Cancel Culture In Science?
By Tommaso Dorigo | March 11th 2022 10:48 AM | Print | E-mail
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Tommaso Dorigo
Like the vast majority of readers of this column, I very strongly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing atrocities. War is never an answer to international controversies. And I would like to add: I am in favor of all sanctions that financially hit the aggressor, including cutting Russia from use of international banking circuits and similar impactful actions.
That said, I will say here what I think about this ongoing rush to find ways to hurt a country whose citizens are largely innocent of their leader's crimes. I think most of these creative initiatives are counter-productive, reaching the nonsensical, the irrational, and the plain nuts.
Take the hunt for Russian orchestra directors in western countries. What reason can there be for firing an artist based on his or her nationality? By doing that we are hurting ourselves more than we are hurting Russia. Of course, if the director is a well-known supporter of Putin, the situation is a bit different -you start to have a right to dislike the person, and it becomes legitimate to ask them to say whether they support the war actions of their government or what. But then again - given the presently ongoing prosecution of opposers of the Russian regime, who are we to blame anybody who refuses to publicly proclaim they disagree with their country's actions?
https://www.science20.com/tommaso_dorigo/cancel_culture_in_science-255979
