Since you asked (via my email address), you could discuss "How the American Right co-opted and weaponised the Conspiracy Movement in their regressive culture wars". That would be helpful to a lot of listeners, I think.
Also "How anti-P.C. narratives work to block human empathy and embolden bigots". That could be especially good if you traced some of those narratives back to their sources and uncovered how totally benign events are transformed and twisted into outrages over "political correctness gone mad".
And finally, you could look into parallels between the wildly overstated claims about paedophilia that come from the Conspiracy Movement, and claims about the Jews that circulated around Europe in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Again, I think that would provide some valuable perspective for a lot of your audience.
And when you use the term "discuss", does it mean "take the time to look into, consider carefully and then share informed perspectives on"? Or is it more like "Take a bunch of off-the-cuff potshots at these ideas without making any serious attempts to research them, because they just don't 'feel right' and what 'feels right' is the ultimate arbiter of truth"?
I really would like to feel confident that it's the former rather than the latter.
Well, to be fair, it's a call-in show so we dedicate more time to hearing what people have to say themselves so feel free to come and give your perspective. We'll certainly do our best with limited time and resources though. If we neglect anything feel free to comment and we'll address any issues on further shows.
Rush Limbaugh? I've never listened to him. Did he have a call in show? Are you against call in shows? Personally I'm for them as people should be allowed to voice their opinions freely.
I'm not against them, but I never listen to them. Not really my thing.
In terms of people being allowed to "voice their opinion freely", there are plenty of opportunities for them to do that. They've got friends and families, they've got social media (including YouTube, Tik Tok etc.), they've got various forms of artistic expression ... they can even go to websites where they can choose from thousands of petitions, some of which get sent to actual government authorities and a few of which affect policy. Even a lot of 'traditional media' websites allow comments these days, and some (especially Murdoch publications) cobble together entire 'articles' composed almost entirely of the tweets of private individuals.
The truth is, people have NEVER had as many ways to express their opinions as they do now.
I do worry, though, whenever I see someone promoting their thing with any kind of slogan that resembles "giving a voice to the unheard" or "all opinions welcome". And certainly anything advertising itself as a "platform for free speech" has to be regarded with the utmost suspicion, especially if it's linked to rhetoric that highlights how "PC" the world has become.
There was a time - and really not that long ago - when you could use phrases like "voice your opinion freely" in a neutral way, because those phrases meant nothing more than what they said. Nowadays, unfortunately, this is not the case. That language has become code. And the subtext is generally something like
a) Come over here and talk if you're a total bigot and want to share your ideas with like-minded bigots (see Gab, Parler etc.); or
b) Come over here if your head is swimming with terrifying psychotic thoughts about the Rapture, the lizards or the robot mosquitoes ... or indeed about how Bill Gates (a lizard, naturally) is going to deliver vaccines to you via robot mosquitoes to bring on the Rapture. We'll be your friends if you can't find a bus stop to yell at.
What surprises me is your position, personally, on this coded language. I mean, you use it all the time, but I don't see why.
For a start, one of the two categories above doesn't apply to you at all - which is to say that, apart from a couple of slightly unsavoury offhand remarks that I heard you make ages ago about immigrants in London, I've never known you to be bigoted. And, y'know, everyone has uncharitable thoughts sometimes - you certainly haven't made those thoughts a focus of your life, like the first group of 'free speech code users' has. So I don't see why you would adopt their language as a cover for something which you're not susceptible to.
In terms of the second group, you are pretty immersed in that world a lot of the time ... but see, that doesn't necessarily make sense either, because I would've thought that being so immersed in it would make you more sensitive than the average person to the coded language of that world, not less so.
Given all of that, I can only see a few possibilities: one, that somehow, you've just remained oblivious to the modern, coded meaning of "voicing your opinion freely" and similar phrases; or two, that you're hoping to deliberately attract the sorts of people who would've been writing readers' letters to Fortean Times 20 years ago ... except that back then, far less of those people would've also wanted to hang politicians they don't like, have frequent arguments about the tyranny of gender pronouns, and retweet lies largely cooked up by paid vassals of the fossil fuel industry.
With all of that in mind, it's just WEIRD that you're so into this code.
But it's even weirder that you'd put the code in a message to me, expecting me to think "Oops .. well, you certainly scored a point there" (to quote Vladimir Putin, a hero to many of these Free Speech Warriors) and to feel chastened by your rebuke. I see that language as being like, say, a national currency: outside of the domains where it's normally used, it doesn't have the same transactional value. So it's an odd choice.
Well, I like call in shows because they reflect what real people are thinking rather than the media narratives where we are told what people are thinking. I may not always agree with everything a caller says but in some ways, that's the point.
You say there are plenty of places to voice opinions freely and give youtube as an example. Our last call in chat was taken down by youtube and our whole channel will be taken down if we utter once more that the last U.S election may not have been entirely free of corruption. You can also not question vaccines or covid treatments etc. Even if you are an experienced, award winning doctor. So, there is definitely cause for concern regarding free speech on social media and I would say that is already crossing over to public and professional forums too.
Let's stick with the modern day environment. There's no point comparing today's freedom with the past. In the past you could shout out 'burn her, she's a witch' in public and people would listen. Today we just have different mediums in which to converse. There is a monopoly on social media so it actually makes speech easier to control.
I can't agree that anyone promoting a "platform for free speech" has to be regarded with the utmost suspicion. Sure, there will always be a section of society that have views that are really not something we would like in society but in some ways their existence is at least an indication that we have free speech. When they disappear, either the world has become entirely full of incredibly 'nice' people or speech is being suppressed. I know which one is more likely to happen in the future and I don't think it will be a good thing. Watch 'Pleasantville' or 'Stepford Wives' to get an idea of the result.
There is no 'code'. It's become code for you but nothing has changed. Free speech means free speech for some and a chance to launch into a racist tirade for others. That's always been the case. (to be continued).
Scottsentinel, that is really an extraordinary statement. To me, it shows that you yourself have become an FSW (Free Speech Warrior). I told you it would happen if you hung around these people too much.
Look at the two examples of 'free speech' you've given me: the idea that Biden stole the US election, and the defence of grifters who peddle alternative 'treatments' for the coronavirus. Those are classic FSW (Free Speech Warrior) tropes. It's been really worrying to see your evolution in that direction over the years. When I met you, you weren't like this :-(
Next discussion should be about spiritually and the power with in. Remind people we are powerful and we are the change
Yes, I think we're going to focus on that a lot. We are more powerful together too. I hope we can form communities that will help each other.
Since you asked (via my email address), you could discuss "How the American Right co-opted and weaponised the Conspiracy Movement in their regressive culture wars". That would be helpful to a lot of listeners, I think. Also "How anti-P.C. narratives work to block human empathy and embolden bigots". That could be especially good if you traced some of those narratives back to their sources and uncovered how totally benign events are transformed and twisted into outrages over "political correctness gone mad". And finally, you could look into parallels between the wildly overstated claims about paedophilia that come from the Conspiracy Movement, and claims about the Jews that circulated around Europe in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Again, I think that would provide some valuable perspective for a lot of your audience.
I think that last topic whould be fantastic! You should call in on the next show to bring up your personal perspective on this highly debated topic.
Thanks for your comments. We'll certainly discuss these points on the next show.
And when you use the term "discuss", does it mean "take the time to look into, consider carefully and then share informed perspectives on"? Or is it more like "Take a bunch of off-the-cuff potshots at these ideas without making any serious attempts to research them, because they just don't 'feel right' and what 'feels right' is the ultimate arbiter of truth"? I really would like to feel confident that it's the former rather than the latter.
Well, to be fair, it's a call-in show so we dedicate more time to hearing what people have to say themselves so feel free to come and give your perspective. We'll certainly do our best with limited time and resources though. If we neglect anything feel free to comment and we'll address any issues on further shows.
Fair enough ... someone had to replace Rush, I guess ;-)
Who is Rush?
Rush Limbaugh? I've never listened to him. Did he have a call in show? Are you against call in shows? Personally I'm for them as people should be allowed to voice their opinions freely.
I'm not against them, but I never listen to them. Not really my thing.
In terms of people being allowed to "voice their opinion freely", there are plenty of opportunities for them to do that. They've got friends and families, they've got social media (including YouTube, Tik Tok etc.), they've got various forms of artistic expression ... they can even go to websites where they can choose from thousands of petitions, some of which get sent to actual government authorities and a few of which affect policy. Even a lot of 'traditional media' websites allow comments these days, and some (especially Murdoch publications) cobble together entire 'articles' composed almost entirely of the tweets of private individuals.
The truth is, people have NEVER had as many ways to express their opinions as they do now.
I do worry, though, whenever I see someone promoting their thing with any kind of slogan that resembles "giving a voice to the unheard" or "all opinions welcome". And certainly anything advertising itself as a "platform for free speech" has to be regarded with the utmost suspicion, especially if it's linked to rhetoric that highlights how "PC" the world has become.
There was a time - and really not that long ago - when you could use phrases like "voice your opinion freely" in a neutral way, because those phrases meant nothing more than what they said. Nowadays, unfortunately, this is not the case. That language has become code. And the subtext is generally something like
a) Come over here and talk if you're a total bigot and want to share your ideas with like-minded bigots (see Gab, Parler etc.); or
b) Come over here if your head is swimming with terrifying psychotic thoughts about the Rapture, the lizards or the robot mosquitoes ... or indeed about how Bill Gates (a lizard, naturally) is going to deliver vaccines to you via robot mosquitoes to bring on the Rapture. We'll be your friends if you can't find a bus stop to yell at.
What surprises me is your position, personally, on this coded language. I mean, you use it all the time, but I don't see why.
For a start, one of the two categories above doesn't apply to you at all - which is to say that, apart from a couple of slightly unsavoury offhand remarks that I heard you make ages ago about immigrants in London, I've never known you to be bigoted. And, y'know, everyone has uncharitable thoughts sometimes - you certainly haven't made those thoughts a focus of your life, like the first group of 'free speech code users' has. So I don't see why you would adopt their language as a cover for something which you're not susceptible to.
In terms of the second group, you are pretty immersed in that world a lot of the time ... but see, that doesn't necessarily make sense either, because I would've thought that being so immersed in it would make you more sensitive than the average person to the coded language of that world, not less so.
Given all of that, I can only see a few possibilities: one, that somehow, you've just remained oblivious to the modern, coded meaning of "voicing your opinion freely" and similar phrases; or two, that you're hoping to deliberately attract the sorts of people who would've been writing readers' letters to Fortean Times 20 years ago ... except that back then, far less of those people would've also wanted to hang politicians they don't like, have frequent arguments about the tyranny of gender pronouns, and retweet lies largely cooked up by paid vassals of the fossil fuel industry.
With all of that in mind, it's just WEIRD that you're so into this code.
But it's even weirder that you'd put the code in a message to me, expecting me to think "Oops .. well, you certainly scored a point there" (to quote Vladimir Putin, a hero to many of these Free Speech Warriors) and to feel chastened by your rebuke. I see that language as being like, say, a national currency: outside of the domains where it's normally used, it doesn't have the same transactional value. So it's an odd choice.
Anyway, good luck with the call-in show :-)
Well, I like call in shows because they reflect what real people are thinking rather than the media narratives where we are told what people are thinking. I may not always agree with everything a caller says but in some ways, that's the point.
You say there are plenty of places to voice opinions freely and give youtube as an example. Our last call in chat was taken down by youtube and our whole channel will be taken down if we utter once more that the last U.S election may not have been entirely free of corruption. You can also not question vaccines or covid treatments etc. Even if you are an experienced, award winning doctor. So, there is definitely cause for concern regarding free speech on social media and I would say that is already crossing over to public and professional forums too. Let's stick with the modern day environment. There's no point comparing today's freedom with the past. In the past you could shout out 'burn her, she's a witch' in public and people would listen. Today we just have different mediums in which to converse. There is a monopoly on social media so it actually makes speech easier to control.
I can't agree that anyone promoting a "platform for free speech" has to be regarded with the utmost suspicion. Sure, there will always be a section of society that have views that are really not something we would like in society but in some ways their existence is at least an indication that we have free speech. When they disappear, either the world has become entirely full of incredibly 'nice' people or speech is being suppressed. I know which one is more likely to happen in the future and I don't think it will be a good thing. Watch 'Pleasantville' or 'Stepford Wives' to get an idea of the result.
There is no 'code'. It's become code for you but nothing has changed. Free speech means free speech for some and a chance to launch into a racist tirade for others. That's always been the case. (to be continued).
"There is no code"? Seriously?
Scottsentinel, that is really an extraordinary statement. To me, it shows that you yourself have become an FSW (Free Speech Warrior). I told you it would happen if you hung around these people too much.
Look at the two examples of 'free speech' you've given me: the idea that Biden stole the US election, and the defence of grifters who peddle alternative 'treatments' for the coronavirus. Those are classic FSW (Free Speech Warrior) tropes. It's been really worrying to see your evolution in that direction over the years. When I met you, you weren't like this :-(