Good points you make there @Katypp .
Trying to apply critical thinking to Farage I would say that he is obviously very good at self promotion. He is fiercely determined as evidenced by his repeatedly putting himself for election. He is very good at getting his point across.
It's so hard to do this though because everything you hear about him - from schoolboy (singing Hitler youth songs?) to the present day is that he seeks to destroy the things that benefit the majority and to divide society.
He mixes with such questionable people - from Donald Trump to Aaron Banks to Andrew Tate.
The sources of his funding are so highly questionable.
He failed to represent the people who voted for him in the European Parliament by not attending and, on the few occasions he was there behaving like a petulant child.
Making sure he kept the ability to travel freely in Europe whilst working tirelessly to remove that freedom from tens of millions of people.
His history of supporting people with misogynist view is abhorrent. He himself says his views of women were formed by 'getting so many women pregnant'.
His views on immigrants are appalling e.g. the poster, immigrants make the traffic bad etc
He supports blood sports including fox and stag hunting.
I remember him doing one of those lighthearted articles in a paper where two people chat over a meal together. He met with Rachel Johnson who was balanced, polite and kept it light. God did he bang away with his 'views' and putdowns and constant needling.
I wonder if he is ever kind or pleasant? I wonder if he ever considers other people? He doesn't seem to understand that boasting and putting people down is universally accepted as a horrible thing to do - and he gets away with it because of the politeness of others.
This is key for me. Why should we apply critical thinking, be balanced and polite, to a man who does not do the same? We are enabling it if we do, are we not?
It's very hard to form a balanced view of a person who spends so much of their own energy seeking to unbalance other people and systems.
To me he is the political version of John Lydon. A man who formed his 'fuck the system', nihilistic, anarchist views in teenage and hasn't evolved in any way. A man on whom nuance, education, learning from mistakes, the appreciation of the wisdom that come with age is wasted.
What seems like fighting spirit and youthful vigor in a young person looks pathetic and deeply unimpressive in a man of 60.
There is a type of person who is so beef faced and such a blunt instrument that life's experiences do not round their corners. Nigel Farage is one of those people.