Political Threads

[Tarantella]

I agree with these sentiments and I was taught from an early age that it was impolite to discuss these very personal issues with others lest it offend and ruin relationships. I'm glad I seldom did, or do, because some of my closest friends have been diametrically opposed to me politically and it never stopped me loving them. (If you asked them they might disagree with what I've written, as it's often in the eye of the beholder, as it were!!) However, I do think we tend to gravitate towards those who mostly share our values anyway.

Regarding religion, I was at a school reunion last weekend and one of my ex 'classmates' launched into a diatribe about Catholicism in front of another school friend who had 8 children and was a staunch believer and a thoroughly decent, intelligent and caring individual. I spent a better part of the evening in damage control, with a repertory of anecdotes and humour about the 'good old days' at school. People don't understand - many just don't care at all - about the hurts they cause to others. This churlish behaviour must never be confused with good, old-fashioned, level-playing-field debate where the currency ought to be respect.

The irreverent, skeptical and egalitarian world of the internet is a place where we find many who don't give a damn, really, about the opinions of others and who are willing to become aggressive about their own ideas. I wonder where grace, manners and politeness ever went?

[D. Bucklige]

Originally Posted by Tarantella

I wonder where grace, manners and politeness ever went?

I believe when asked if they wanted to participate on the internet, all three impolitely declined.

Seriously, in a world where attention spans are ever-dwindling, the internet allows us to get in and get out rather anonymously.

The internet makes heroes of all of us (at least in our own minds).

[Tarantella]

Not sure about the "heros" - I think it's an over-used word and I've recently grown exhausted by it in relation to winning gold medals at the Olympics. It's an Australian thing: everyone is a 'hero', putting up a brave fight to win: the rest of us have our stomachs turned. In the lowest-common-denominator world of television sports commentary they stick to their usual repertory of antics and phrases and, really, it's not UNLIKE the internet!!

[haydnguy]

It is such a coincidence that this is the first thread I see on my return here. I had gone back to Facebook after the U.S. election thinking that with 4 years until the next election, that the political banter would die down. Then the tragedy at Newton, Mass.' elementary school happened and the political banter raged back.

It is a pity that I had to leave when I did because my high school (k-12) graduating class is going to have our 40th reunion in June and we were using Facebook to get everything organized. The last few years there have been more and more people pass on, and we all know that some that go to this years reunion will not be here for the next. (Could be ME). No matter, my emotional state cannot take that bantering and I must say it is almost always instigated by conservatives.

What gets ME is that I could argue the conservative viewpoint better than most of THEM. All they do is watch Fox News or Rush Limbaugh and repeat what those sources say. They have no understanding of the basis of what they espouse.

If I ever DO go back to Facebook, it will be to play games and nothing else. I do have better things to do with my life than play Facebook games.