What would make people feel less ostracized from P&R?

knapplc

knapplc

Active member
Today's disclosure is that people are being ostracized from this forum. So, some questions:

Why do people feel ostracized?

Who is making them feel that way?

How are they being made to feel that way?

What can be done to make them feel better about posting in this forum?

 
Let's expand on this. Teach claims, "Well...Coach, basically there is a group of people that have sort of signed a "DifferentThoughtBan"

Who are these people?

How have they made you feel this way?

What would you like to see change so that you don't feel this way?

 
I'm moving this here so we don't clog up the other thread.

knapplc said:
ZRod said:
We're all adults here. I assumed I wouldn't have to name names, and we could all do a little self evaluation. Shame on me for thinking we could be mature and check ourselves without being publicly called out...
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You're not being an adult by beating around the bush. An adult would gently discuss this with the person(s) they feel are harming the board. I've actually done this, recently, with people I thought were posting over-the-top things in P&R. They're welcome to confirm that private conversation if they like.By making vague insinuations about this you're making the problem worse.
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Then that's your opinion. I tend to take a different approach: make the issue know without pointing fingers and see if people can correct themselves. If that doesn't happen then talk to them about it personaly. If it needs to be made public then that's what has to happenn but most people dont react well to public criticism. Maybe that doesn't work well on a forum. Noted.
 
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As a disclaimer, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.

I think Republican posters feel blackballed because most of the people who visit this forum right now lean left and Republicans are coming under a lot of heat nationally for their support of Donald Trump. I also think liberals have more of a reason to be upset with the direction the country is heading right now, and upset people are always more apt to voice their displeasure in all things: restaurant reviews, movie reviews, political debates, etc. We have a ready made avenue to vent that frustration right here.

Also, and this is just my opinion, I believe our Republican brethren on this forum have less successfully argued their opinions and have been repeatedly shot down by their more eloquent counterparts.

Lastly, I think both parties have a general tone they're displaying right now: Democrats are coming off whiny and Republicans are coming off like ignoramuses with blinders on.

 
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Also, and this is just my opinion, I believe our Republican brethren on this forum have less successfully argued their opinions and have been repeatedly shot down by their more eloquent counterparts.
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You're leaving Independents dangling in the breeze.

 
I used to avoid the P&R forum at all times for a couple reasons 1) they aren't topics that I really feel like discussing and 2) people generally have such strong (and sometimes extreme) thoughts on these topics that there is no amount of discussion that is worthwhile.

I started checking out the P&R forum a bit around the election, and I was frankly fascinated by the opinions that were being shared. It was almost like a social experiment for me. I hated both Hillary and Trump so I wasn't going to vote for either one of them. I assumed that Hillary would win the election. When Trump won the election, I really became interested in why people voted for Trump. I just didn't think there were many qualities that made Trump a viable President. I am still interested in why people think Trump is making good decisions.

I consider myself fairly moderate. I am a white male that grew up in fairly conservative, middle-class home in Omaha. When I was young, I thought of myself as a "staunch republican". I just thought it was the way I should be. Throughout my life experiences I have become more moderate on a number of issues. When reading through some of the P&R threads now, it's probably best I don't read through them. It all just gives me tired-head. It's not just happening here, it's happening all over the interweb. My Facebook page has really just turned into people making posts from both sides of the issues. Sometimes I cringe going to Facebook, just because of all the things I am going to see posted there.

 
knapplc said:
Also, and this is just my opinion, I believe our Republican brethren on this forum have less successfully argued their opinions and have been repeatedly shot down by their more eloquent counterparts.
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You're leaving Independents dangling in the breeze.
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That's because I view Indendents as a combination of the two, at times, as they are often a combination of the two politically.

 
I am confused on what is permissible as far as insults go when referring to a politician. Because it is not dealt with evenly from what I can tell.

 
One thing that I don't like is that people act like you are supposed to have a strong opinion on everything. There are a lot of things that I think about and just say to myself "I don't know".

 
I want to comment on 'whiny'. This is the specific, and often warned about danger of a Trump presidency that is patently abnormal on every level.

Normalization. We enforce it. It's in our culture to extol the dignities of the office and conflate support for the government with patriotism. Opposition, no matter on what terms, is irregular and those who persist will face ostracism for being unreasonable.

The gears of our society are designed to keep rolling on -- entirely without incident. If normalcy is what you seek, you have only to withdraw from political conversation, because to be reasonable is to not care so much about every last political 'thing'. Life will go on, and for most of us it'll be just fine if we would just sit down and let it be.

But if you want to enter the political conversation, then support your positions, state your objectives, and be prepared to defend them.

 
zoogs said:
I want to comment on 'whiny'. This is the specific, and often warned about danger of a Trump presidency that is patently abnormal on every level.

Normalization. We enforce it. It's in our culture to extol the dignities of the office and conflate support for the government with patriotism. Opposition, no matter on what terms, is irregular and those who persist will face ostracism for being unreasonable.

The gears of our society are designed to keep rolling on -- entirely without incident. If normalcy is what you seek, you have only to withdraw from political conversation, because to be reasonable is to not care so much about every last political 'thing'. Life will go on, and for most of us it'll be just fine if we would just sit down and let it be.

But if you want to enter the political conversation, then support your positions, state your objectives, and be prepared to defend them.
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There is another reason...what my idea of defense is and what others idea of defense might be are totally different. Just the way you worded what is in bold means you are clearly looking for a reason to pounce.

To defend means you have been attacked.

 
I think the conservative posters on this board would feel less excluded if they just admitted that they were wrong about Trump. Admit that the man is crazy, and has absolutely no clue how to run a government, or manage equal egos around the globe. I consider myself an Independent, with a slight conservative lean (Voted for Obama both terms, however). As a Republican, you can say that Trump may stand for your party, but he doesn't stand for you personally. Denouncing Trump isn't to side with the left, it's to side with America, at this point.

 
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