The Far North
pfm Member
Or maybe the mask is a nappy to catch all the crap that comes out of his mouth?Maybe he has halitosis and can’t bear the smell of his own breath?
Or maybe the mask is a nappy to catch all the crap that comes out of his mouth?Maybe he has halitosis and can’t bear the smell of his own breath?
In his book Fear of Freedom, Erich Fromm distinguishes between freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from is the freedom from the authority of social conventions and institutions while freedom to is the freedom to become a integrated and creative individual.Billy Bragg nicely skewers Neil Oliver’s attention-seeking alt-right bile:
““For me, it's all and only about freedom" declares Neil Oliver at the start of this clip from his GB News show and then goes on to reveal that he means his own personal freedom and damn anyone else. Looking straight into the lens of the camera, he earnestly states that he's prepared to infect other people with covid "for the sake of freedom".
Makes me think of another sake that begins with 'F'.
Oliver seems like a clever guy who knows his history. I can't believe he's unfamiliar with what John Stuart Mill said about the limits of personal freedom: "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others".
I understand the civil liberties argument about the response to covid. In normal times we should always be looking to strike a balance between individual freedom and the common good. But under the current circumstances, the notion of the common good has to take precedence, until we are all of us free to exercise our individual liberties in an environment where the threat of infection is manageable.
And for an historian to have such a weak grasp of the effect that the Second World War had on individual liberties is shocking. Oliver constantly refers to that conflict without recognising that it required the whole population of the UK to put up with having their personal freedoms curtailed in order to defeat the threat of nazism.
For some, this meant having to tolerate the rationing of food and clothes, but for others it meant enlisting into the forces, being told what to do and where to go for several years and, for some, making the ultimate sacrifice. Is there any greater example of the notion of the common good?
By seeking to dress his wreckless individualism up in the uniform of those who served in the Second World War, Oliver has betrayed the sacrifices of that generation and shamed his own profession.”
Quote lifted from Facebook.
Led By Donkeys/StopFundingHate/customer pressure has got Sainsbury’s to pull their advertising from GB “News” and funding Farage’s racist bile (Twitter). Good. I hope the few remaining advertisers follow that lead.
what I can't understand if its so far right how come the likes of Diane Abbott amd Vince cable have appeared on the channel? Sorry just thinking a loudIndeed. Sainsbury’s acted slowly and one needs to question why they were advertising on a far-right channel given they profess to believe in equality, LGBT rights etc, but it goes to show that this sort of pressure is highly effective. All that is needed is to prove that a company is paying good money advertising somewhere that will actually lose them customers, as this did. It swiftly moves from being a moral decision to a core business one. If I ran Sainsbury’s I’d actually be looking to sack whoever made the decision to advertise there in the first place, and whoever took a week to react to customer pressure. Halfords, Kelloggs, Now, and Compare The Market need to consider their position. I never realised meerkats were racist shits.
what I can't understand if its so far right how come the likes of Diane Abbott amd Vince cable have appeared on the channel? Sorry just thinking a loud
Indeed. Sainsbury’s acted slowly and one needs to question why they were advertising on a far-right channel given they profess to believe in equality, LGBT rights etc, but it goes to show that this sort of pressure is highly effective.
True, and this was certainly the case for many of the first companies to jump ship immediately they realised they were sponsoring a far-right channel. I find it hard to believe major brands who no doubt have dedicated advertising departments weren’t aware at this stage though.
Given the pathetic audience figures, I’m very surprised Sainsbury’s thought the advertising offered vfm, especially with the downside risks to reputation.True, and this was certainly the case for many of the first companies to jump ship immediately they realised they were sponsoring a far-right channel. I find it hard to believe major brands who no doubt have dedicated advertising departments weren’t aware at this stage though.