We trace a straight line from a 1697 blasphemy execution to modern cancel culture by focusing on one variable: the cost of turning speech into coordinated punishment. We break down how social media creates common knowledge at near-zero cost, making outrage faster, bigger, and harder to control. • Thomas Aikenhead’s case as a story about information and enforcement costs • Transaction costs as the hidden limiter on persecution and social punishment • The First Amendment limiting state coercion while leaving private sanctions intact • Social media as a collapse in the cost of broadcasting accusations • Common knowledge as the trigger for coordinated action by strangers • Justine Sacco as the early template for modern cancellation dynamics • Brendan Eich, Emmanuel Cafferty, James Damore, and PyCon “donglegate” as repeating patterns • John Cleese on offense and the urge to control others’ behavior • Listener letters on healthcare markets, consolidation, and transaction costs • Certificate of need laws and price systems that shape competition
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Michael Munger. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Michael Munger och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
