Political threads/forum

[The Human Q-Tip]

Plenty of great discussion on any topic in and out of the political world.

It’s a sub forum, full of pretty intelligent people. Limiting topics seems like a waste of time, nobody is forcing people to participate in discussions on race.

Except there were people who were offended by the content of that thread even thought they weren't participating. While it is a really interesting subject, I'm not sure it's worth the blow-up potential.

Again, we need a lot more people to chip in on this stuff. I don't want this to be the Q-Tip show.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Just as an aside, I'd speculate that pissing contests within this thread are probably a good way of not getting the proverbial Golden Ticket.

ETA: I'm going to bow out of this thread for the rest of the day because I don't want to dominate it.

ETTA: I hope @AZ_ rating was for the initial post and not the edit.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

Calling someone a name gets mod action.

 

[David.]

While I appreciate you not being able to get through the discussion of possibly bringing back politics without subposting about me, I’m not here for this type of shit anymore.

It’s got to stop.

I'm very happy to learn of your transformation. What did you disagree with medium about?

 

[MediumBaller]

Plenty of great discussion on any topic in and out of the political world.

It’s a sub forum, full of pretty intelligent people. Limiting topics seems like a waste of time, nobody is forcing people to participate in discussions on race.

But several people have said that they were offended by the content in the threads. I disagreed with them at first, but I can see why they would find it offensive. Topics on race can be seen as talking about a race of people, and I understand why that would be offensive. Even if they don't participate it's still there for them to see. But, I'll leave this for them to talk about because they can explain their position better than I can.

 

[AZ_]

Those people can freely weigh in here, first hand.

With good moderation and less tolerance, we can certainly do better than the offensive content others have posted.

 

[MediumBaller]

Also I'd be down to agree to not using "fringe" sites as sources (Breitbart, info wars) and whatever their equivalents on the Left are. I think those sources can still have value, but if they continue to be used then the threads will probably delve back into the same beaten to death discussions that we had before.

 

[Nathan S]

Roughly I expect offenses will fall into two categories: personal attacks, and posts that are flagrantly disrespectful to a group of people based on race/gender/etc.

The first category is pretty clear cut, and we should be able to avoid it entirely. Obviously if someone insults you or says something horrifically racist (for example), you don't escalate the situation, you simply report it to Jking and trust that he will deal with it. In the short term, it may be best to avoid even playful jabs at each other, just to ensure that this rule is very well established.

The second category is tricky and people will make mistakes, sometimes honest ones and perhaps sometimes not. On one hand, people will have to be willing to forgive others for their mistakes...on the other hand, people will have to show that they're willing and able to learn from their mistakes if their posts are offensive to other users.

 

[David.]

Roughly I expect offenses will fall into two categories: personal attacks, and posts that are flagrantly disrespectful to a group of people based on race/gender/etc.

The first category is pretty clear cut, and we should be able to avoid it entirely. Obviously if someone insults you or says something horrifically racist (for example), you don't escalate the situation, you simply report it to Jking and trust that he will deal with it. In the short term, it may be best to avoid even playful jabs at each other, just to ensure that this rule is very well established.

The second category is tricky and people will make mistakes, sometimes honest ones and perhaps sometimes not. On one hand, people will have to be willing to forgive others for their mistakes...on the other hand, people will have to show that they're willing and able to learn from their mistakes if their posts are offensive to other users.

And if they don't think they made a mistake and the offended party continues to take issue with it?

 

[Wrathe]

Also I'd be down to agree to not using "fringe" sites as sources (Breitbart, info wars) and whatever their equivalents on the Left are. I think those sources can still have value, but if they continue to be used then the threads will probably delve back into the same beaten to death discussions that we had before.

Totally disagree on principle, and I don't even read those sites.

 

[TyGuy]

This is where it gets tricky. We'd all agree in the abstract with what you're saying, but is there/should there be a line between posts that are unwise/unfair, and posts that result in the mod stepping in/banning?

Political arguments often include slippery slope arguments, which others may see as trolling, etc.. So how do we balance having free-wheeling discussions with having "quality" discussions? I think that's the hardest line to draw.

I lean towards free-wheeling, but others need to speak out on this. I'd want banning only for bad name-calling/freakouts -- not just because someone is making shitty arguments.

Id also like it if we didn’t allow implying or suggesting someone or people here are racists without actually coming out and saying it.

That was a big problem in the past. Because someone didn’t directly say you’re a racist they escaped any type of punishment and could just continue to slander people here unabated.

 

[David.]

I haven't exactly thought this through, but I think rep of any kind has a negative effect on these threads.

Reqlly changes the tone, dynamic, and content. This exacerbates the team Dynamics

 

[MediumBaller]

Totally disagree on principle, and I don't even read those sites.

I agree with you on principle that they shouldn't be, but I see it creating problems if they continue to be used. Just a thought that I had. We're probably going to have to compromise on some boundaries if we want the threads to come back and I don't think that agreeing to that would negatively affect the conversations toooo much.

 

[David.]

Id also like it if we didn’t allow implying or suggesting someone or people here are racists without actually coming out and saying it.

That was a big problem in the past. Because someone didn’t directly say you’re a racist they escaped any type of punishment and could just continue to slander people here unabated.

There are people we disagree with that to us look racist as hell. What do we do, just point out the flaws in logic path insteqd? Calmly show that what they're saying isn't coming off the right way?

These people don't seem to care.

 

[AZ_]

Just as an aside, I'd speculate that pissing contests within this thread are probably a good way of not getting the proverbial Golden Ticket.

ETA: I'm going to bow out of this thread for the rest of the day because I don't want to dominate it.

ETTA: I hope @AZ_ rating was for the initial post and not the edit.

All good faith, my like came pre edit.