Before purchasing an electric vehicle (EV), I took the time to look at the pros and cons of making the leap from a petrol car. Despite the pros to the economy and crucially, my monthly fuel bill, there was one main negative that caused concern: the danger of battery fires. There have been several high-profile incidents of vehicles catching alight due to faulty batteries with a retired fire fighter remarking to me that the intensity with which they burn is unlike anything he came across during his 30-year career.
In Sweden he told me, firefighters have actually changed their standard operating procedures and have stopped trying to extinguish the unpredictable, toxic emitting episode, choosing instead to let it burn out under its own steam.
It got me thinking, could the same approach prove effective when dealing with moronic, misogynistic hot heads like Joey Barton?
The issue with attempting to fight EV blazes is that often attempts become futile and serve only to increase the danger they present. The toxicity of the burning lithium battery combined with the inherent dangers of getting up close mean that engaging with it often causes more harm than good.
Similarly, in engaging with Barton, however well-intentioned, serves only to provide his views with the credibility he is so desperate to feel, giving his outbursts the status of serious, valuable debate. The more one tries to provide rational clear thought to his preposterous claims that women are ill-suited to working within men’s football, the more one emboldens and confirms in his and his like-minded Neanderthal followers’ minds of the justness of their cause.
As Jay-Z once shrewdly said, “A wise man once told me don’t argue with fools, ‘cos people from a distance can’t tell who is who”.
That is not to downplay the serious potential consequences of Barton’s pathetic rants into the Twitter abyss. Eni Aluko, capped 102 times by England, spoke bravely on the danger she has felt since becoming the 11-minute international’s latest target. It is to say that energy in response to online hate should be focussed more on the real-world, physical, and mental protection of victims than into convincing the perpetrator of the error of their ways. Frankly, you would have more success teaching your dog algebra.
It is important to note also that that is not a call for cancellation, nor for his removal from social media profiles. Quite the opposite.
As Sports Minister Stuart Andrew confirmed he is planning to intervene with social media companies in the wake of the 11 minute England International’s comments, I feel it is important to demonstrate restraint in approaching the issue, ensuring that Barton does not become the cancelled, anti-woke martyr that he would no doubt relish.
As we saw with Nigel Farage in the I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Jungle, it is often best to give these types the platform to demonstrate just how dull and irrelevant they are when stripped of their well-honed, fabricated shock factor.
Whilst ITV received significant criticism for their decision to book the failed MP for one of their biggest programmes, the show, instead of becoming a platform on which to launch a future right wing political career, actually showed him for the bland, uninspiring elderly man that he is, boring and insignificant only able to come alive when aroused by Brexit or Immigration like Hugh Hefner on swallowing his trusted blue pill.
Cancellation rarely works and plays into the GB News playbook that targets the ‘you can’t say anything anymore Brigade’ that Barton has recently swung towards.
Instead, treat them like EV fires. Let them burn themselves out. Keep your distance whilst they emit their toxic nastiness and when they’re done and have been starved of attention rather than oxygen, they’ll simply disappear onto the career scrapheap that they are trying so desperately to avoid.
Featured Image: Youtube/Pearl
Insta: @ConorWilsonWrites