Actually it is a counterpoint. If someone accuses me of a crime, then refuses to pursue any prosecution of that crime, and then expects me to suffer consequences for that crime, that's a gross injustice.
That's why we have a justice system.
Society in the US and in much of the western world has agreed that the only official punishments due for anything are when laws are broken. No law broken, no punishment. This is actually a weakness of our society when the lawmaking bodies choose to sit on the sidelines when the ethical or moral values of the society change, but the laws do not.
This is not to say that I endorse lots of new laws to accommodate punishments for people that break moral or ethical values that our society holds, but that without a system that can handle these problems in any capacity, society picks up the slack using whatever tools necessary. As of right now, our society has picked up and run with the idea of ostracism.
Trying to guide how our society treats people who break moral or ethical values is a right we have mostly all agreed that lawmaking bodies are in charge of. Unfortunately, most lawmaking bodies in the US, and maybe other parts of the world, are too concerned with outrage-farming for trying to win re-election. I wish I had a good answer here, but honestly, our society has a lot of social problems we are dealing with poorly right now, and this seems like a low-priority one, unfortunately.
That's not a problem, that's a feature!
After all, do you want to be punished for breaking someone else's moral code?
Whether you like it or not, the legal system and the sets of laws is the only moral and ethical yardstick we have gotten society to agree on.
If you want your particular set of morals to have a punishment then work within the guidelines to get it made into a law.
If you can't garner enough support for your moral position to be made into law then maybe it's not as moral as you think.
Warning people about someone's creepy behavior isn't a punishment, it's a warning that they might violate my moral code and I should probably avoid them. Is me avoiding them punishment? Should I then be punished? not punished?
Define punishment...
You can lose jobs, friends, and clients simply for being a jerk. There's nothing illegal about being an asshole, but plenty of people refuse to work with assholes.
Sure, but the current cancel culture results in people refusing to associate with the accused out of fear, not because they think he or she is a jerk.
I heartily support freedom of association. I don't support a mob of people, completely unrelated to either the victim or the accused, exacting punishments for any third party who exercises their own freedom of association. Made all the more worse when the mob then moves on in a coordinated fashion to the next "accused".
I cannot see a future where I ever support mobbing and witch-hunts, even if I happen to believe their accusation.
"That guy is an asshole" isn't one of those, and the only protection American law offers in that case is "People should think for themselves."
So you can sleep easily, nothing to fear. Well, until somehow, people keep shouting "rapist" when then pass in front of your restaurant, and tell your client to call the cooking institute and ask them about which restaurant in town their female apprentice to avoid. Oh, and the girl you raped shared her story on facebook with your 18 yo daughter, who is not estranged to you. All that, that's gross injustice, too?
Hold on, in your little narrative, how are the accusers sure that there was a rape?
No, seriously, that's the point of the justice system - determine if the crime happened.
So, if anyone ever calls you a rapist, then you are one? Or are you arguing that these rules are only for other people, not for you?
