h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Plus - if someone using their fame to tell people to do stuff, then you will need to ban ALL product sponsorship. so No footballer can be paid to wear Nike boots, George Clooney can stop selling that coffee machine and so on.

What the real question should be, rather than should Brand (or Hopkis) be able to mouth off? Or should we give people the education early enough to understand politics and make their own evaluation of what they hear and read?

I go for the 2nd rather than stop people being allowed to speak

(for the record - I'm not defending Brand - I haven't read enough or heard enough of what he has said. However I do aplaud nyone who stands up and says things to make people think)

There is a difference in endorsing a product for which the intelligent know the endorser* is being handsomely paid for.

Or

Allowing or listening to and worse believing and following bigotry and political bias from a non entity stepping outside of his/her sphere of experience of intellectual experience, competence and ability.

any politician or wannabe politician can stand up and say anything. That is the point. Have you ever been to speaker's corner?

Atheists may well ask why priests and bishops are allowed to say what they say and so on.

Or do the anti-Brands here really feel that silencing him and his ilk is the better alternative than letting them speak

The difference is enormousness a solitary idiot on speakers corner dose not have the media coverage and a fan-base who rare prepared to listen to him.


Stand up and say anything Every do good-er in the land will object you have to be careful and be very ambiguous; Look for the underlining message and threat hidden in the messages.

I'll always defend anyone's and everyone's right to freedom of expression.Anything else is a slippery dangerous slope to fascism.

>>I'll always defend anyone's and everyone's right to freedom of expression.Anything else is a slippery dangerous slope to fascism

Ironically, holocaust-deniers' views are denied because the very expression of them are imagined to be a slippery, dangerous slope to fascism.

I don't think it's "right" or "wrong" for media celebrities to mouth off about politics and if it engages younger voters it's all good but I wish interviewers wouldn't soft soap them and act all starstruck in their presence. They're not experts and, in my experience of those in the luvvy profession, they're far less knowledgeable than the man in the street. Brand's behaviour on the Andrew Marr interview was disgraceful. Similarly some of Hopkins' reported remarks have been borderline racist.

>>Ironically, holocaust-deniers' views are denied because the very expression of them are imagined to be a slippery, dangerous slope to fascism.<<

not really ironic. That comes under hate speech. I'm just very surprised that so many people seem to not mind Brand being silenced but not, say, Farage.

Farage is supported by more influential and at the risk of censorship better educated people although he is supported by the people

I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at there.

Because it looks as though what you're saying is that Farage is allowed to speak because of his supporters, and Brand isn't.

No! Farage is some what more acceptable because of his supporters and political credentials, and Brand isn't.

Interesting corroborating and conflicting views. Especially whether a political and/or educated background is an advantage or acceptable, or that everybody has the right to freedom of speech.

But Farage is fiercely castigated and slagged off, although he 'could' be viewed in some ways to Boris Johnson with his gaffes and boozing, but because of his politics, yet both get there points of view over usually politely and expansively. Brand prefers shouting, obscenities or shouting obscenities, and appears to rarely allow letting someone else get a word in.

Should Brand use his popularity and beliefs and enter politics where maybe he could have more impact? Like George Galloway?

The postings, so far, have been really interesting.

MMF