So about my Facebook page. It's a bit barmy, a bit random, and sometimes a bit inflammatory. I don't typically pick my words too carefully, and there's a reason for this. For me Facebook is a repository for where I'm at "In the moment" so to speak. It isn't meant to be a finely crafted thing, or a taut analysis of everything that's happening. It's how I'm feeling and thinking there and then. Amused, incensed, befuddled. It isn't about you. It's not me trying to educate you. I'm not your parent so fuck off and do that yourself. If you read some of the articles I post then fine. If you don't then why would I care? What Facebook isn't, or what it was never intended to be for me was a finely crafted PR excercise. It isn't meant to be that because I'm not that. Are you beginning to understand? Sometimes I get private messages from people who've been triggered by something I have posted, or prompted to come at things at a different angle. OK fine, but again, your response, visceral or otherwise, is not my motivation. I like to capture my impulses and virtually bottle them so I can, if I want, revisit them. I can see where my thinking has evolved, how my views have ebbed. As you'll note I have flurries of attention. So do you, by the way, but you're likely less overt. I never wanted to create art here; I just wanted to chart my own travels. It isn't meant to be tidy, or considered, or polished so none of the cracks show. My positions have flaws; you really think I'm ignorant about that? Wow, you probably wanted to check your propensity for self elevation. If I make you laugh then good. If I make you think then better. If I irk you or make you grumble or shake your head in disbelief all fine. Oh, and if I "Offend" you, then be aware that your capacity to be offended is your own concern. I'm aware "Offence" has now become weaponised; something used to silence and surpress, which is why I consider it all the more important to speak as plainly as I can. I'm fortunate insofar that I have a good understanding of where the line is in terms of what I can and cannot say. I have had cause to explain it to others in the past. I find it a bit awkward being in a room when somebody challenges something I have posted or said, bacause then I have to talk them through principles of free speech, which normally deconstructs their concerns but can leave both of us feeling a bit odd. Nobody likes having error pointed out to them, but it is the case that many who are critical actually lack a core understanding. Abbreviated version; Facts do not care about your feelings. They just don't. So if I post data that dissolves a position you hold dear then you claiming "Offence" is not the smartest card to play. Get better facts. If was ever openly racist or homophobic or indulging in hate speech that would be a very different thing, and there are good laws already in place to protect us. For what it's worth I'm none of those things, but this is where my contrary nature can often confuse. I'm quick to go after positions I think are flawed. For example, when movedments like #Metoo or Black Lives Matter morph from wonderful concepts into battering rams that cause harm to the innocent. I wonder how many good and decent Law enorcement officers feels bullied and belittled right now? How many good and decent men caught up in the overblown claims of rape culture or systematic abuse of women? Just to drive it home, there is no evidence of systemic racism, and not all men are rape machines. That said, we all need to create a fair and just society and root out genuine racism and predatory behaviour where we see it. The fewer racists and sexual predators in the world, the better, right? These movements have good motivations, but how many times have they been hijacked by bad actors? That's perhaps one of the saddest aspects for me. How we take something good and then turn it into something cancerous. It's almost as if there's some force that seeks to pull us away from being the noblest, kindest, wisest versions of ourselves. But now to the crunch, that's a trait inside the vast majority of humans who have ever walked and talked and dribbled. Do yourself a favour and don't project it. It isn't the Devil, or your upbringing, it's IN you and it is FOR you to address.
Saturday 27 June 2020
Tuesday 23 June 2020
Some Thoughts On Cancel Culture
It's a really fucking stupid idea.
I could end right there. Only then I wouldn't get to annoy people nearly as much as I want to, so I'll plough on. So you dislike a position that someone holds, or a tweet they sent two decades ago, or a statue? Cancel them, tear it down. Drain the swamp. Only that isn't what actually happens. See, the vast majority of the country, whilst socially liberal, are actually all about freedom of expression. So when you try to tell us what to think, how to think, or suggest that some ideas are above critisism you just make a large silent majority think you are a bit of a dolt. And when you get up in our faces and try to shout us down, whilst you might think you've won a mighty victory, all you've actually ensured is that people vote heavily against everything you stand for at the voting booth. I mean how many people voted FOR Boris? I expect you'll actually discover they actually voted AGAINST Labour. I expect a lot of people vote against rather than for. I mean I haven't voted FOR anybody since the mid 1990's. So when the loudest voices try to silence you, or drown you out, or ban you outright from the discourse, I'm all for allowing them their moment in the sun. Play the long game people. Wait until you're at the ballot box then take the biggest shit possible on their ideology. You don't need to argue with people who would seek to deny you the chance to do so. Just keep living your values, being true to who you are, and use what power you have during the battles that actually matter. Talking of being shouted down, the last few weeks have been amazing for that. I doesn't matter that the statistics, when viewed impassively, make a mockery of the whole systemic racism narrative. It doesn't matter that all the data we have roundly destroys everything that Black Lives Matter claims. It's not about the facts, it's about the amount of noise you can make; how offended you claim to be. Who needs knowledge when emotionalism will do? I could sit down in a room today and within 90 seconds reduce some of the claims being made to rubble by simply referring to data supported by leading black intellectuals, but I probably wouldn't get beyond 15 seconds without some deranged social justice warrior berating me for having the temerity to speak in the language of facts. It just doesn't appear to be the done thing. You may have noticed that I have very deliberatly spoken out against the tide of lunacy we've been encountering. I refuse to be a sheep, to tow a line dicated by other's based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the core dynamics. Be outraged with me should you wish. Your outrage carries no weight. If you seek to pursuade me of the errors in my thinking I will gladly sit down and break bread with you. But we'll engage as equals, and in a spirit of enquiry, and an openess to change our perspectives based on new information. And I can be pursuaded. Case example; as the father of a gender fluid daughter I have had to work hard to understand the differences between sex and gender, and to understand why the Trans community are so impassioned about this distinction. I've read opposing views, listened to video's, and my understanding has shifted. This is why the exchange of ideas and information is so critical, such a fundamental building block in the great scheme of building a fair and just society. That's not to say passion is redundant, but passion alone isn't enough. Worse, it can lead to bias, confusion, greater ignorance. Do any of you think that's a good idea? So to me the route ahead, whilst full of complexity, will only be safely charted when open minded people engage each other in an environment where identity politics can play no part. Where the goal is to accrue knowledge, exchange ideas, and whittle out the good from the bad. It's either that or more of the same, and I don't want more of the same. There's this saying that a rising tide lifts all boats, which is to say that we need to create conditions in which the greatest many can flourish to the greatest extent. Us versus them isn't going to realise that dream. No amount of chest beating or muddled logic. But openness and bravery, both of which are choices we are required to make on a daily basis, just might.
I could end right there. Only then I wouldn't get to annoy people nearly as much as I want to, so I'll plough on. So you dislike a position that someone holds, or a tweet they sent two decades ago, or a statue? Cancel them, tear it down. Drain the swamp. Only that isn't what actually happens. See, the vast majority of the country, whilst socially liberal, are actually all about freedom of expression. So when you try to tell us what to think, how to think, or suggest that some ideas are above critisism you just make a large silent majority think you are a bit of a dolt. And when you get up in our faces and try to shout us down, whilst you might think you've won a mighty victory, all you've actually ensured is that people vote heavily against everything you stand for at the voting booth. I mean how many people voted FOR Boris? I expect you'll actually discover they actually voted AGAINST Labour. I expect a lot of people vote against rather than for. I mean I haven't voted FOR anybody since the mid 1990's. So when the loudest voices try to silence you, or drown you out, or ban you outright from the discourse, I'm all for allowing them their moment in the sun. Play the long game people. Wait until you're at the ballot box then take the biggest shit possible on their ideology. You don't need to argue with people who would seek to deny you the chance to do so. Just keep living your values, being true to who you are, and use what power you have during the battles that actually matter. Talking of being shouted down, the last few weeks have been amazing for that. I doesn't matter that the statistics, when viewed impassively, make a mockery of the whole systemic racism narrative. It doesn't matter that all the data we have roundly destroys everything that Black Lives Matter claims. It's not about the facts, it's about the amount of noise you can make; how offended you claim to be. Who needs knowledge when emotionalism will do? I could sit down in a room today and within 90 seconds reduce some of the claims being made to rubble by simply referring to data supported by leading black intellectuals, but I probably wouldn't get beyond 15 seconds without some deranged social justice warrior berating me for having the temerity to speak in the language of facts. It just doesn't appear to be the done thing. You may have noticed that I have very deliberatly spoken out against the tide of lunacy we've been encountering. I refuse to be a sheep, to tow a line dicated by other's based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the core dynamics. Be outraged with me should you wish. Your outrage carries no weight. If you seek to pursuade me of the errors in my thinking I will gladly sit down and break bread with you. But we'll engage as equals, and in a spirit of enquiry, and an openess to change our perspectives based on new information. And I can be pursuaded. Case example; as the father of a gender fluid daughter I have had to work hard to understand the differences between sex and gender, and to understand why the Trans community are so impassioned about this distinction. I've read opposing views, listened to video's, and my understanding has shifted. This is why the exchange of ideas and information is so critical, such a fundamental building block in the great scheme of building a fair and just society. That's not to say passion is redundant, but passion alone isn't enough. Worse, it can lead to bias, confusion, greater ignorance. Do any of you think that's a good idea? So to me the route ahead, whilst full of complexity, will only be safely charted when open minded people engage each other in an environment where identity politics can play no part. Where the goal is to accrue knowledge, exchange ideas, and whittle out the good from the bad. It's either that or more of the same, and I don't want more of the same. There's this saying that a rising tide lifts all boats, which is to say that we need to create conditions in which the greatest many can flourish to the greatest extent. Us versus them isn't going to realise that dream. No amount of chest beating or muddled logic. But openness and bravery, both of which are choices we are required to make on a daily basis, just might.
Friday 5 June 2020
What Happened To George Floyd Was Bad. But Don't Think For A Second He Was Good.
OK, here we go. Here’s my take on the last few days and the spill-over from the latest unjustified killing of a black man. So we all agree that what happened was bad, and that justice needs to be seen to be done, and that this is a time for reflection. I don’t think I’ve seen a great deal of controversy about that. Yet suddenly we are all institutionally racist, all needing to check our white privilege and self-loath to a sufficiently deep degree otherwise we are guilty of not treating the moment with due deference.
Which is stupid. And whilst we’re at it, George Floyd should not be treated or revered as a Martyr any more than Sweeney Todd lauded as a barber. If you doubt this then you clearly haven’t seen his criminal record. Might I suggest that any person who deceives his way into the home of a young pregnant black women, points a firearm at her belly, and then gets an accomplice to watch over her as he and his cohorts turn the joint over is probably some distance short of meeting the criteria for Sainthood. He was not a good man and he most certainly was not a role model.
So what to do at times such as this? Well showing kindness would be a good start. And should you wish to protest do so peacefully. None of this downplays the need to explore the socio economic conditions that may compel young men of colour into lives of crime, and thus hugely increases the risk of them encountering the kind of Neanderthals that had him under arrest and whose brute ignorance caused his death. There are problems to address, scales to balance, and injustices to overcome. These will be achieved when we as individuals start looking more closely at the things which unite us rather than that which divides. When we look at each in a way that see’s beyond skin pigmentation and instead into the content of our character. But that seems not to be the way society wants to go. We want to create our enclaves, our dominions, and play identity politics. If you really want to make a society better we should resist this. Retreating into cults now is going to make things a shed load worse. How could it not? We need to be brave enough to engage with alternative perspectives, listen to voices that don’t echo our own. And even then that’s only half the battle. There are rarely truly simple solutions in this world, but the complexity is a bit less daunting when we all go into the arena with a spirit of openness and engagement. I hate what happened to George Floyd. I also disapprove that we have elevated him way beyond what his life choices merited. All any of us can choose to do now is listen, learn, and reflect. And pro tip; do that before you start flouting your own opinions. And you don’t have to self-loath or grovel to demonstrate that you are against racism and for equality, either. You have every right to be proud of who you are irrespective of your colour or your culture. Don’t buy into this deranged woke narrative. That’s a rabbit hole that leads to lunacy and derangement.
Which is stupid. And whilst we’re at it, George Floyd should not be treated or revered as a Martyr any more than Sweeney Todd lauded as a barber. If you doubt this then you clearly haven’t seen his criminal record. Might I suggest that any person who deceives his way into the home of a young pregnant black women, points a firearm at her belly, and then gets an accomplice to watch over her as he and his cohorts turn the joint over is probably some distance short of meeting the criteria for Sainthood. He was not a good man and he most certainly was not a role model.
So what to do at times such as this? Well showing kindness would be a good start. And should you wish to protest do so peacefully. None of this downplays the need to explore the socio economic conditions that may compel young men of colour into lives of crime, and thus hugely increases the risk of them encountering the kind of Neanderthals that had him under arrest and whose brute ignorance caused his death. There are problems to address, scales to balance, and injustices to overcome. These will be achieved when we as individuals start looking more closely at the things which unite us rather than that which divides. When we look at each in a way that see’s beyond skin pigmentation and instead into the content of our character. But that seems not to be the way society wants to go. We want to create our enclaves, our dominions, and play identity politics. If you really want to make a society better we should resist this. Retreating into cults now is going to make things a shed load worse. How could it not? We need to be brave enough to engage with alternative perspectives, listen to voices that don’t echo our own. And even then that’s only half the battle. There are rarely truly simple solutions in this world, but the complexity is a bit less daunting when we all go into the arena with a spirit of openness and engagement. I hate what happened to George Floyd. I also disapprove that we have elevated him way beyond what his life choices merited. All any of us can choose to do now is listen, learn, and reflect. And pro tip; do that before you start flouting your own opinions. And you don’t have to self-loath or grovel to demonstrate that you are against racism and for equality, either. You have every right to be proud of who you are irrespective of your colour or your culture. Don’t buy into this deranged woke narrative. That’s a rabbit hole that leads to lunacy and derangement.
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