| The phrase "get held accountable" is an amazing use of passive voice. It's effectively the same as the transitive verb "to punish", but it avoids having a subject entirely. The implicit subject becomes some universal morality, which we might personify as God. People who use it assert that they act on behalf of God -- or, perhaps, that they themselves are God. "Deus vult!" It's very similar to what I've heard described as a "fact-shaped" phrase. For example: "Time's up." Here you transform the imperative sentence "Comply now!" into a declarative sentence. You make your own will sound like an irresistible law of nature. A person who observes the frequent abuse of this rhetorical device might conclude that facts do not exist at all, but are merely expressions of Power. An alternative to that cynicism is to maintain belief in Fact, while recognizing "fact-shaped" rhetorical tricks for what they are. Returning to the original topic: When we say "People need to be held accountable for their actions", we are really saying "It is good that people punish one another." That is probably still true. But now we see more honestly the interaction of multiple parties. And we can consider the structure of those interactions. For example: Do we still get the good things that come from repeated games, when the punisher cannot themselves be punished? |
While I don't disagree with making things more explicit, I believe the intent in the original phrasing was clear enough.
"Do we still get the good things that come from repeated games, when the punisher cannot themselves be punished?"
A lot of times, celebrities don't even get "canceled". They lie low for a bit, and come back. While it's true that sometimes the public is unfair and jumps the gun, the only thing we can do is be vocal about well... not jumping the gun on allegations.
While the populace at large can't get punished, the punishments are also much softer. Louis CK didn't go to jail- he just had his comedy career ended (rightly so). He's mostly free to do other things, especially around now that people are starting to forget. Which is also an issue of the populace at large- it has a bad memory for most people.