Canceling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique Of The Contemporary Left

by Ben Burgis

Between the decline of the labor movement, the aftershocks of the falls of so-called "actually existing socialism," and the long exile of even social democrats from the levers of real power, we have gotten far too used to thinking of leftism as a performative exercise in expressing our political commitments rather than a serious effort to achieve left-wing goals in the real world. Cancelling Comedians While the World Burns calls for a smarter, funnier, more strategic left.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Sociology

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2021

About the author

Ben Burgis is a graduate of Clarion West, and he has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast program in Maine. He writes speculative fiction and realist fiction and grocery lists and Facebook status updates and academic papers. (He has a PhD from the University of Miami, and currently holds a post-doctoral fellowship at Yonsei University in South Korea.) His work has appeared in places like Podcastle and GigaNotoSaurus and Youngstown State University’s literary review Jenny. His story “Dark Coffee, Bright Light and the Paradoxes of Omnipotence” appeared in Prime Books’ anthology People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy.

Reviews

[Stephen Chastain · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. A critique of the left from a leftist perspective... everyone on my Instagram feed desperately needs to read this book and take a good long look at themselves in the proverbial mirror. What an intelligent and thoughtful breakdown of how major sections of the American left have become their own worst enemies. "He critiques because he cares;" the purpose of this analysis is to point out why the left engages in self-defeating behaviors because the author wants to see the left succeed. The cherry on top is Ben Burgis is an entertaining writer who can explain extremely niche topics in a way that makes them easily understandable even to those who don't live on Twitter.

If you've ever gotten defensive at the term "virtue signaling" then please do your mental health, and the movement at large, a huge favor and read. This. Book.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book functions as an expansion of Mark Fisher’s 2010s classic essay "Exiting the Vampire’s Castle". Burgis’s mission is simple: provide a critique of “cancel culture” from the left. While this book is nothing mind blowing, it was comforting to me to have someone lay out examples and explain how unpractical and annoying it is for leftists of all labels to choose moralizing and shaming over working together. I think his strongest critique, and the one he believes in the most as well, is that this ultra-sensitive infighting that is so controlling and hostile makes being around leftists seem totally insufferable to any onlookers.

At this point, I think of the brilliant analysis of the disappearance of American working class movements in Thomas Frank’s seminal What’s the Matter With Kansas? Here, the question at the heart of Frank’s work is that while socialist policies would benefit the American working class, they end up voting and supporting politicians who have the demonstrably worst policies for their well-being and the survival of their livelihoods. Why do they vote this way? His answer is nuanced and has to do with highjacking the concerns of the working poor with religious or cultural issues, erasing class from the equation (e.g., Christians will support an anti-abortion politician without considering that the same person will be helping the unspeakably rich secure more wealth from the taxes the poor pay, bringing nothing to their communities or helping the women who otherwise would have abortions). There is more to his analysis, but I recommend just reading the book.

Burgis’s point about the unpalatable and self-destructive nature of current leftist discourse seems to compliment this—despite socialist policies being more helpful for the working poor, they don’t consider supporting candidates who would help them because they see the club of leftism being gatekept by snowflake SJWs who believe everyone who disagrees with them is a nazi. The difference here is that in Frank’s work, it was the conservatives hijacking the working class’s support. These days, leftists are sending the Joe Blows of America straight to Trump or whoever else comes next (Tucker Carlson? Tom Cotton? God help us).

Burgis makes what I think is a sensible and timely call for better consideration of our actions and what the mission to help the underprivileged requires of us. I must say, he comes off as a bit of a cringy dork (he is like a caricature of a Bernie Bro), but I appreciate his work here very much, and he is genuinely trying to help. (I am aware this is an ad hominem; I don't think he would mind, since I know this is a fallacy). I may be out of the loop, but I think we need more work addressing online discourse. Some of his arguments go on a bit too long, and some don't add too much to the book. But it's short, so I'll forgive that. I did struggle to understand why the "bonus essay" at the end was included. It seemed to hardly relate.

To close out, I'll include an excerpt that I thought powerfully summarized his points:

Think not just about the positive utility of whatever you hope to accomplish but of the high probability of outcomes with extreme disutility to left-wing goals. If we denounce "problematic" comedians, and thus make ourselves look like some secular version of evangelical preachers ranting about the blasphemous undercurrents they take themselves to have detected in popular TV shows, and we demonstrate that all our huffing and puffing doesn't even blow these comedians' stupid little careers down, then we've succeeded in making ourselves look both spectacularly unappealing and completely powerless. Both halves of that are a problem if we're interested in presenting a vision of the world that a great mass of ordinary people can get excited about and giving them confidence that it can be achieved.

When the Committee on Public Safety in the French Revolution got so paranoid it started executing good revolutionaries like Danton, or when Stalin started filling his gulags with Old Bolsheviks, it was fair to describe what had happened as "the revolution eating its children." . . . The Very Online Left isn't eating its children. It's just sort of gnawing on them in a sad, toothless way that makes most onlookers look away with disgust.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burgis makes strong arguments for things that should be common sense but are apparently unfathomable to liberals and some leftists. I have some issues with the book, the first being that it is too damn short. Burgis seems to think his audience is familiar with the insular enclave of YouTube and twitter, and he may be right that most of his readers will be, because that is how they will discover his work. However, it will not serve the book well if a reader who doesn't understand these cultures, or may be familiar with the culture casually picks this book up.

This plays into a second criticism, that the book greatly is missing a human element. Burgis never really delves into the stories of people who have had negative impacts from cancelling who have just made harmless jokes, or simply said something people misinterpreted, or had mildly retrograde views that they might have been talked out of, if they weren't attacked by a lynch mob. These stories are many, and I know Burgis knows them because he has mentioned them as a guest and host on the internet. There are a few examples, but Burgis seems to be, like many philosophers, overly convinced about his audience being swayed by reason, and doesn't invest enough in appealing to the empathy of his readers.

Finally, the structure needs some work. Some things appear in the second chapter that would have been better in the first chapter, or an introduction. The ending was so abrupt that I was genuinely surprised that it was the last chapter. It didn't feel like Burgis had built up to a concluding statement at all.

All that said, it makes the case for the argument. Now, will anybody who needs convincing actually read it?

[Jon-Erik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another candidate for “book we need” that falls flat. The last one I tried was Tankie garbage… and this one is really just about Bernie. As much as I dislike cancel culture on the right and left, I really wish we had a critique that didn’t engage in some other weirdness.

If Sturgis thinks Bari Weiss is a “right wing hack” (she's "right wing" for caring about antisemitism)—o tempora, o mores—and being butthurt that people used Joe Rogan’s endorsement of Bernie against him is part of the problem of cancel culture, he’s wrong.

This is just special pleading in the 2016 primary that never ended. No thanks. I'm also not really sure how a proud member of the DSA can really complain too much about this, as this is an organization that has done plenty of "cancelling" and seems to be as immune to evidence as the Trumpy right, especially when that evidence is about winning elections. (Young voters will save us! If we just talk truth, we'll get everyone on board!)

I sympathize with critiques that point out that, to the great relief of many of the power structures the critical studies left wants to deconstruct, class is basically absent from the “discourse.” But a good critique of cancel culture ought to not simply decide that the wrong people have been cancelled, which is the distinct feeling I get here.

Too many more books like this and I might need to start rethinking my loathing of cancel culture.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burgis has some very valid and worthwhile points to make, though they are not always expressed in the clearest or simplest ways, and that was a bit of a problem for such a short text. This leans far too heavily on an essay by Mark Fisher (co-founder of the publisher who produced this) which is a shame as it starts to read a tad like a tribute or watered down version of someone else's point of view.

Its always refreshing to see a leftist take on the many problems and factions within the so called left. He partly addresses the repeated issues with the left being unable to formulate a convincing and coherent narrative. which has led to the current political and corporate shit show which is fast trying to speed humanity (at least those who are not billionaires or not multi-millionaires) all the way to oblivion.

[David Miley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Burgis defines and takes down the worst impulses of the modern online Left. It is wry, amusing, dead on accurate and sure to offend someone unless they don't recognize themselves. The basic premise is that the online Left proceeds from a standpoint of weakness and lack of belief in their own potential to change the world. As a result, they do what Leftists have done from time immemorial, performative virtue. If you want to make change for real, this is essential reading.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine modern rehashing of exiting the vampires Castle by Mark Fisher.
Ben takes swings from the left but in the end the writing is short and is just a warning, no diagnosis, no timeline.
But that's okay.

He speaks more of how canceling doesn't seem to really work and the way it's desired to, it's a futile effort, it's also a bad PR move, and it's like a snake nibbling at its own tail.

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A much needed critique from the socialist left of the performative left, but it felt too thin and scattered. Burgis makes interesting points but then abandons them too abruptly to discuss something else and he makes grand assumptions that need more nuance and could be more deeply explored. It's a good start though.

[Jarret Lovell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book, then pass it on.

[Paul Xanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can only wish it were longer.

[Antony Monir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good critique of important issues that show up consistently in left wing circles. The book itself is very much well written and focuses on how to take a pragmatic approach as a leftist which is something I’ve always believed in. Required reading for all the leftist twitter warriors out there. 4/5

[Andrew]

Forget the deliberately provocative title – it's designed to grab people who might otherwise be put off by lefty theory. The cancellation of comedians Burgis describes is a mere symptom of a much larger issue one in which us leftists gatekeep and finger-wag rather than do our best to bring people on board. I often try to bring bro-y dudes over to the cause of trans rights with a simple, provocative question: “Who would you rather fuck? Scarlett Johansson with a dick or Henry Cavill with a pussy?” Notice how much more effective that is then “following queer theory, we can see gender as a series of performances.” Sure, that may be entirely, 100 percent true (imho), but it sucks as a form of messaging. I doubt that many beyond the already-converted dirtbag left are going to read Burgis' slim volume, but I'm hoping more will (for me it was a rallying cry rather than anything that was going to shift me). And given the fact that Burgis recently appeared on a certain Fear Factor host's podcast, that's a possibility. However, the people who I really wish would read this are those left-of-center types who need to improve their messaging.

[Ericka Wicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A critique of the performative left by a leftist and DSA member. It was an interesting read but I found many of Ben Burgis’ arguments meandered too much and ultimately became unclear and sometimes hypocritical.

Saying that, I think he may have a point that the left using most of its energy for “endless collective recriminations [against others on the left] that don’t really go anywhere” could be better spent ultimately changing the world.

[feifei · Rating 4 out of 5]

very accessible—doesn’t delve too deep into leftist theory etc etc and gets straight to the point. maintains a razor sharp focus on the central issue of leftist framing especially through the act of ‘cancelling’. probably an apt time to revisit Capitalist Realism because i might now be able to understand the good stuff in there

[Jamrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this book so much and can’t believe how many of my IRL and Online friends have high-fived over the content, heck, even over the just the intent stated in the Blurb. I recently finished Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher and I don’t think I consciously realised the connection between these two authors and their work or that the books were both published by ZerO Books.

Burgis’ work is an intra-Left critique and draws on many of the topics covered in Capitalist Realism and could almost be read as an expansion, or bringing up to date of Fisher’s essay Exiting The Vampire Castle. If you are a Leftist it’s also a mirror you should take a long hard look into. In Vampire Castle, Fisher argues “that a largely online style of identity-based leftist discourse grounded in “witch-hunting moralism” halts productive leftist discourse and undermines class politics.” (and it’s worth reading João Fazenda article which sits between Fisher’s essay and Burgis’ book). Fisher was hounded — to death, if you believe that his suicide was part of the despair over neoliberalism and the Left’s seeming inability to mount an attack on anything other than itself — for these views. If Fisher’s essay was more despair than critique, then this reads more like a practical handbook.

If you are uncomfortable, at the very least, with the behaviour of the Very Online Left then you won’t take much persuading by this book that the cancel culture “super-woke SJWs” brigade, much derided by the right, is actually a Leftist-pathology that alienates many that would otherwise identify as left/socialist or at least turn out at elections. The fact that the Very Online Left often cancels Leftists, including a Black Marxist professor (on the grounds of racism!) should be warning enough but Burgis, rather than taking cheap shots or simply levelling criticism, explains how the culture is self-defeating to the aims of the Left in general and he makes a very compelling case.
In many ways, Burgis is sympathetic to a group of people who have grown up only knowing Late Capitalism and never been even close to the levers of power thinking that only the battleground of the Internet and the ability to censor people for incorrect opinions is the closest they can get to having some sense of power to change outcomes. Burgis’ calls this “the pathology of Powerlessness” but makes clear the disutility of these actions, relative to the urgent need to create a broad church of working-class, working middle-class, small-c conservatives and the politically apathetic, many of whom have turned away from the Left exactly for the reasons Burgis lays out (proving that Fisher was incredibly prescient to have written about this in 2013).

Burgis gently reminds his readers why “tankies” continue to be a problem by defending Stalinist-communism or any other authoritarian faux-communism including Cuba which he argues can, by any intelligent Leftist, be praised for it’s social care systems *and* critiqued for single-party approach, lack of free media, etc. All this does is cements in the minds of people who are slightly detached from politics that socialism = communism = Stalinism therefore Left = Bad. It’s a striking point that makes complete sense and it’s something that people really need to take notice of. It was a bit of a wake-up call to me.

Chapter six is a slightly-excoriating discussion on neo-anarchists and armchair-socialists who do nothing but loudly complain about “politics” then don’t actively politic other than A to B marches and socialising. Burgis says that if that is all you are doing then you are a “social club not a socialist organisation”. Ouch. Burgis states that if people are just “resisting” i.e. protesting but not running candidates or organising unions then they see “politics as a symbolic performance of [their] personal opposition to injustice. Ouch again. This is the point that Burgis then develops into a brutal examination of people “proving their personal virtue by examining the virtue of others.”

As Burgis laments:
“Think not just about the positive utility of whatever you hope to accomplish but of the high probability of outcomes with extreme disutility to left-wing goals. If we denounce “problematic” comedians, [we] make ourselves look like some secular version of evangelical preachers”

I will conclude this half-baked review with the iciest of lines from the book:

"When the Committee on Public Safety in the French Revolution got so paranoid it started executing good revolutionaries like Danton, or when Stalin started filling his gulags with Old Bolsheviks, it was fair to describe what had happened as “the revolution eating its children.” . . . The Very Online Left isn’t eating its children. It’s just sort of gnawing on them in a sad, toothless way that makes most onlookers look away with disgust."

I finished this book feeling that, as a Leftist, I could hold my head up high, that I no longer needed to stay quiet about the problematic Very Online Left and that, hearteningly, this resistance is a movement that is starting to grow, not to resist our comrades but to help them understand the disutility of their actions.

[Glenn]

anyone who needs to read this wouldn't want to read it anyway

[Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this after seeing Ben Burgis on Joe Rogan's podcast, where I thought he came across pretty well. To be honest, based on its title this seemed like a book that had been personally written for me, maybe even on request, as this is a topic I've been very interested in recently.

Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me and didn't contain the kind of insight I was hoping for. I don't want to denigrate it too much because it's refreshing to see a book on this topic and I think the people that it's aimed at could probably get a lot out of it. Perhaps this is a case of 'preaching to the choir' not making for the most exciting reading, as Burgis' main points were not dissimilar to ones I've considered myself (I also have a philosophy background so this may have played a part). I had also expected a little more focus on the 'comedians' part of the title, but this wasn't a major issue.

Another red flag for me (not the socialist kind) was what seemed to me a completely uninformed mention of the Julian Assange case, casually tossing in Assange's criminal charges beside his name with no reference to the differences in definition of these charges in Sweden (something the press continuously does in the hopes of further vilifying him), or the possibility that trumped-up charges are the US government's only legal way of getting their hands on him (I'd also like to point out that in 2021 two journalists exposed a plan discussed by Donald Trump and the CIA to simply murder Assange on British soil). Anyway, the fact that I know a bit about this case made the author's ignorance of it incredibly apparent and made me wonder how far off the mark he was with references to cases I knew nothing about.

On the plus side, his analysis that the left has taken a wrong turn that alienates it from the populous and paralyses it with in-fighting, ultimately damaging the chances of the left actually succeeding, is one I agree with. I also liked his explanation of how those involved in 'cancel culture' have already accepted defeat when it comes to ever getting into power, and keep themselves busy with petty-moralising instead (this actually reminds me of a point by Slavoj Zizek). And there were a few other entertaining moments along the way.

Overall though, as much as I'm loathed to give a 2-star review for a book promoting a position I would generally agree with, the fact that it didn't really tell me anything new made it a relatively uninteresting read overall. With that being said, Burgis has shown far more insight in this work than most contemporary leftists seem capable of and if he keeps on this path I wouldn't be surprised to see him come up with something a bit more ground-breaking in the future, so I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for his media appearances.

[Christopher Willard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that could be considered a sort of follow-up for readers who liked Fisher's Capitalist Realism and want more. Enjoy its easygoing style and gentle rambling -- hey why not add some sugar into the critique. Briefly, Burgis, philosopher, and who on the power of his clear arguments, was invited to write for Jacobin magazine, applies his expert critical analytical skills to the failures and pathology of capitalism and its supporters. Binaries are rarely useful in politics (sorry media and politicians who love binaries as the foundation for their divide and conquer platform) but there are pathologies found in activists who recognize their powerlessness and still want their powerless platforms because....because why exactly except to virtue signal, perhaps, that they are against what they feel they are powerless to change. So "good left liberals" will say that a comedian said a offensive joke, deemed so in the current normative narratives promoted by media, and must be cancelled. Everything must be framed in the either or, this or that lens for them, and again it's not only not helpful, but it sooner or later sets the framers up as outstandingly hypocritical. And Burgis takes to task those leftists who we might reapply the term "Tankies" to, not in that they historically support Khrushchev's decision to send in tanks to squash the Hungarian revolution, but that they now work to support the USA in sending massive arms to quash the current country that the USA does not like. Like Pepperidge Farm, I seem to remember when Liberals in the USA were opposed to war, and now they are by their actions fully supportive of: war, inequity, slavery, censorship, and violations of rule of law. They can only cry "but Trump, but Trump" for so long until it all comes around to seriously bite them back. In other words, there's a lot that Burgis can and does critique. As Burgis points out, there have been, and are working models of socialism that are not painted with the propagandic brush of US media that purposely confuses socialism with militarized one-party states, the latter which is looking more and more like the United States. This is a well-written, perceptive, and worthwhile book. The book is only 117 pages so the red pill shouldn't be too difficult to swallow, although those indicted will most likely revert to their talking point saying the book is Russian propaganda.

[Gabriel Pascua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A structured critique of intra-left issues and conflicts paired with a well-deserved extension of Mark Fisher's "Exiting the Vampire Castle." Nowadays, it's almost harder to defend the New Left as a movement than defending the premises and conclusions that they present. Burgis expounds on standpoint epistemology, decision theory, and several other tools that may be employed by the Left as a measure for weighing out the utility of their praxis and the credibility of partaking in such praxis given our generation's obsession with binary thinking and identity politics. Another important discussion that he presented was about his analysis of so-called "tankies" and "neo-anarchists, with the former commonly devolving into being apologists for totalitarian bureaucracies in the past while neo-anarchists divulge an unfortunate tendency of the New Left. Nonetheless, I would argue that the book lacks a genealogy of cancel culture, such as its possible formation in the New Left movement during the 60s. Overall, Burgis provides an excellent insight into (post)modern-day politicizing, a book that should must be read by the Left today lest they risk falling into the same failures that doomed former socialist movements.

[Brian LePort · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book for anyone who identifies with the left of the political spectrum (though it can be useful for the more conservative reader who thinks that progressives are just those people who try to get angry Twitter mobs going). In essence, Burgis addresses the problem of how many leftists have focused on policing language rather than doing the much more difficult work of enacting change. Puritanism allows for easier, low-hanging goals to be accomplished in place of more pressing matters. While Burgis doesn't use this example, one can think of the San Francisco school board obsessing over changing the names of schools while the pandemic was raging, but not doing much to address schooling in a pandemic...at least that's how they were perceived. And perception does matter. Burgis argues that the way the left talks, and the battles over which the left sometimes obsesses (can we ruin Dave Chappelle's career?!) often repel many potential allies.

[Colin Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: This is a pamphlet called Four Essays on Palestine, initially published by Everyday Analysis. I wanted to write about it, but Goodreads doesn't have the pamphlet listed. Here's a link: https://everyday-analysis.sellfy.stor...

***

This short collection is everything the introduction suggests it will be. Brief and concise, Burgis explores, describes, and characterizes the Israel/Palestine conflict through the lens of non-sectarian, emancipatory egalitarianism. He writes, "If we want to oppose Zionism…should we do that by vicariously adopting Palestinian ethnonationalism, or by appealing to absolutely universal standards of democracy and human rights?" (12). For Burgis, making egalitarian appeals means rejecting any ethno-state, whether that state belongs to Jewish or Palestinian people.

[Ruby Stockham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t be put off by the title - this is not an anti-woke tirade. The writer is a Jacobin columnist and Bernie supporter (and a philosophy professor.) This book is a call for modern socialist movements to start thinking strategically, so they have a chance of actually changing things. It’s also a pocket introduction to logic theory, and an anecdotal and much abridged history of socialist thought. I found it very insightful and clear eyed. Readers who are already well versed in these topics (ie. not me) might find it a little scattershot and top-line; I wished it was longer as the arguments are summarised very quickly. I will be reading more by this author!

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book which you find yourself arguing with out loud as well as nodding in agreement. I was pleased to find a book on this topic written by a Marxist as well.

Disagreed with some of his arguments (he has too much of a tendency to lump people together in ways which don't quite make sense, his argument about women, abortion and standpoint is an example of this) however I recommend this book if you are interested in logical debate about where the contemporary Left has stalled, not just emotion.

[Pete Judge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good short book with some good analysis of id politics and breaking down some of the poor tactics used by the left. Main problem was the section on ‘tankies’ which misrepresented a lot of the arguments of those often described as such. But overall it was a good book and i enjoyed the philosophical methods used in book

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should give this 5 stars based on confirmation bias but I wonder if I could really hand this to some of my friends who need to read it. Maybe in conjunction with his other writing.

[Joey K · Rating 3 out of 5]

mostly a rehash of Fisher’s “Exiting the Vampire Castle”

[Dylan Schouppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written and fair.

[Keith Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be required reading for everyone on the left.

[Matthew Calamatta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, well-argued, and brief.

Blessedly concise, clear and interesting, and a good ppinter to other sources and voices. Admirably even-keeled and pragmatic: fight for victory, indeed.

[Joshua Line]

"I'm sceptical that even the most advanced socialist society could ever completely do without institutions like courts of law and even ... prisons."