rayusa

cancel culture often gets lumped together with “woke culture,” but they’re not really the same thing.

“woke” originally meant being alert to racial and social injustice. cancel culture is the social pressure part: boycotting, unfollowing, firing, dropping sponsorships, or trying to push someone out of public life. and it can come from basically any political direction.

adidas ended its hugely profitable yeezy partnership with kanye west after his antisemitic comments. bud light faced a massive conservative boycott after working with dylan mulvaney and eventually lost its spot as america’s top selling beer. target pulled some pride products after customer backlash and confrontations in stores.

carnegie was already a pretty controversial figure while he was alive.

some people saw him as the ultimate self made success story. poor immigrant, massive fortune, then libraries, universities, and philanthropy everywhere.

others saw a huge contradiction. he talked a lot about workers and fairness, but after the violent homestead strike, his image took a serious hit.

he also had direct access to presidents and powerful politicians, regularly writing to people like theodore roosevelt about trade, peace, and foreign policy.

kind of wild when you think about it. he never held office, but he was rich and influential enough to have conversations with the people running the country.

art is what happens when a person takes something that only existed inside them and gives it a form other people can experience.

a painting, a song, a building, a film, even an empty room can become art if it makes us notice, feel, or question something we probably would have ignored otherwise.