"We will stop left wing cancel
culture. It's very simple. very simple."
Many people who voted for Trump might also have had some environmental sentiments, but their priorities on voting day in 2024 were to identify with outspoken criticism of 'wokeness'. Away from the privacy of the voting booth, they felt powerless to protest, in part from fear of being labelled a social pariah, or even subject to arrest and detention.
It is true also that many people help to fund 'extreme' environmental organisations such as Sea Shepherd or Greenpeace, whilst being in fear of undertaking direct actions themselves. The logic is the same - people pay or elect other people to do or say the things they feel unable to do or say themselves.
These arguments are made and remade in many of the references on the internet. In short, many 'ordinary' working class Americans felt sufficiently repressed by the imposition of 'woke' dogma and 'cancel culture' that they took an opportunity to lash out against its proponents - identified as members of the Democratic Party.
An interview with Elon Musk on the 'woke-mind' virus, the benefits of free speech, and meritocracy is here. It predates DOGE and his association with Trump2, but includes a discussion of the risks of cancel-culture. Also ranges over resource depletion and AI.
"The second most precious thing in life is the right to express yourself freely."
In the UK also there is a long history of fear of speaking out - well documented by the millionaire comedian Rowan Atkinson in this video - and dating from 2013/2014. It is no surprise the the veteran MP, Rt Hon David Davies, was one of the supporters of this campaign.
