say? Dave’s T-shirt says, “We are putting out a damn newspaper tomorrow.” It was sold to raise funds after the Capital Gazette massacre in 2018. After five reporters were murdered, the rest of the staff decided that the best way to honor the victims was with journalism. “We’re putting out a damn newspaper tomorrow” became the newsroom’s rallying cry, and the newspaper indeed came out on time.
What is Dave wearing today? Dave is wearing a black Nike shirt, a pair of robin egg blue running shorts, and white socks.
How does Dave feel today? Dave is feeling slobbish.
What are the factors affecting Dave’s mood today? Dave desperately needs a haircut and a nap.
How is Dave’s dairy-free, gluten-free diet going? Dave would kill any one of you for a bagel and cream cheese.