刚读完了一篇卫报The Guardian上的专栏文章，让我对英美国家的“取消文化”有了更多的了解。文章的题目是“Cancel culture was cruel and totally erratic”（字面直译：取消文化既残酷又完全随意)
erratic 这个词值得停下来查阅了解一下-- 这是个形容词，朗文字典给出的英文释义是：changing, often or not following a regular pattern, so that it is difficult to know what will happen next (不断变换，经常毫无规律，因此很难预测下一步的发展)，用这个词来形容“取消文化”确实非常精准。
顺手我又特意查了“cancel culture” 的更详细的解释：
In short, cancel culture is the practice of withdrawing support for public figures, companies, or even everyday people after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. This withdrawal of support can take many forms, from social media boycotts and refusing to buy their products to demanding they be fired from their jobs or removed from positions of influence. （简而言之，“取消文化”是指当公众人物、企业甚至普通人做出或发表被视为令人反感或冒犯的行为或言论后，对其撤回支持的一种做法。这种撤回支持的形式多种多样，从社交媒体抵制、拒绝购买其产品，到要求将其解雇或剥夺其影响力。) 乍一看有点像中文饭圈的“塌房“，但好像cancel culture 的波及范围更广，不仅仅限于明星，而且甚至某人在十多年前所发出的不当言论也可能会被清算被cancel, 相比之下我们的”塌房“还算比较温和理性的了。
其实最初”取消文化“的初衷是积极有益的，比如：
1）Gives voice to the powerless 为那些无助的弱势群体发声。
2）Forces powerful people to face real consequences for harmful actions.迫使有权势者为其有害行为承担后果
3）Sends a clear message about societal values.向社会传递关于社会价值观的明确信息
但貌似发展到现在，反而出现了诸多弊端，如：
1）disproportionate, often ruining lives over minor or old mistakes. 反应过度，往往因一些微不足道或早已过去的过错而毁掉人生。
2）Discourages learning, and growth, creating a fearful culture.扼杀学习与成长，营造出一种充满恐惧的文化氛围。
3）Can be driven by a mob mentality, with little due process or context.往往受群体心理驱使，缺乏正当程序或对具体背景的考量。
文章作者进一步讨论了”mob mentality“的不良后果：
It’s true that a mob can deliver the occasional deserved comeuppance报应–some over-mighty sleazebags were felled by the MeToo movement – but they are not effective at delivering justice in a consistent or systematic way. For mobs, as should have been obvious from the start, tend not to have well-calibrated ethical instincts. Human beings are too prone to misinterpreting feelings of envy, irritation and personal unhappiness as deeply felt moral convictions. （诚然，群体有时也能带来应得的报应——一些权势熏天的性骚扰者在“MeToo”运动中被扳倒——但它们并不能以一致或系统的方式实现正义。正如一开始就应当清楚的那样，群体往往缺乏经过校准的伦理判断。人类太容易把嫉妒、烦躁和个人不满误认为是深刻的道德信念。-- 最后这句话太扎心了，怪不得”mob“这个词还经常被翻译为”乌合之众“）
不记得在哪里看到过一句话，大致意思是说，越是有思想有洞见力的人，往往就越擅长用通俗易懂的analogy (类比，比喻)把一个深奥复杂的道理讲清楚，以下这段话就相当符合这个特征：
The activists who first took up social media were rather like small children playing with loaded guns.They were ineptly wielding weapons much more powerful and complicated than they understood, firing with naïve conviction in all directions. The results were alarming, random and often quite mad. （最早使用社交媒体的那批激进分子，就像拿着上膛手枪的孩子。他们笨拙地挥舞着远比自己理解更复杂、更强大的武器，带着天真的信念四处开火。结果令人震惊、随机且往往荒谬。）
不得不佩服这种能够用精准的词汇清晰表达出复杂深刻的思想和道理的超能力！
