20/02/2021
It's not new, I know. There have been opinionated individuals who won't believe that others have a right to opinions for a long time.
Whether it is because of their sex, their colour, their sexual identity or preferences, their ethnicity or their occupation, some people think it's okay to seek to restrict the voice of others.
The explosion of social media has given these people greater opportunity to express their opinion, that others don't have the right to express their opinions.
An example I saw today was on Jason Manford's Facebook page.
I quite like Jason. He's not one of my favourite comedians, but he is pretty good. What actually draws me to him more, is his habit of making honest statements about issues affecting normal people and for not being afraid to make political statements.
Another example of a famous individual who I follow for their expressed views, rather than being a fan, is Gary Lineker. I don't like football and I think that many of the players are ill-disciplined and unprofessional. Gary, as a player, was disciplined and professional. As a person, he tends to express views that are decent and in line with my own opinions.
So, Jason shared a story about the Government's Health Secretary having been found to have acted unlawfully spurred on by the fact that it was not a news story that was getting a lot of coverage.
Amongst the comments generated by his post, on his own Facebook page, was one by Eddie Farrow.
In essence, what Mr Farrow was saying - or at least my interpretation of what he was saying - was that Jason Manford should stick to being a comedian and should not express opinions.
I posted a response.
Mr Farrow didn't seem to understand that expressing an opinion that others shouldn't express an opinion was, well, a little stupid.
So, basically, Mr Farrow thinks that everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, he simply doesn't want certain people to be allowed to share their opinions on their own Facebook page. Because, if you remember back to the start of this, Eddie objected to Jason posting a story on his own page.
Amongst Mr Farrow's other comments, he suggested that Jason should have to stand as an MP if he wished to express an opinion.
I should be clear. The aim of this opinion piece isn't to vilify this one individual. It is meant to draw attention to the growing trend of people saying that famous people shouldn't have a voice; and to point out how wrong that is.
Everyone has a voice. Everyone has an opinion.
Everyone should be able to express their opinions; so long as they don't use their right to express their opinions as a means to incite criminality or hatred.
What really gets me is the idiocy of people complaining about sports stars or comedians, amongst others, talking about politics or social injustice. It's as if they feel their own job as a retail salesperson, office manager or, in the case of Mr Farrow, apparently, a motorsport team boss, gives them greater rights to express their opinions.
It's a little ironic.
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