Subj : Re: Politics
To : Avon
From : Blue White
Date : Sat Mar 05 2022 10:58 am
-=> Avon wrote to All <=-
Av> For me I'm not against political discussion per say but I am against
Av> any hurtful or unkind or extreme discord that can unfortunately arise
Av> when something in that political or religious space comes up and people
Av> feel they must defend their point of view tooth and nail but do so in a
Av> way that descends into acrimony.
I have found that people defend in that manner when the person they are
defending against came on in an attacking manner, i.e. it is two-sided.
Not always, but often so.
Av> I wonder if an echo that had a geo-political or just political focus to
Av> it would be a starter? If it was set up it could be a place for
Av> discussions about global politics and peoples thoughts, fears, hopes
Av> etc. the come with it.
That sounds nice, on the surface, but with how the topology of FTN networks
(and QWK, too), it is likely to get out of hand before you have time do say
or do anything about it.
Av> I enjoy news and I do follow local and national political events here
Av> in New Zealand. I am also following closely what is happing in Europe
Av> (with dismay and sadness) and keeping an eye on the South Pacific
Av> region (closer to my country) with interest too.
Av> So for me to chat about any of that stuff I'd likely need to adjust
Av> things in fsx to create such an echo for that kind of chatter and
Av> focus.
Current events discussions would be nice, but see above... they can go off
the rails, too.
Av> But it occurs to me that where the bulk of any such chatter has landed
Av> in the past (as I mentioned earlier) was in the USA political space.
Av> And I guess that's also understandable as many nodes in fsx are USA
Av> based and it's been a busy/changable time in USA politics for some
Av> years now with several high profile people generating engagement in
Av> folks for and against their espoused views.
It is often persons outside the US who heat those US political
conversations up.
Av> Another thought would be to also create a USA specific politics echo
Av> but the it seems a bit unfair to the rest of the globe :) And I do
Av> worry it could turn sour in content posted if people forgot about the
Av> values of the network and started chucking metaphorical barbs at each
Av> other :( Never good nor fun, nor kind.
I suspect any political discussion would soon be turned sour.
The discussion about Ukraine may turn out to be an exception because most
of us are probably more of the same mind on it... we are worried about the
people involved and cannot see any good coming out of it.
Av> But if we could find a way to continue to agree to conduct ourselves in
Av> a way that is civil if such an echo(s) were created I'd be open to
Av> looking at it / giving it a try.
Moderating a Politics echo in another network, I would not hold out much
hope for that. I am afraid it would turn out like past political dicussion
in FSX_GEN here... what starts as a mostly civil discussion of something
would quickly turn to name calling and f-bombing.
There are actually people I interact with in other echos that I would never
suspect of such behavior that will drop into the politics echos for the
specific purpose of trolling, causing trouble, and other such behaviors
that a bored person might participate in.
Unless you are willing to hold that one echo to a much lower standard that
the rest of the network, I still think the best alternative is to direct
people to other networks where such behavior is less frowned upon.
... DALETECH - for all your home security needs!
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