Owen Jones article in the Economist

[Backingvocals]

www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2017/03/economics-and-democracy-0?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fte%2Fbl%2Fed%2Feconomicsanddemocracythehoundingofowenjones

I just came across this on Twitter and it rather frustrated me. It's not a great piece, to be honest. Too baggy and general. But Owen Jones as the canary in the coal mine for being hounded off social media by extremists? I think not. There's a passing reference to women but they don't really matter, is how this reads. When it happens to clever Owen it's really bad.

He isn't off social media, he's merely 'Taking a break from social media (except to post articles and videos)'

Can't be bothered to read anything about Owen Jones. I wish he'd just keep it zipped, the guy makes me ashamed to be a socialst.

Can't be bothered to read anything about Owen Jones. I wish he'd just keep it zipped, the guy makes me ashamed to be a socialst

I agree. OJ really is a prize git.

I think some of you are missing the point of this article, it's not about OJ per se, it's about the erosion of trust in our political discourse and him coming off social media is a symptom of that, and how dangerous a lack of trust and willingness to debate opposing viewpoints is.

No I wasn't missing the point. I was objecting to him being a martyr to this cause and the "canary in the coal mine" when women in politics and in public life have been routinely subject to this treatment and no one other than other women has said anything about it.

That's why I put it in feminism chat. I agree that there is a general issue with lack of trust and difficulty with opposing view points but Owen Jones is not the first and most striking example of this. Any woman who puts her head above the parapet is demonised by her opponents - anyone from Caroline Criado-Perez to Mary Beard to Margaret Thatcher to Hillary Clinton.

When it happens to clever Owen it's really bad.

More like when it happens to a man it's really bad. The fact that it has been happening to women for years isn't important

Owen Jones is a twat of the highest order and should be denied the oxygen of publicity.