Cancel culture and how to fight it, with Toby Young | The Brendan O'Neill Show

Toby Young returns to the show, two years after the launch of the Free Speech Union. Toby and Brendan discuss how ordinary people have the most to lose from cancel culture, how wokeness thrives on absurdity, and the importance of dissent in times of crisis.
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[@nelsonmcduff5218]

Oh the irony of people who are very vocal about the evils of bullying, themselves relentlessly bullying anyone who doesn't agree with their woke beliefs. They truly are deranged.

[@ericwedin4154]

I fight it by always question wokeism and cancel culture whenever it appears by demanding definitions of the words used (like justice, racism, fascism, hate, freedom etc etc) only to find that many use these words without having an agreed upon definition. Racism for instance is now on the level of ”anybody not agreeing with me and my idea”.

[@matthewstroud4294]

I find it helpful to look for package deals. Here is Rand's definition: “Package-dealing” is the fallacy of failing to discriminate crucial differences. It consists of treating together, as parts of a single conceptual whole or “package,” elements which differ essentially in nature, truth-status, importance or value." The use of anti-concepts is another thing to look for. Here she writes: "An anti-concept is an unnecessary and rationally unusable term designed to replace and obliterate some legitimate concept. The use of anti-concepts gives the listeners a sense of approximate understanding. But in the realm of cognition, nothing is as bad as the approximate . . . .One of today’s fashionable anti-concepts is “polarization.” Its meaning is not very clear, except that it is something bad-undesirable, socially destructive, evil-something that would split the country into irreconcilable camps and conflicts. It is used mainly in political issues and serves as a kind of “argument from intimidation”: it replaces a discussion of the merits (the truth or falsehood) of a given idea by the menacing accusation that such an idea would “polarize” the country-which is supposed to make one’s opponents retreat, protesting that they didn’t mean it. Mean-what? . . .It is doubtful-even in the midst of today’s intellectual decadence-that one could get away with declaring explicitly: “Let us abolish all debate on fundamental principles!” (though some men have tried it). If, however, one declares; “Don’t let us polarize,” and suggests a vague image of warring camps ready to fight (with no mention of the fight’s object), one has a chance to silence the mentally weary. The use of “polarization” as a pejorative term means: the suppression of fundamental principles. Such is the pattern of the function of anti-concepts."

[@tipple58]

Excellent discussion. Thank you.

[@Gorbyrev]

Well done Toby and well done Brendan. Here's an irony. I was at a FSU event last night and we were asked to leave by not one but two Witherspoon pubs in Edinburgh for breaching COVID regs on gatherings. In both pubs there was a stand with Tim Martin's magazine about free speech with a full page add from FSU. Couldn't make it up.

[@hittitecharioteer]

It is all just extraordinary? I'm recovering from cancer; two ops down, and one to go in the end of Feb. I've been in and out of James Cook Hospital (Middlesbrough) since October; and I have to say the LAST thing I was fearful of was covid. (And I'm immunocompromised!) It is all bollocks now. 17,500 deaths in 2 years proves it? Even in that non-comorbidities statistic, I expect the vast majority had undiagnosed comorbidities.

[@darev6780]

Never ever apologize to the Wokists.

[@alisonlevinson2638]

Yep. They just take it as an admission that you are beyond the pale.

[@melbbb5673]

Silencing people shouldn't be allowed. We should have more discussion, not less.

[@bestdjaf7499]

Unless it's Women/Feminists. Open Wikipedia & read about 4th Wave Feminism (it started in 2008-2010). In Academia, Intersectional Feminists start receiving school credits for fighting "Patriarchy & Misogyny" online (Call-Out/Cancel Culture).

[@TheWatchman1893]

Indeed, LBC have just completely canned Maajid for now towing the corporate line.

[@paulaitchison2470]

A briiliant discussion between two free speech advocates...and heroes 👌🏻

[@anndoig2459]

The term racism functions not as a word with which to create insight but as a slogan designed to suppress constructive thought. It conflates prejudice and discrimination. It is the icon word of those committed to the race game and they apply it with mindless zeal

[@ianinkster2261]

The word "racism" is 95% connotation, and the remaining 5% denotation is spread across about 60 different meanings.

[@annefagit3305]

If you're denying that sex is binary and immutable, if you're looking at a woman and calling her a man, if you're claiming there are 27 different types of gender, if you're arguing that biological men have no natural advantage over biological women in sports, you're articulating such absurd intellectually indefensible points of view that it's a great way of advertising your fealty... It's like saying: "I'm so committed to the cause of social justice, I'm prepared to completely humiliate myself intellectually!"

[@f3aok]

Well done Toby for all you've done in setting up the FSU and fighting for people's freedom of speech.

[@margueritespringer3687]

Agree Tom. It's old folks fear of death!

[@altudy]

Toby is good value.

[@jamesoneill5070]

"The word racist is a modern term of abuse. And a term of abuse is the more effective the less defined it is. Then you can throw it at everybody and everything." Enoch Powell on the Dick Cavett Show.

[@philipmoss4027]

Probably my favorite guest of yours. Very forceful

[@drstrangelove4998]

Ab Fab guys, super.

[@md1trk]

It's interesting that Toby locates cancel culture in the decline of Christianity. I would say it has more to do with the rise of the internet, particularly the fact that individuals can achieve social status simply through virtue signalling online, and can bully others without real-world consequence to themselves.

[@bestdjaf7499]

Why nobody would open Wikipedia?! 4th Wave Feminist in Academia have created the Call-Out/Cancel Culture!! With rise of internet, the 3rd Wave Intersectional Feminists went online to fight Misogyny/Homophobia/Transphobia/Islamophobia.... They get credits for organizing to modify Wikipedia, or to fight Misogyny on Twitter.

[@bigpete4227]

Bit of both and some other factors such as wealth probably.

[@aclark903]

@@bigpete4227 As your average Labour member got richer & more middle class, old socialist class war slogans had to be abandoned. Identity politics is what is left.

[@techtipsuk]

I always enjoy listening to Toby. Not sure I agree with him on his thoughts on the lack of religion being partly to blame for cancel culture.

[@aclark903]

Surely wokeism is a new religion, much inferior to Christianity. It is clearly not evidence based.

[@TheWatchman1893]

Sky news press preview is a lesser show without you 2.

[@baxtronicxavier]

Toby young deserves a knighthood! But of course he won’t because this is not seen as an important fight by seemingly either main political party.

[@-Gorbi-]

41:50, if the police had GUNS, they could simply point them at the violent mob and say back the fuck off and let this woman speak

[@fainitesbarley2245]

And then what? If they don’t shut up - fire into the crowd?

[@anndoig2459]

Political Correctness - that terrible insistence that somethings must remain unsayable even if patently true.

[@randygault4564]

There is no God-shaped hole. Rather, belief in any kind of nonsense validates belief in any other kind of nonsense. Let's have no illusions about who birthed woke.

[@karenarichardson7764]

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[@rogercanevari6920]

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[@kkk-ew2lm]

He has really made a good name for himself.

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[@AL-wn2tt]

Attacked twice by the pro choice brigade. Tribunal etc

[@winstonsmith8240]

I know it's a cliché but this is so Orwellian. Stop the world, I want to get off.

[@hachwarwickshire1718]

Stopped listening at minute 4:12 ... Really ? A "free-speech" organisation that works with the government to create legislation to control free Speech is not a "free-speech" organisation. At least not a British one. I expected this to happen when a number of people were rejected from joining the organisation at start-up. I understand not allowing some political opinions or some extremists not to speak or use the organisation for self promotion. But to say No ! "You don't count." Not good.

[@Jobu_]

Ahh, the “free speech to repeat mainstream talking points” grift rolls on