Bullies and cowards have something in common – they cannot win an argument.

Poor debate is very common but poor arguments are just as common.

So what do people do when they have a poor argument? They browbeat their opponent, they ridicule them, they miscall them, they prejudice the impressionable against them, they cancel them, they get rid of them by fair means or foul, usually the latter.

They are cowards and they are bullies.

Cancel culture cannot win an argument, so they cancel. Rather, as Robert F. Kennedy puts it, we should try to “triumph in the marketplace of ideas“. Cowards and bullies have not found enough good ideas. They call it misinformation to justify their poverty of ideas. [3 Jul 2023: this link to a prospective candidate for the US Presidency has been “cancelled” – a message read “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines” – the ominous anonymity and absence of ‘naming the sin‘ is plain to read. A link takes you here which states “Our policies aim to make YouTube a safer community while still giving creators the freedom to share a broad range of experiences and perspectives.” Is a US Presidential candidate likely to “violate” safety guidelines? So what is the offence? A “full list” is supplied. It incluses ‘misinformation’, under which a multitude of secular sins can hide. It speaks of “serious risk of egregious harm”, so where is the evidence? Is it “proof by assertion”? Where is the appeal process? Where is the advocacy?]

Murderers and terrorists cannot win an argument, so they kill; sometimes even children. They are cowards as well as bullies. They do not pick someone their own size; they do not ‘duel’ on even terms but knife defenceless victims.

Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil protest groups cannot win an argument, so they disrupt public life.

Prince Harry could not win an argument in the High Court. He has still to learn some basic principles of debate. The usefulness of Harry’s piece of expensive theatre is that it reminds the public that supposition, suspicion, opinion, allegation, accusation and assertion are not sufficient, yet “proof by assertion” is a common occurrence in popular debate. “I said it, and if you don’t believe me you are calling me a liar.” Have such people never heard of “reserving judgment” until one hears both sides of an argument? Have their imagination or experience in life not stretched this far? Do such people allow the right of private judgment?

It might help all my readers to consider Jesus’ warning:

“Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”

Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew 12v36.

Update:

17 May 2023: Melanie Philips: “Cancel culture is driven by their terror that they cannot win the argument.”