(CNN) Ever since Steve Bannon was fired as US President Donald Trump's chief strategist last year, he has clutched at every publicity straw he can grasp. Undeterred by the loss of his second job as executive chairman at Breitbart in January, he has pushed his campaign for worldwide national populism and declared his support for far-right leaders all over Europe, even backpedaling on his former rejection of hated "establishment" platforms to further his cause.

Many have protested, with figures such as Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon refusing to appear alongside him at the risk of "normalizing far-right, racist views."

After the news was released, and an understandable outrage ensued, current Union President Stephen Hovarth told the Oxford Student : "It is only through listening to the opinions of others that we can fully understand those opinions. Whether we are inclined to agree or disagree with them, there is a profound intellectual value in critically thinking through why it is that we agree or disagree instead of just rejecting them out of hand."

How profound is the intellectual value of "critically thinking through" Steve Bannon? Possibly very. He masterminded Trump's ascendance to the White House, and in so doing correctly identified a hunger felt by swathes of the American population that was neglected at a bitter cost by the left.

Under Bannon's stewardship, Breitbart pedaled myths about black crime, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and islamophobia. His advocacy of national populism echoes -- and very deliberately expatiates -- far-right movements across Europe. He certainly merits urgent critical appraisal by anyone who is not a fan of ethno-nationalism or white supremacy.

"I think it's fine," one former Oxford Union president told me, when I asked them what they thought of Bannon's invitation. "Everyone will have a lot of fun, the members, the people protesting outside... it will be a fun day out.

"It all comes down to -- on a high philosophical level -- freedom, and the ability to understand. There is a lot of database evidence that many people's ability is not that good... but ultimately, I believe in freedom."

Freedom, though, is a currency whose value tends to diminish in proportion to the amount one has of it. It is easy, when one has only ever known an abundance of freedom, to take it for granted. When the news of Bannon's invite broke, the Oxford Labour Muslim network posted a statement saying: "This cheap and dangerous publicity stunt can only be carried out by those who will never face the consequences of white supremacy and hate speech in their day to day lives."

Those consequences can be devastating. The normalization of far-right rhetoric, the like of which Bannon consciously nurtured both at Breitbart and in the White House, has put wind into the sails of neo-Nazis. It has made light of atrocities like the Charlottesville violence in August last year, and stoked suspicions that immigrants are dangerous criminals. It has legitimized the kind of hatred which puts anyone who does not fit some twisted "all-American" ideal -- ironic, given Bannon's purported hatred of the establishment -- in real danger.

Photos: A history of free speech on campus College and universities have long been hubs of free speech -- and hotbeds of protest. In this 1964 photo, civil rights groups picket a speech by Alabama Gov. George Wallace at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. The controversial Wallace, a leading spokesman for segregation, denounced a newly passed civil rights bill as a federal power grab. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus James Meredith is accompanied by two federal marshals and surrounded by jeering students after registering for entry at the University of Mississippi in the fall of 1962. The first African-American student to enroll at the school, Meredith suffered constant harassment on campus before graduating the next year. Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus College students from various nearby schools march down Commonwealth Avenue in Boston in October of 1965 to protest US involvement in Vietnam. Several hundred students -- most from Boston University, Harvard and MIT -- marched in the parade before attending a rally on Boston Common. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus In 1968 students at Columbia University in New York took over four buildings on campus to protest the school's affiliation with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a weapons research think tank. The students were also protesting Columbia's plan to construct a segregated gymnasium in the city-owned Morningside Park. The sit-in ended violently when police stormed the buildings. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Mario Savio, right, one of the leaders of the 1964-65 Free Speech Movement at the University of California-Berkeley, speaks at a "Peoples Park" rally on campus in June 1969. The movement, which protested the university's ban on student political activity, soon spread to other campuses. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Dorothy Goldsmith and Rita Webb squirt Kenneth Opat with oil in 1970 at Tulane University in New Orleans, where students tagged Louisiana's oil industry with the "polluter of the month" award. The demonstration on April 22 of that year was part of the first annual observance of Earth Day. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Mary Ann Vecchio screams as she kneels by the body of student Jeffrey Miller, shot by National Guardsmen on May 4, 1970, on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The National Guard had been called in to help quell several days of unrest on campus by crowds of demonstrators protesting the war in Vietnam. This photo was published worldwide, won a Pulitzer and helped sway public sentiment against the war. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus A group of anti-apartheid demonstrators find themselves blocked off behind the municipal building in Berkeley, California on April 18, 1985, after marching from campus to a courthouse where 20 demonstrators were awaiting arraignment. The protesters became trapped in an alley after police closed a gate on them. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus A teddy bear adorns one more than 400 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt as volunteers stand by silently during a 1996 ceremony at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ilinois. Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus New York University students lay down to form a peace symbol on the floor of the NYU library in 2003 to protest the impending war in Iraq. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus University of Missouri graduate student Jonathan Butler, second from right, speaks on November 9, 2015, following the announcement that University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe would resign. Wolfe stepped down amid widespread protests over his handling of racial tensions at the Columbia, Missouri school. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Yale University students and faculty rally November 9, 2015, to demand the school become more inclusive to all students. The "March of Resilience" followed several racially charged incidents at Yale, including allegations that a fraternity turned a woman away from a party because she was not white. Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus A student walks by a bulletin board November 12, 2015, at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. More than 1,000 students, professors and staff at Yale gathered to discuss race and diversity at the Ivy League school amid a wave of demonstrations at US colleges over the treatment of minority students. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Columbia University students gather to protest President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration January 30, 2017, in New York. The executive order banned travelers to the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: A history of free speech on campus Students protesting controversial Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos march in the street on February 1, 2017, in Berkeley, California. A scheduled speech by Yiannopoulos at the University of California-Berkeley was canceled after protesters and police engaged in violent skirmishes. Hide Caption 15 of 15

One could pick from any number of Bannon's one-liners, whack a question mark at the end, and interrogate it over the course of a few thousand words. You could essay debates on the reasoning behind statements like "guns are not a problem," "Trump's zero tolerance on the border is a humanitarian policy," "Tommy Robinson has got to be released from prison," or "Let them call you racist, xenophobes, nativists, homophobes, misogynists -- wear it as a badge of honour!", citing countless interviews Bannon has already given on these subjects. He has said it all before. So why ask him to repeat himself?

"The students will be able to challenge themselves against him," the ex-Union President enthused. "I think they could land a punch. Unless something has changed, why not carry on as normal?"

That question, of course, rests partly on the assumption that "normal" hitherto has been fine. That it is OK for dubious and even dangerous characters to be allowed into the bosom of one of the most renowned universities in the world for students to play with them.

It has been acknowledged by past members that for some -- relevant late examples being Boris Johnson and Michael Gove -- the debate itself is just a "side-show;" a means to a wholly selfish end. This must also follow for the guests, which renders the motivations of the individual, and the capacity of the platform at Oxford to facilitate them, crucial.

Bannon's rhetorical calling cards include: Jackson Pollock-smatterings of military terms, aggressive calls to action, swerving questions that don't serve his purpose, advocating for far-right leaders in America, Italy, France, Switzerland and Hungary, appeals to emotions above facts, and interrupting people. They do not include considered answers, or engagement with any kind of meaningful argument. In real life, when you hand Steve Bannon a mic, he runs with it.

I asked the former Oxford Union President whether there was anyone whose invitation they would deem a "move too far" for the Union. After a pause, they replied: "Off the top of my head, I think anyone who would use it to break the law -- slander, hate speech etc. And anyone whose physical presence would endanger the students.

"I would also say that if someone very very controversial is invited, it should be the case that they have to submit to lots of questions and challenges from the audience. If not, that obviates the point."

To my mind, that point is superseded by another. If flexing the intellectual muscles of a group of students comes at the cost of amplifying a man whose political program thus far has endangered the lives of thousands -- even millions -- of people across the world, and who is not done yet, it is not worth it.