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Thanks for this, since it aligns pretty closely to a thing i have been trying to frame of late...and would be interested in further input/commentary from folks who might have a view and/or help me to systematise my thinking here
(for submission to government later this year). https://twitter.com/stavvers/status/1334444034887127040
(for submission to government later this year). https://twitter.com/stavvers/status/1334444034887127040
And calling in the dynamic duo of @Chican3ry and @Finn_Mackay who have often been my spiritual guides on such topics...
At any rate, I start with the observation that the UK is not by any means a democracy, nor even, as the spinners like to assert, a meritocracy....
At any rate, I start with the observation that the UK is not by any means a democracy, nor even, as the spinners like to assert, a meritocracy....
It's an oligarchy. Also, kyriarchy, rather than stroict patriarchy, because sometimes women are permitted into the inner circle on condition they don't fundamentally rock the boat.
The ruling class, as always, is determined by naked power: the power of capital and the power of politics.
But below the ruling class sit a series of interlocking elites.
They don't rule us. But their function is very much to enable those who do to continue doing so.
But below the ruling class sit a series of interlocking elites.
They don't rule us. But their function is very much to enable those who do to continue doing so.
Obvious elites include a corporate/managerial elite, and a rentier class: those who do very nicely thank you out of owning "a bit of property".
Nah. Not talking here the obscene ownership levels of the Duke of Westminster. Just those who happen to own "a couple of rental houses"
Nah. Not talking here the obscene ownership levels of the Duke of Westminster. Just those who happen to own "a couple of rental houses"
Less prominent in the UK is the military class - though to a degree, this is more than made up for by a semi-militarised police.
And all too often omitted from these perspectives is a group i refer to, variously, as the commentariat/chattering class.
And all too often omitted from these perspectives is a group i refer to, variously, as the commentariat/chattering class.
This is a small group, little more, i suspect than a few hundred, who make up the opinion-shaping industry in and around UK media.
Despite appearances of occasional dissent (from @OwenJones84 to @GeorgeMonbiot ) this elite is pretty homofenous on the key issues of the day...
Despite appearances of occasional dissent (from @OwenJones84 to @GeorgeMonbiot ) this elite is pretty homofenous on the key issues of the day...
...neoliberal, self-preening, setting the framework by which various "debates" are permitted to take place within the UK.
An instant f'rinstance: the way "debates" around trans people are almost always framed as trans vs. women, as opposed to between opposing groups of women.
An instant f'rinstance: the way "debates" around trans people are almost always framed as trans vs. women, as opposed to between opposing groups of women.
And it is against this background that we must view both existing laws and increasing attempts by government to clamp down on what are always represented as "attacks" on free speech.
By which is meant: people not traditionally admitted to these elites have had the temerity to, effectively, challenge some of their wilder members.
Hence the furore around University free speech. The knickers in a twist phenomenon over people demonstrating against people like...
Hence the furore around University free speech. The knickers in a twist phenomenon over people demonstrating against people like...
...Germaine Greer-ere! or Bindel-Bundle. Because these folks getting to say their piece is free speech, while people saying these people are horrid is NOT free speech.
Similarly, the concatenation of folks boycotting events and platforms where these types appear...
Similarly, the concatenation of folks boycotting events and platforms where these types appear...
...with denial of speech.
These types have pretty much open access to every media platform in the world. But a bunch of students saying they don't represent them is a denial of their fundamental Human rights, doncha know?
These types have pretty much open access to every media platform in the world. But a bunch of students saying they don't represent them is a denial of their fundamental Human rights, doncha know?
Hence, too, the inordinate amount of publicity afforded to those who are "silenced". Most recently, Suzanne Moorish, who has been proclaiming her silencing in the Guardian in pretty much every other publication in the land.
Strangely, no such similar fuss attends the almost complete absence of trans voices in all of these publications.
Nor is there much comment on what seems central to her departure: that an editor had the temerity to edit her words.
I am shocked! Shocked!
Nor is there much comment on what seems central to her departure: that an editor had the temerity to edit her words.
I am shocked! Shocked!
If, on the one hand, this elite was about no more than promoting the views and interests of its members, that would be pernicious but understandable.
But the same state that gets its knickers in a twist over the commentariat elite being "silenced" happily silences others...
But the same state that gets its knickers in a twist over the commentariat elite being "silenced" happily silences others...
I'll pass by, for now, the introduction of PSPO's - Public Space Protection Orders which allow local councils to determine what behaviours are permitted in various public spaces.
Or the fact that speech, in this law, can include words.
Or the fact that speech, in this law, can include words.
But the biggy...the massive great fly in the ointment/elephant in the room is the unique and peculiar nature of UK libel laws. And these...well, these are regularly used by the commentariat to silence any dissenting opinion
Thus, if Rupert Murdoch, courtesy of his engorged organ, the Times, deciees to promote views that diss muslims...or travellers...or trans folks, then absent a direct incitement to violence, he is free to do so.
In the process, pretty much any allegation can be made/implied...
In the process, pretty much any allegation can be made/implied...
LGBTQ folk "not escatly paedophiles but too soft on paedophiles"? Check. The Times did at least one piece of that ilk recently.
But vice-versa? Any of us hoi polloi so much as suggesting that Rupert-Unbearable is paedo-adjacent? No way!
But vice-versa? Any of us hoi polloi so much as suggesting that Rupert-Unbearable is paedo-adjacent? No way!
The libel suit would likely be instant, and would make your eyes water.
Which brings us on to communities and minorities being allowed their own language.
We've already seen the press and other media outlets trying to divide #BlackLivesMatter
into good guys and extremists...
Which brings us on to communities and minorities being allowed their own language.
We've already seen the press and other media outlets trying to divide #BlackLivesMatter
into good guys and extremists...
Check out also their constant use of scare quotes when writing the word "transphobe" (see, i did it, too: but in that case it was justified).
And a few months back, who remembers a convo between various terfy types out in t'open about what fun they would have with that word?
And a few months back, who remembers a convo between various terfy types out in t'open about what fun they would have with that word?
Because it is not clearly defined in law...so they would be able to sue the arse off anyone applying it to them. And lo and behold, we see actual suing going on (in the case of JK Rowling) and threats of sues on the part of various other transphobes...
...with the result that ability of the trans community to discuss publicly the motives of those ranged against us are seriously damaged.
Bringing this to a close...what i am describing is the existence of a small self-congratulatory elite that dominates the media and comment in the UK, and uses its power to reinforce its dominance...
Any and all efforts to challenge that dominance are regarded as "silencing", while silencing of minority voices is nothing to write home about...
Government is looking to entrench this further with a drive for "free speech laws", while at the same time, laws that seriously impede minorities from talking about their experiences are ignored wholesale.
