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Exam Grades, the Rule of Six and Our Growing Police State

September 16, 2020 Andrew Elliott 01:28:57

Nic is back from Cornwall after cancelling his trip to Corfu, but how much of a holiday was it, being herded through one way systems, with mask nazis everywhere?

He also shares his recent experiences with masks and how its stopped him attending medical appointments. We cover the exam grading debacle, where yet another computer model mucks up people’s lives – this time students. But will there be long term consequences of not ever having sat your exams? Who will hire the class of 2020?

This leads us onto talking for the first time in depth about working from home and managing a remote team – something Andrew has a great deal of experience with. Can you really recruit and motivate staff in a lockdown?

Then we discuss the latest rule changes about to come into force. The so called “Rule of 6”. As well as its sinister name, how on earth is it fair for families of 6 who can no longer meet anyone, or of more than 6 who can’t freely associate as a family? There’s talk of curfews, which means curfews here we come. And Covid enforcement marshalls. Surely now is the time to call this a police state? Or did that apply a lot, lot earlier?

All this and more, plus a special interruption by the mother of all house spiders. Is it the libertarian thing to do to kill a spider?

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

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Virtue Broadcasting

September 9, 2020 Andrew Elliott 00:34:37

Further to Andrew’s recent blog post about Virtue Broadcasting, we take the topic further.

We discuss virtue signalling in general, before moving on to the louder, shoutier form that is broadcasting. We talk about different forms of signals, from Twitter bios to mask wearing to clapping like a trained chimpanzee every Thursday evening.

We talk about Ben & Jerry’s recent Twitter rant and ask whether it makes any difference to us. Do we really care about the opinions of companies we buy from? What would it take for us ro stop buying from them?

Photo by Ben Hope on Unsplash

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The Chocolate Episode

August 21, 2020 Andrew Elliott 01:05:51

In this edition we review some of the latest polling and see just how crazy the numbers are for people supporting the unprecedented government interventions of 2020. Does it very much if you are a Labour or Tory voter or are they all happy to be authoritarian in an pandemic.

Andrew tells the story of how his wife needed to go to hospital and whether he was allowed in to see her for fear of spreading a virus he doesn’t have.

We discuss masks again, and how they dehumanise what were every day fun experiences, like smiling at strangers.

And we discuss chocolate. Obviously.

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Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

Virtue Broadcasting – When Virtue Signalling Just Isn’t Enough

August 12, 2020 Andrew Elliott

Did you know that the term Virtue Signalling is only 5 years old?

It seems like it’s been around forever, doesn’t it? It was actually created in a Spectator article by James Bartholomew on April 18th, 2015. It’s been flourishing ever since.

For the unaware, Virtue Signalling is a way of appearing noble & principled without actually doing anything. Writing “hates the Daily Mail” in a Twitter bio is a good example. You haven’t done anything good, by doing that. You haven’t helped feed the homeless or built a well in an African Village. You’re just written four words. Yet I’m expected to think you’re somehow a better person for it.

That’s virtue signalling. Once you know it exists, you’ll begin to notice it. Its common, precisely because it requires so little effort.

Now, adding words to your twitter bio is one thing, but what if the ‘signal’ is a lot more prominent? Signalling implies a certain subtlety about it. What if you’re making a big thing about doing nothing? I think we need a new term for that.

I present to you “Virtue Broadcasting”.

You’ll have seen virtue broadcasting, already. Standing outside your house at 8pm on a Thursday banging your pots and pans for the NHS? That’s virtue broadcasting. Shouting at people who aren’t wearing masks? The same.

Virtue signalling just doesn’t seem enough for some people. We need a new term. I’m not entirely sure whether Broadcasting is the right word, and I’m happy to use another. But, for now, it’ll do.

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Left Leaning Language and Grievance Signalling

August 12, 2020 Andrew Elliott 00:35:36

Is a common language enough any more or do you need to somehow signal your political or woke intentions? How does that work when the Overton Window shifts so frequently?

We talk about the evolution of terms such as “Coloured People” and “People of Colour” to define groups of people, and whether its a feature of the woke or broadly the political left to signal how up to date you are by using the most trendy phrase.

Has virtue signalling started leading to a new form: grievance signalling. And is that more about feeling safe by identifying with a tribe?

And does Nic have a problematic car…?

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Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash

Hackonomics: Market Forces and Unethical Behaviour

August 5, 2020 Nic Elliott 0:39:23

With the recent hacking attacks at Twitter and Garmin, Nic explains the detail behind another attack on a company called Blackbaud.

They claim to have stopped a cyberattack, but they are explicit that they paid the ransom demand.

Can companies really guarantee their data is not going to be released or sold after paying the ransom? Why did Blackbaud admit to paying it?

Will this behaviour encourage more cybercriminality, and do market forces actually mean that it’s in the interests of cybercriminals to not release the data?

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Nic: https://twitter.com/MrNicElliott

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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Can Libertarianism Ever Take the UK?

July 30, 2020 Nic Elliott 0:34:33

The US has a different political structure as well as a culture with more emphasis on liberty – at least superficially.

It also has a Libertarian Party that fields candidates for President.

But what about the UK? Who is the closest we have to a Ron Paul and can they succeed anywhere in the current party system? Or are we stuck with Steve Baker…

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Photo by James Pond on Unsplash

Agent Based Behaviour Modelling

July 26, 2020 Nic Elliott 00:33:17

When did locking down a population, or closing schools become the agreed way of dealing with an epidemic?

Andrew explains where the lockdown model was pioneered (you won’t believe it if you don’t already know), and we discuss why it became popular as a methodology despite being so flawed.

Why were policy makers so ready to curtail our basic freedoms? Will behaviour modelling be turned towards other policy areas to “prove” that something needs to be done?

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Please reach out to us on Twitter:

Sounding Board: https://twitter.com/soundboardpod
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Nic: https://twitter.com/MrNicElliott

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Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

Real Maskism Has Never Been Tried

July 20, 2020 Andrew Elliott 00:57:47

Over four months since the peak of Covid19 infections in Britain and the government thinks that now is the right time to mandate mask wearing in shops.

Aside from the morality of the state telling you how to dress, do these loose pieces of cloth actually do anything?

This edition, we talk about the utter ridiculousness of this latest directive and Nic reveals just how black pilled he is with the current state of affairs in Britain.

Photo by Nikoli Afina on Unsplash

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Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles.Web: https://soundingboard.com

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Remember, you can now subscribe on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzAT–UxzErq_UU5SCUtFg

Please reach out to us on Twitter:

Sounding Board: https://twitter.com/soundboardpod
Andrew: https://twitter.com/no_coercion
Nic: https://twitter.com/MrNicElliott

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Libertarian Good Reads

July 12, 2020 Andrew Elliott 00:38:13

For weeks, Andrew has been pestering Nic to talk about books. To keep him happy, in this edition Nic interviews Andrew about a handful of his favourite reads.

Starting out with Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt, Andrew moves on to discussing four of his favourite novels; George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and, finally, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

We talk about why these books are great, why Andrew recommends them and ask whether any of them could ever change the mind of an ardent socialist.

Economics In One Lesson: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0517548232/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_BL1cFbS2TS646

1984: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/014118776X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_3K1cFbX3ZWDND

Brave New World: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0099518473/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_QJ1cFbAGR6M3J

Fahrenheit 451: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0006546064/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_MH1cFbYSPRG1M

Atlas Shrugged: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0141188936/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_4L1cFb9490F4V

Photo by Alfons Morales on Unsplash

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Please visit our website to download or stream all our previous episodes and to read our articles.Web: https://soundingboard.com

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