Hi Karen,
Interesting question. I just had a PM from YYB, who looked in on the thread last night and was pretty disgusted with what the thread has become. Originally intended as an annex of The Left Wing Porch, it was supposed to be a place where political arguments are hashed out and settled before people return to the political threads. It's morphed into something very different, and, in my opinion, darker.
A few people, you, Neo, Chris and Tim chief among them, debate issues. Much of the rest of the thread's content (in the past few weeks) has been snide asides, name-calling and free of substantive thought. I got very angry at how Win was being treated and how (I felt) some very important lines were crossed WRT X. I set out two days ago to to give those who I felt were the worst offenders a taste of their own invective.
Interestingly, it was an aside about homophobia and not my comments about his character and intelligence that got jla and others angry enough to have an honest conversation. This could be because jla is not a homophobe, merely someone who accepts homophobic comments and promotes hatred in general. It could also be that I hit a nerve and despite protests that political correctness is silly, no one wants one wants to be called on the public carpet as a homophobe.
I found the ensuing discussion, brought up by you and Tim, I believe, about personal responsibility in the face of hatred to be really interesting and valuable. I think that kind of responsibility is ultimately one's personal choice, though I'm sure it wouldn't surprise you to know that my choice is to speak up when I see intolerance, not to ignore it.
In the end, the past couple of days were ones of good learning for me. I have to admit that I felt "pumped" by the hours I spent insulting others and I can now understand, to some degree, why some people repeatedly engage in that kind of behavior. It's the cyber version of cigarettes, except instead of polluting one's own lungs, invective pollutes the world one little bit at a time. |
