Subj : Re: Most memorable modern
To   : Snobsoft
From : Boraxman
Date : Sat May 03 2025 12:00 pm

-=> Snobsoft wrote to MRO <=-

Sn> @MSGID: <[email protected]>
Sn> @REPLY: <[email protected]>
Sn>   Re: Re: Most memorable modern
Sn>   By: MRO to Boraxman on Thu
Sn> May 01 2025 01:11 am

> reddit is real shitty and it's
> mostly
> liberals. they also have bots that
> downvote people into oblivion . i
> havent seen that in a while, though.
> it's basically ahole liberal nazis.

Sn> What I really miss is the culture of discussion we had here in Germany
Sn> back in the 80s and 90s (also in BBS, later Fido, and Usenet). I don't
Sn> know how it was or is in the USA, but here, things have dramatically
Sn> worsened over the last 10 to 5 years (especially since COVID) in terms
Sn> of freedom of speech � particularly online. Nowadays, in Germany, even
Sn> sharing a harsh joke (a meme) about a politician can be enough to get a
Sn> house search. Unbelievable. Look up "Apollo News" and "Schwachkopf".
Sn> This kind of treatment of government critics is something you'd expect
Sn> only in dictatorships. Hey, the book 1984 was a warning, not an
Sn> instruction manual.

Sn> I've also noticed that the moderation in a Reddit group I'm in is
Sn> terrible. But I don't waste my time getting worked up about it.

Sn> Interesting that you used the term "liberal" above. I think it has a
Sn> different meaning for you than it does here in Germany. Here, "liberal"
Sn> is generally seen as positive�associated with freedom. The problem
Sn> we're facing (as mentioned above) clearly comes from the side I would
Sn> call pseudo- or lifestyle-left. It has nothing to do with the early
Sn> leftists, who were always critical of authority and government. The
Sn> once-renowned Spiegel magazine, which I already mentioned in this
Sn> thread, is the best example. It used to be critical of the government�
Sn> now it's just a mouthpiece for them. Government criticism? For Trump?
Sn> Of course, all labeled as Nazis. Great speech of JD Vance in Munich. I
Sn> think the overcompensation problem in Germany has never been as extreme
Sn> as it is today.

Sn> When it comes to crude jokes � check
Sn> out the Joke Corner of the Snobsoft BBS (use a translator or
Sn> something). There are some pretty harsh jokes from the 1980s. Exactly �
Sn> I have a lot of content in the BBS from 1985 onward. The jokes aren't
Sn> always necessarily my type of humor � but it was good that people were
Sn> allowed to make them � even about politicians. That should be a given
Sn> in a democracy, nothing that needs to be a big discussion.

Sn> Of course, people got annoyed at other BBS users back then too,
Sn> disagreed with their opinions. But afterward, they'd go have a beer
Sn> together in real life. Today, you're often instantly treated as an
Sn> enemy if you have the "wrong" opinion. It's terrible. Especially when
Sn> it comes from the very people claiming to be "saving democracy." In
Sn> reality, their suppression of dissenting opinions is the real threat to
Sn> democracy.

Sn> They probably don't even understand the essence of democracy. Exactly �
Sn> that means talking to one another, listening to different perspectives,
Sn> thinking them over � and not canceling them. 

Unfortuantely, if my theory is correct (and its holding up so far),
this was going to happen, the government has little choice about it
and no one can fix it.  It will get worse until there is a breaking
point, at which things get UGLY.

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