Unpopular Opinions You Hold

[Samilktray]

I don’t really see the issue with bands and musicians at Glastonbury making political statements. Music and politics have always been intertwined as far as I can tell 

[Heathrow fox]

Thank God for Mike Ashley

Thank God For Sports Direct 

[Nalis]

Artists seeing a war as a convenient way of marketing their own anti establishment brand is frankly disgusting in my opinion

[Raj]

48 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

I don’t really see the issue with bands and musicians at Glastonbury making political statements. Music and politics have always been intertwined as far as I can 

 

https://news.sky.com/story/glastonbury-organiser-emily-eavis-says-anti-idf-chants-crossed-a-line-and-no-place-at-festival-for-hate-speech-13390070

 

 

 

Your okay with the above then yeah?

Edited 29 June 2025 by Raj

[CosbehFox]

5 minutes ago, Raj said:

 

https://news.sky.com/story/glastonbury-organiser-emily-eavis-says-anti-idf-chants-crossed-a-line-and-no-place-at-festival-for-hate-speech-13390070

 

 

 

You’re okay with the above then yeah?

Personally the anti IDF chant personally yes. The Israeli Army is a horrific organisation with a long history of atrocities to inhumane behaviour. The other stuff stepped a line 

It’s time for us to be adults, recognise nuance and not get drawn into this utter filthy debate that aggressors from either side are doing. 

 

But @Samilktray to be fair was simply saying there’s a long history of politics and music. He’s correct on that. Right from Bruce Springsteen to Fats Domino to Eliza Fitzgerald 

[Samilktray]

31 minutes ago, Raj said:

 

https://news.sky.com/story/glastonbury-organiser-emily-eavis-says-anti-idf-chants-crossed-a-line-and-no-place-at-festival-for-hate-speech-13390070

 

 

 

You’re okay with the above then yeah?

Absolutely 

[Raj]

19 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Personally the anti IDF chant personally yes. The Israeli Army is a horrific organisation with a long history of atrocities to inhumane behaviour. The other stuff stepped a line 

It’s time for us to be adults, recognise nuance and not get drawn into this utter filthy debate that aggressors from either side are doing. 

 

But @Samilktray to be fair was simply saying there’s a long history of politics and music. He’s correct on that. Right from Bruce Springsteen to Fats Domino to Eliza Fitzgerald 

 

1 minute ago, Samilktray said:

Absolutely 

Fair enough, just hope a band chants about anti palestine just to even it all out then👍🏾

[Sampson]

2 hours ago, Samilktray said:

I don’t really see the issue with bands and musicians at Glastonbury making political statements. Music and politics have always been intertwined as far as I can tell 

Not to mention “feck off with your political shit” and trying to tell people where, when and how they want to hear “political” statements is in itself an extremely political statement - just as much a political statement as any statement by a musician. 

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Nalis said:

Artists seeing a war as a convenient way of marketing their own anti establishment brand is frankly disgusting in my opinion

As much as I defend the right for them to say something, it is admittedly why I’m very suspicious of Kneecap. It feels like a brand 

[bovril]

We are very very tolerant in this country towards individuals and groups in media and the arts who are hostile to the British state and its interests. States hostile to Britain know this and exploit it. 

[Sampson]

3 minutes ago, bovril said:

We are very very tolerant in this country towards individuals and groups in media and the arts who are hostile to the British state and its interests. States hostile to Britain know this and exploit it. 

The alternative sounds like the route to authoritarianism that the US is currently looking like it may well go down though where criticism of the country, its allies or government are met with state intervention or enforcement. Not a path I particularly want to go down and hope the UK very much keeps its tolerant and liberal culture towards criticism of itself, its allies and its government.

 

With any system there will always be those that exploit it, it doesn’t mean you have to throw out or change the whole system though.

Edited 29 June 2025 by Sampson

[ashbyj]

2 hours ago, Samilktray said:

I don’t really see the issue with bands and musicians at Glastonbury making political statements. Music and politics have always been intertwined as far as I can tell 

Neither do I as I always ignore what they have to say in between songs.

[Foxdiamond]

9 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

As much as I defend the right for them to say something, it is admittedly why I’m very suspicious of Kneecap. It feels like a brand 

Even their name suggests a hateful attitude 

[bovril]

5 minutes ago, Sampson said:

The alternative sounds like the route to authoritarianism that the US is currently looking like it may well go down though where criticism of the country, its allies or government are met with state intervention or enforcement. Not a path I particularly want to go down and hope the UK very much keeps its tolerant and liberal culture towards criticism of itself, its allies and its government.

 

With any system there will always be those that exploit it, it doesn’t mean you have to throw out or change the whole system though.

Not sure if that liberal culture will survive much more in the age of the Internet and AI. All states need to be able to control the narrative to some extent.

[Sampson]

1 minute ago, bovril said:

Not sure if that liberal culture will survive much more in the age of the Internet and AI. All states need to be able to control the narrative to some extent.

Not disagreeing but I don’t know how much longer democracy itself will survive the age of ai and the internet either. I still think it’s worth fighting for though.

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, bovril said:

Not sure if that liberal culture will survive much more in the age of the Internet and AI. All states need to be able to control the narrative to some extent.

 

4 minutes ago, Sampson said:

Not disagreeing but I don’t know how much longer democracy itself will survive the age of ai and the internet either. I still think it’s worth fighting for though.

It's especially complicated when for optimal effect some issues require a liberal democratic approach, and others rather more from-the-top - one government size doesn't fit all. And getting that optimal approach right is critical in some of those cases.

Edited 29 June 2025 by leicsmac

[bovril]

Just now, Sampson said:

Not disagreeing but I don’t know how much longer democracy itself will survive the age of ai and the internet either. I still think it’s worth fighting for though.

This is based more on vibes than evidence but I feel like Britain - its government, media and citizens - is quite tolerant towards groups who hold pretty anti democratic beliefs, or who support other groups with those views. Like Kneecap for example, whom I generally ignore, but it still catches my attention when a band who've professed support for Hezbollah end up so feted by much of the UK media. 

[bovril]

Interesting also how politics and political slogans have never been more prevelant in arts and media and yet the actual decision making seems to be more distant than ever, and the public have ever less control. Watching fans of musical acts congratulate themselves on promoting whatever their cause is feels a bit like as a kid when you went 3-0 up on FIFA then realized it was on auto mode and the computer was controlling everything. It's all an illusion. 

[Sampson]

1 hour ago, bovril said:

This is based more on vibes than evidence but I feel like Britain - its government, media and citizens - is quite tolerant towards groups who hold pretty anti democratic beliefs, or who support other groups with those views. Like Kneecap for example, whom I generally ignore, but it still catches my attention when a band who've professed support for Hezbollah end up so feted by much of the UK media. 

I have no idea who Kneecap is so if they were allegedly cheering on Hezbolla than that’s fair enough to condemn, but I just kinda think in general trying to come in with anti-liberal rhetoric in the age of populism to hold the liberal centre is what Macron tried to do and all it ended up doing was giving credence to the populists’ beliefs. 
 

If you ask me, I think the populist right are currently a far bigger threat to British democracy than Islamists are but I accept the latter is certainly also a big problem.
 

I don’t know what the answer is, no one does, that’s why most of the west feels like it’s scrambling around like rabbit in the headlights right now trying and struggling to find solutions. But I’d hope we wouldn’t just throw out liberal democratic ideals because they might fall anyway, I’d hope we at least try to fight for them first.

Edited 29 June 2025 by Sampson

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 minutes ago, Sampson said:

I have no idea who Kneecap are but I just kinda think trying to come in with anti-liberal rhetoric in the age of populism to hold the liberal centre is what Macron tried to do and all it ended up doing was giving credence to the populists’ beliefs. 
 

If you ask me, I think the populist right are currently a far bigger threat to British democracy than Islamists are but I accept the latter is certainly also a big problem.
 

I don’t know what the answer is, no one does, that’s why most of the west feels like it’s scrambling around like rabbit in the headlights right now trying and struggling to find solutions. But I’d hope we wouldn’t just throw out liberal democratic ideals because they might fall anyway, I’d hope we at least try to fight for them first.

Obviously 

[Sampson]

Just now, Trav Le Bleu said:

Obviously 

Is it one guy then? I lost track of popular music 20 years ago so admit I’m out of touch here. 

Edited 29 June 2025 by Sampson

[Dr The Singh]

2 hours ago, bovril said:

We are very very tolerant in this country towards individuals and groups in media and the arts who are hostile to the British state and its interests. States hostile to Britain know this and exploit it. 

Well, I can honestly say, bhangra is a British product.  I love being English, I love also what us Englishman have done to make Bhangra great.

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, Sampson said:

Is it one guy then? I lost track of popular music 20 years ago so admit I’m out of touch here. 

No, it's a band. You put is initially

[The Bear]

If Emily Eavis didn't want all that IDF nonsense at her festival then she shouldn't have invited them to play. 

 

You can't say "yay free speech" and then cry about what they say. 

Edited 29 June 2025 by The Bear

[bovril]

39 minutes ago, The Bear said:

If Emily Eavis didn't want all that IDF nonsense at her festival then she shouldn't have invited them to play. 

 

You can't say "yay free speech" and then cry about what they say. 

I think Eavis and Lineker running into issues due to their soft support of Israel is a really good example of the huge change that's taken place in how political culture now plays out in our angry social media age. People of their age unsurprisingly struggle to get to grips with it.