What on earth?
I'll not refer to the man as the name that he took from a football hooligan, that he likes because it has Tommy in which means that he killed some baddies in the war.
He's intriguing, and I have to admit that there's something about him that fascinates, in a "what's really going on in his head" kind of way. So I've watched a couple of his youtube clips, well until he starts rant-mode. I watched one last week when he was talking about Shamima Begum's newborn ("that child could be in your child's nursery if she came back into the country"). So it doesn't surprise me that some internet platforms have decided that he wasn't welcome in their house any more.
But he's turning it into a whole sympathy thing (and he has an interesting number of supporters. I had decided not to, but I just found myself watching some of his documentary about Panorama.
Is he dangerous, or just a step up (or down) from Katie Hopkins?
Stephen Yaxley Lennon -can I just say?
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Mister Paul
- Sr. Member
- Posts: 419
- Joined: 6 years ago
Re: Stephen Yaxley Lennon -can I just say?
Yes he’s dangerous. This is a nasty crook who makes money out of people’s hatred. A bit like Trump he’s happy to incite his followers and direct their hatred to others. He’s trying to turn this into a business but very unhappy when the media start to investigate his activities.
I think I am more worried about his genre and how a group of mainly right wing males hang on their every word as it seems to speak to their lives. Yaxley-Lennon will go but new examples will come. It seems that inward looking, poorly educated, little England attitudes are to blame. The question I have, is whether the education system is to blame? Could more be done to focus on the things that races/cultures/religions share rather than their differences?
I think I am more worried about his genre and how a group of mainly right wing males hang on their every word as it seems to speak to their lives. Yaxley-Lennon will go but new examples will come. It seems that inward looking, poorly educated, little England attitudes are to blame. The question I have, is whether the education system is to blame? Could more be done to focus on the things that races/cultures/religions share rather than their differences?
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Re: Stephen Yaxley Lennon -can I just say?
I don’t think the education system is to blame. Most schools are excellent at introducing children to a wide range of cultures and influences.
However, we have a political class and a media that is obsessed with othering, and which is putting in place structures that reinforce those messages (e.g. the hostile environment and Brexit). The lack of regulation in social media, that allows an atmosphere of misogyny/sexism/homophobia/anti-Semitism/Islamophobia to flourish and for the easier dissemination of hateful material and images, compounds this.
How are schools, who actually have children for a relatively small part of their waking hours, meant to be able to counteract the toxic messaging that is constantly bombarding children? How do you deal with the insidious effects of a site like ThePlaceThatCannotBeNamed, where low level hate speech and bullying is not only tolerated but actively protected and encouraged by the moderators?
However, we have a political class and a media that is obsessed with othering, and which is putting in place structures that reinforce those messages (e.g. the hostile environment and Brexit). The lack of regulation in social media, that allows an atmosphere of misogyny/sexism/homophobia/anti-Semitism/Islamophobia to flourish and for the easier dissemination of hateful material and images, compounds this.
How are schools, who actually have children for a relatively small part of their waking hours, meant to be able to counteract the toxic messaging that is constantly bombarding children? How do you deal with the insidious effects of a site like ThePlaceThatCannotBeNamed, where low level hate speech and bullying is not only tolerated but actively protected and encouraged by the moderators?
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Sonic Budgie
- Hero Member
- Posts: 889
- Joined: 5 years ago
Re: Stephen Yaxley Lennon -can I just say?
Yes he's dangerous and Hopkins is dangerous too.
Like it or not people listen to him and people want to listen to him. He can mobilise people, not nice people either. He has sufficient knowledge of his subject that he is able to convince people that either know less or that have no wish to know more that he is an expert. And he has in some ways been legitimised by the amount of coverage he gets, the documentaries about him and by being adopted by a political party. Yellow vests UK is a far right group using the "Justice for our Boys" campaign for their anti Muslim, anti immigrant propaganda, Yaxley- Lennon has been quick to jump on this and has made a number of stomach churning videos about it. It ties him into the anti establishment, pro-brexit groups in the eyes of his supporters and his fan base grows.
I don't think I'm comfortable with his stuff being taken down from Facebook etc, but then I'm not comfortable with his stuff remaining there unchallenged either. I don't think he can be ignored, this will only fuel the view of him as a martyr. He needs to be challenged without being legitimised, in the same way as Griffin on QT or better yet by Saffiyah Khan at a rally.
Like it or not people listen to him and people want to listen to him. He can mobilise people, not nice people either. He has sufficient knowledge of his subject that he is able to convince people that either know less or that have no wish to know more that he is an expert. And he has in some ways been legitimised by the amount of coverage he gets, the documentaries about him and by being adopted by a political party. Yellow vests UK is a far right group using the "Justice for our Boys" campaign for their anti Muslim, anti immigrant propaganda, Yaxley- Lennon has been quick to jump on this and has made a number of stomach churning videos about it. It ties him into the anti establishment, pro-brexit groups in the eyes of his supporters and his fan base grows.
I don't think I'm comfortable with his stuff being taken down from Facebook etc, but then I'm not comfortable with his stuff remaining there unchallenged either. I don't think he can be ignored, this will only fuel the view of him as a martyr. He needs to be challenged without being legitimised, in the same way as Griffin on QT or better yet by Saffiyah Khan at a rally.
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Mister Paul
- Sr. Member
- Posts: 419
- Joined: 6 years ago
Re: Stephen Yaxley Lennon -can I just say?
Ooh ooh.... Remember this?
Frank Skinner used to do a routine about how during WWII there was an industry in mocking Hitler alongside/rather than being terrified of him. He ended the routine by playing a song about Bin Laden on the Ukelele.
Maybe, rather than taking these people seriously and giving them credence we should actively not take them seriously.
Frank Skinner used to do a routine about how during WWII there was an industry in mocking Hitler alongside/rather than being terrified of him. He ended the routine by playing a song about Bin Laden on the Ukelele.
Maybe, rather than taking these people seriously and giving them credence we should actively not take them seriously.
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