I know I am one of the more combative posters on TUSCL. I take a level of pride in this. I do not attack people without cause, I do so because we have staked out opposing partisan views. When I go to feuding with another poster, it is because I have important principles which must be defended. I do not draw first blood, but once it has begun, I never, ever stop. I know this about myself. I also know when to talk away, when someone is not interested in trying to win a debate of ideas, no matter how bitterly passionate.
There are plenty of third-rate whores, demented old bastards, and ignorant liberal windbags on TUSCL that need to be taken down. That's why I go after them. A supervisor once told me a story about a wolverine that killed a moose. He asked me why would the wolverine kill the moose? What possible gain would killing a moose provide the wolverine? He was talking about the many unyielding takedowns I performed around the workplace to enforce discipline and productivity. I looked him dead in the eye and told him the wolverine must have had an important point to make. It would be another 18 months before I saw a promotion.
However, I am seriously dismayed that no one who saw Founder's message about censorship ending all discussion seems to have understood Founder's message about censorship cancelling all discussion. How many of us want White to police themselves with regards to Neo-Nazis and white supremacists? How many people want black to police themselves for violent criminals and gang activities? How many people want latinos to police themselves for drug smuggling, human, trafficking, and cartel associations? How many people want police to police themselves for racism and brutality? How many want the Muslim community to police itself for radical Islam? Why won't TUSCL police itself and ostracize the trolls? It is wrong to devalue white people for the neo-Nazis. It is wrong to aggressively police all blacks as criminals. It is wrong to think all latinos are illegals and drug mules. It is wrong to suppress Muslim worship for fear of radical Islamists. It is wrong to censor conversations on TUSCL because we have trolls. All message boards have trolls. Most message boards have moderators to censor the trolls, and any other posters or viewpoints they do not like. We congregate and post here because there are no moderators or censorship. We can end the trolling by ignoring them. They will come back in another form and we will ignore them again.
There will always be spirited, passionate, and bitter partisan debate on here. It is fun to come here and blow off steam participating in that debate. But watching Skibum, Tetradon, nicespice, CMI and others just go back and forth endlessly with the trolls is not fun or constructive or worthwhile.
Hopefully Founder's next update will include another forum called the War Room, where we can boot the de-railed portions of threads we create. They can continue their immature back and forth in there while we debate the finer points of LDKing in gym shorts v golf pants.
Gammanu95, you have some extreme views which I do not agree with. But I have never found you to be one who goes into useless name calling and ad hominem. You present your views and let that be the end of it, even when others disagree. I respect you for this.
But there are others on this board who can do little other than name calling and ad hominem, and just because someone else disagrees with them. They refuse to talk about the topic at hand, but instead insist on making attacks on the other poster(s), making a negative meta-narrative, a conversation about the conversation.
SJG
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue youtube.com