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Cancel Culture is a Suicide Pact: What the Invisible Chauffeur Sees

The Culture Wars Part XIV

Mathew Crawford's avatar
Mathew Crawford
Jul 14, 2022
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Check out other articles about the Culture Wars here.

From luxorlimo.com:

Most people don’t really notice their driver when they hire a car.  And not being noticed takes a professional.  That may sound backward, but think about it.  Your chauffeur shows up wearing a t-shirt.  You’d notice that.  Or you tell him where you want to go and he doesn’t understand you correctly because English isn't a language he speaks very well.  If at all. You’d notice that.  Or your driver shows up late.  Or gets lost.  Or swerves and brakes so violently you cannot relax.  You notice everything that goes wrong, everything that stands out.  But to show up dressed in a black suit, to be pleasant without being familiar, to be able to communicate easily, drive smoothly, to show up when and where you wish, these things all require skill.  When you hire a car from Luxor Limo, you get more than a car.  You get a professional chauffeur who makes your passage to and from your destination seem effortless.

To children, mom and dad are the invisible chauffeur, but occasionally also other trusted adults—so long as they appear as they should.


What I Saw and Heard While Running Schools for Nine Years

If the Cancel Culture priests were to review footage of my classes, I suspect that hundreds of my students would have their future careers canceled. 

That would be absurd.

I've heard all kinds of racist and sexist and classist and ageist and ableist talk among my students during class breaks who often treated me like the invisible chauffeur (parents know the role) because they trusted me. And sometimes I would talk with them about it, casually, and with the hopes of planting something like the idea that we can exercise our abilities to tolerate people's differences (for all kinds of positive benefits to all parties). I bet I sometimes got through and sometimes didn't. And that's fine. Growing happens all through our lives.

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