I've had a job since 2008 where I was paid to be controversial to stimulate debate. It's backfired on me three times and I want to tell you the truth as I see it.
I may be a complete stranger to you. Or you might think you know me from being a voice on the radio for 21 years. Or you might have been told things about me which are (at best) a misrepresentation of things I've said.
“ Social media can be a wonderful thing. But it also has a very dark side”
In 2008 I took over Manx Radio's lunchtime phone-in programme Talking Heads, which invited members of the public to have their say about the issues of the day. I was encouraged to provoke discussion. I was also invited to write a weekly op-ed column in the Manx Independent newspaper, which I did for two years and 100 articles (by that time there was little new ground to cover so I didn't want to repeat myself). Imagine My Surprise (!) when the first column was trailed on the front page of the paper with a picture of me and the caption 'Mr Controversy writes for the Independent' or something similar.
Naughty children
I use Facebook a lot to stay in touch with people I don't see very often, many of them family and old friends across the water.
One day many years ago I was attracted to a busy thread on a 'Manx Shops and Service' page, where an angry mum had complained bitterly that she, her children and her father had gone to a local pub/restaurant for a meal. According to her story, at the end of the meal her father had gone to pay and the owner/manager said that the children were the worst-behaved he'd ever had the displeasure of serving (in other words 'don't rush back'). Dozens of people had waded in to the thread with the usual 'RU OK Hunni' comments, and the majority sided with the mum who was sorely offended.
I made the mistake of adding a comment along the lines of 'when my girls were small they were taught how to behave in public, and as an occasional restaurant customer the last thing I wanted were naughty children disrupting everyone else's meal - so perhaps the manager had a valid point'. This was met with howls of protest from other parents who think children should be free to run amok because 'they're only children'.
Then I realised (probably from a subsequent comment) that one of the children was autistic, and I was pilloried for having a problem with autistic children! I responded to that by saying I had nothing but admiration for the parents of children with any disability, but that since autism isn't always obvious the responsible thing would have been to tell the manager beforehand that one of the children might appear to be naughty, but was actually coping with a behavioral condition. The abuse I got was unrelenting and there were numerous demands that I be fired from my job. I apologised for inadvertently causing offence, but still maintain that parents need to control naughty or disruptive children in public. When I was a small my parents told us 'children are to be seen and not heard' which I appreciate is an old-fashioned sentiment nowadays.
BLM
I also enjoy the banter and bull on Manx Forums so added to a thread about the BLM protest last year. I questioned the value of protesting in Douglas about the death of George Floyd in America, especially as there's no U.S. Embassy here to protest outside. I added some U.S. government statistics about the tiny percentage of white on black vs. black on white homicides in America to put matters into some sort of perspective.
That night a young man called my Late Show to complain. I gave him more than ample airtime to make his (seemingly scripted) points, and chuckled once when he wouldn't allow me to talk by repeatedly speaking over me. The only thing I challenged was his assertion that since I enjoyed 'white privilege' I didn't have a right to express an opinion on the matter.
(Just saw a story which vindicates my position on 'white privilege'): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9799863/White-privilege-divisive-unhelpful-term-says-new-head-UKs-equality-watchdog.html
There were two further callers who I suspect were friends of his who again attacked me, but I treated them both with respect and allowed them to make their points. An elderly chap phoned up later and talked about 'coloured people' which I know isn't the accepted nomenclature these days (although strangely 'people of colour' is!) but rather than correct him on air and risk him using even less acceptable terms, I let it go and apologised later, explaining why I hadn't corrected him 'live'.
The following morning I was summoned to a meeting with my bosses at the radio station and told I'd have to be suspended (probably for a few days) as there had been numerous official complaints, including some to the Communications Commission.
What followed was a pile-on. Someone launched an online petition to have me fired which accrued over 4000 signatures. Luckily someone else launched a counter-petition which attracted over 10,000 supporters.
That suspension lasted three whole weeks while the Commission studied recordings and transcripts at great length, before concluding that I hadn't said anything racist, although maybe I had been 'insensitive'. So a warning to you - if you disagree with someone these days, you could lose your career. And they won't apologise when they're proved wrong!
Interestingly, the BLM movement has since revealed itself to be a Marxist organisation committed to defunding the police, causing civil unrest and getting rid of the traditional family. One of its founders has allegedly bought four expensive homes in California. The police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire has recently said he has banned his staff from communicating with Black Lives Matter groups.
Pride...
I think it was the Friday before the Pride march and weekend events at the Villa Marina, so a couple of people sent texts to The Late Show asking why the Villa had been painted in rainbow colours, and why people felt the need to publicly assert their sexuality. Aware that this is one of those 'trigger issues' and as I have a number of gay friends I was careful NOT to say anything that would offend them. I also read out verbatim three long texts from a transgender person about the problems they face, and was supportive of their situation. However, apparently there were complaints the following Monday, although I don't know what the substance of them was.
Free speech
For the last 13 years on the radio I've encouraged people to call or text to let me and my listeners know what they think of the issues of the day. I've always made it clear that all comments must be 'legal, decent, honest and truthful' which to me are the only conditions we should ever put on expressing a genuine point of view.
But especially over the last 2-3 years we've seen an explosion of (usually extreme left-wing) militants who believe that any point of view they disagree with must be shot down in flames, and the person responsible should be burned at the stake! They will stop at nothing to discredit, cancel or end the careers of people who don't subscribe to their world view, and use the prescribed words that they condone.
That's not healthy. It's not democratic, and it's just plain wrong. I'm happy to defend any of my beliefs without taking offence, and I expect the same of others. Of course people have different points of view, so we should be able to discuss them reasonably and respectfully without being heckled and shouted down by a mob. Pulling down public statues, damaging public buildings, attacking police, rioting and looting in the name of social justice goes beyond the pale and I absolutely reserve the right to talk about it.