Instead Of Just Boycotting Disney, Conservatives Should Demand Their Right To Exist

This week, yet another conservative in the entertainment industry was “canceled.” This time, it was Gina Carano — a popular actress on Disney’s The Mandalorian — who was reportedly fired by the corporation “because of a series of posts she made on social media that critics claimed were offensive.”

The post that seemingly generated the most controversy was a screenshot shared on Instagram which compared the current political divisions in the United States to Nazi Germany.

Unfortunately, as the cancelation of conservatives becomes routine — even expected — we have become used to a familiar pattern. When public figures are banished from “civilized society” for any form of “problematic” behavior or statements, conservatives rally to their side. Sometimes, their support is out of a desire to defend the person in question. Sometimes, it is motivated more by a desire to reject cancel culture itself.

Lately though, a third, more troublesome reaction has emerged for conservatives wishing to push back on cancel culture.

“We must build our own…”

We saw this reaction in response to the growing problem of social media censorship, with Parler and other alternatives offering conservatives a “safe” online platform. Until, of course, the Big Tech giants rallied to destroy their competition.

As we witnessed last month, such “build our own” responses are both ineffective — demonstrated by Parler when they were effectively left without access to fundamental elements of the Internet — and ideologically foolish. “It’s crucial that we understand the difference between providing competition and enabling intolerance while evading the actual battle at hand,” I wrote in response to Parler’s demise. This remains true.

The conservative response to Carano’s cancelation included the same calls for us to “build our own” institutions or franchises.

Now, it’s important to point out that calls to boycott Disney and other corporations in response to their hypocrisy can be a valid reaction in such circumstances. The issue comes when the boycott is partnered by a sole, simultaneous call for conservatives to “build our own institutions” or “franchises.”

Yes, it is important — in the short term — for conservatives to engage in this space and compete with Leftist media. It’s fantastic, for example, to see The Daily Wire branch out into the entertainment industry and provide audiences with the ability to explore controversial topics deemed “offensive” by the Left. However, what these alternative platforms should be part of is a wider push in favor of equal opportunity to exist in the space of entertainment. Part of that, admittedly, involves competing with the Left in the form of “conservative” media. The necessary counterpart which we must embrace, though, is to also demand a seat at the table of “mainstream” media if we want to win the long-term battle for our right to ideologically co-exist.

Simply accepting the Left’s premise that conservatives don’t deserve to be involved in “their” media and building our own isolated alternatives will only further the political segregation we are witnessing unfold. We must be competing to expand the range of content choices for audiences and drive conservative thought back into the mainstream, not to accept the Left’s view that we do not belong and agreeing to occupy our own separate spaces…for now.

If the goal is to split the country in half along one single political axis and create two mutually exclusive economies and societies, then this can be achieved by continuing to react with subtle acceptance of the Left’s cancelations. If the goal is to expand the Overton window and unite the country over foundational American principles, then it can only be achieved by digging our heels in and fighting for our right for a seat at the table.

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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