In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor realized there was a second virus harming the public’s health. Knowing her duty, she had to act to help the people who entrusted her to lead their state. But how?
Like the coronavirus, this virus was virulent, communicable, and, in certain instances, lethal. The governor was painfully aware this second virus was harming her state’s economy and, more ominously, she could see the ebbing of the public’s faith in their elected leaders and representative institutions.
Perhaps, she reasoned, it was why—despite the mounting danger—far too many members of the public refused to acknowledge this virus or take preventative measures against it. Indeed, many were unconscionably abetting the virus’ spread.
Making matters worse, unlike the COVID-19 virus—where panic porn reigned—too many elected officials, bureaucrats, academics, and the elitist media not only were bent upon gaslighting about the existence and danger of the second virus but also were actively spreading it. She banged her fist on her desk, the thud echoing through her dimly lit office.
She chided herself for letting them get to her again; then, taking a deep breath, prayed for the wisdom and strength to find a tonic for a citizenry riven by a toxic, destructive, and distinct minority of the population enthralled with a fevered hatred of the nation they are privileged to call home.
The governor took her pen and her political life in her hand, adjusted the reading glasses she rarely wore in public, and once more pored over her executive directive:
Cancel culture is a social system with multiple dimensions, including individual cancel culture, which is internalized and interpersonal, and systemic cancel culture, which is institutional or structural.
Both institutional and systemic cancel culture harm individuals and communities and deplete the strength of a whole society through the waste of human resources; the chilling and/or infringing of constitutional rights; and the eroding of the bonds of liberty, equality, and comity uniting all Americans.
Cancel culture has existed since our nation’s founding, commencing with the Royalists who wanted to cancel the American Revolution; the Confederate secessionists who forcibly tried to preserve slavery by dissolving the United States; and including the enemies foreign and domestic who sought to destroy our constitutional republic and impose fascism or communism upon our citizenry, state, and free republic.
Even today, cancel culture rioters target law enforcement officers and their fellow citizens for injury and death; deface and/or destroy private and public property; and decimate communities, especially those in which minorities live.
Within our institutions, cancel culture tramples citizens’ constitutional rights, terminates employment, destroys careers and reputations, and furthers the spread of both itself and its underlying anti-Americanism. This virulent outbreak of cancel culture has diminished the physical and mental health of citizens; moreover, cancel culture in and of itself has broad-reaching and direct negative impacts on individual health outcomes.
Because institutional cancel culture is an urgent public health issue that must be eradicated through proactive efforts to advance the public’s health, safety, and general welfare, now is the time for the creation and proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes, and actions that produce liberty, equality, and comity among all our citizens.
Our state as a whole must recommit to addressing the impact that cancel culture has on the lives of all our neighbors and its impact on overall population health. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed, confirmed, and highlighted the deadly nature of systemic cancel culture, not the least of which is by raising the stress level and lowering the immune systems of citizens, whether through rioting, firings, doxxings, and any and all means utilized.
Stated simply: cancel culture is a public health crisis.
Acting under my authority, I direct the state government to undertake the following strategies to combat cancel culture as a public health crisis and the resulting health inequities and injuries:
- Collect, analyze, and publish data documenting differences in health outcomes among cancel culture victims; and determine how cancel culture in all aspects of life affects the promotion of the general welfare; and assess how violence in the community and cancel culture are related, noting the impact on the overall health of people and the community at large.
- Develop and implement a plan outlining how the state will eliminate the root causes of cancel culture.
- Engage victims to identify problems and solutions to eradicate cancel culture; expand access to treatment for the physical, psychological, and economic injuries stemming from cancel culture; and advocate at the state and federal level for policies and funding opportunities that directly combat systemic cancel culture.
- Require departments and autonomous agencies’ classified and unclassified state employees to complete explicit cancel culture training—including the remedial instruction of history and civics—by December 31, 2020; and further require all state employees to have explicit cancel culture training on a biannual basis.
This directive is effective immediately.
Realizing this was but the first step of a thousand-mile journey to a freer tomorrow, the governor underlined the word immediately. She signed her directive and smiled. “God bless America.”