GENX ICONS UNDER SIEGE FROM CANCEL CULTURE
The artists who raised GenX with grit, guitars, and unapologetic truth are now one old quote away from digital execution. What happened to the world that once celebrated rebellion? And why are our icons suddenly under siege from the same culture they helped create?
(Full X-Files Feature Article)
By CommonX — Ian Primmer
For the X-Files / Culture & Commentary
The artists who raised a generation with guitars, grit, and truth are now caught in a cultural crossfire.
In the 80s and 90s, musicians didn’t censor themselves. They didn’t apologize for being raw, messy, loud, or real. They challenged the world, punched through walls of conformity, and gave GenX a voice when nobody else did.
Fast-forward to 2025 — that voice is under attack.
Today’s cancel culture machine doesn’t wait for context or conversation. It doesn’t pause for nuance or humanity. It weaponizes outrage, scrolls for shortcuts, and hunts for mistakes like blood in the water. The same icons who once defined rebellion are now one old tweet, one misunderstood lyric, or one off-the-cuff interview away from being digitally executed.
What changed?
The artists… or the society that listened to them?
GenX grew up in a different world — when artists were allowed to be human.
We lived through an era where art and truth mattered more than perfection. MTV actually played music. Bands were larger than life. Artists bled their souls on stage.
If you screwed up, you learned. You evolved. You moved forward. You didn’t get erased. Cancel culture doesn’t operate like that. When the mob swarms, it isn’t looking for growth — it’s looking for a trophy.
And it rarely cares who gets crushed in the process.
Social media doesn’t forgive, and it never forgets.
Platforms built for connection and creativity have become courtrooms.
One viral clip — stripped of context — can end a 40-year career overnight.
A musician’s legacy becomes a hashtag.
Corporate sponsors panic.
Labels backpedal. Algorithms throttle distribution.
The artist becomes a villain before they get a chance to speak.
The irony?
GenX was raised on artists who spit in the face of censorship. From punk rock to grunge, from hip-hop to alternative, the icons of our youth thrived by challenging norms, questioning authority, and rejecting conformity. Their imperfections made them human — and their humanity made them legendary.
Now those same qualities are treated like liabilities.
We’re watching a cultural rewriting in real time.
This isn’t just about one artist or one scandal. It’s about a system that punishes authenticity. When musicians are afraid to speak freely:
art becomes sanitized
lyrics lose bite
interviews turn robotic
passion gets replaced by press-tested compliance
The cost isn’t just to the artist — it’s to every fan who found strength in their vulnerability.
GenX refuses to be silent.
We’ve seen enough cycles in this world to understand something simple:
People are complicated. Art is complicated. Life is complicated. None of us are perfect — and neither were our heroes. But imperfection is where honesty lives. GenX doesn’t cancel — we confront.
We talk.
We debate.
We accept truth in all its messy, uncomfortable glory.
The real question: do younger generations understand what we’re losing?
Take away the ability to question society through art, and you strip away something primal from the human experience.
Music becomes safe.
Artists become disposable.
Legacies become fragile.
Cancel culture isn’t creating accountability — it’s manufacturing fear.
And fear is the enemy of creativity.
The CommonX stance: defend the artists who shaped us.
We’ve sat across the table from musicians who lived through eras most people only dream about. We’ve heard stories that would never survive today’s outrage algorithms.
These legends aren’t perfect — but damn, they’re real. And in a world drowning in fakery, that’s worth protecting.
Is the News Making You Fat? The Hidden Weight of Staying Informed
We thought junk food was the problem — turns out junk information might be worse. Between endless 24-hour news cycles, doom-scrolling, and political rage bait, America’s waistline is growing for reasons that have nothing to do with fast food. This isn’t about calories — it’s about cortisol, comfort, and control.
Written by Ian Primmer
Remember when watching the news meant a 30-minute update at dinner? Now it’s a full-time job. We wake up to breaking alerts, doom-scroll through lunch, and fall asleep to anchors arguing about the end of the world. And while we’re “staying informed,” something else is happening — our stress levels, eating habits, and waistlines are quietly expanding. Yes! Fox, CNN, Trump, Dems, Reps, are MAKING YOU FAT! Here’s why!
The Science Behind the Scroll
Every time we watch a shocking headline or heated debate, our bodies trigger a small stress response. Cortisol rises. Heart rate jumps. Over time, that chronic stress tells your body to store energy — just in case there’s a real threat.
Where does it store it? Right around the gut.
Add in late-night snacking while you’re watching cable chaos, and you’ve got a perfect storm of hormones and habits working against you.
News, Snacks, and the Dopamine Loop
Most people don’t realize they’re not watching the news — they’re feeding on it.
The constant outrage cycle is designed to hit the same dopamine centers that sugar and carbs do. Your brain wants more stimulation, so it pairs perfectly with comfort food. Chips. Soda. Doom-scrolling. Repeat.
It’s not just bad news — it’s addictive bad news.
When “Staying Informed” Becomes “Staying Stuck”
After a few months of daily news binges, motivation drops. You feel tired, hopeless, and convinced the world’s falling apart. So you skip the gym. You grab fast food. You call it “self-care.”
But really, it’s burnout — disguised as awareness.
We’re mistaking consumption for action.
⚡ The CommonX Challenge
Try this:
Take one week off mainstream news.
Replace that time with 30 minutes of walking, stretching, or podcasting (CommonX counts 😉).
Watch what happens to your mood, your focus, and even your appetite.
Odds are, you’ll feel lighter — mentally and physically.
Turns out, the heaviest thing we’ve been carrying isn’t our bodies… it’s the weight of the world, delivered in HD.