When the United Farm Workers in Delano and surrounding areas yelled out "Huelga!," (strike), it was the beginning of the grapes boycott. Ditto for the lettuce boycott.

However, the strikes were accompanied by lots and lots of free speech: press releases, news conferences, and plenty of public discussion.

In today's social media-addicted environment, the "cancel culture" is the boycott without the attendant publicity, or at least with only a minimal version thereof.

I learned many years ago that the best way to fight idiotic dictators-in-training is through more, not less, free speech. While a boycott can be a powerful tool, it has to be properly and consistently used. Today's youth, experience shows, tend to be be highly impatient and undisciplined, with the result that there is less dialogue surrounding the boycott than in years past.

The "cancel culture" also tends to demands ideological purity, which is precisely what it should be fighting.

For that reason, I respectfully dissent from your article.