Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Am I An Asshole?

I am involved in yet another series of discussions at Dilatory action, and for some reason I keep pissing people off. So, if you have a moment, take a glance at this post, and this post, and answer me one question: am I being too much of an asshole?

2 comments:

jimi said...

asshole? probably not. too much time on your hands? definitely.

i've been booted from one political rantings website, because the owner of the website is of the opinion that if you aren't a gun-toting republican, or part of the family (they let one left-winger in the discussion because he's the owner's little brother) then you obviously are an idiot. Ironically, i am either apolitical, or somewhere in the middle, generally opposing both sides (definitely not a righty or a lefty), but the main dude didn't like my comments anyway. i liked to comment everyonce in a while when things were getting completely out of balance, entirely factually bereft, or missing the point more than normal. He liked to call me an [insert childish poo-flinging name here] in response.

The majority of the time online "forums" for political discussion really aren't that. What the authors generally want is a place to bitch, and to be pat on the back by those who agree with them. i have rarely seen ones where this isn't where they end up. Genuine dialogue almost never happens, and most of the time those who attempt it get lambasted, and both parties get drawn into a "my dad can beat up your dad" level of arguing, rather than intellegently discussing. If i cared more about politics, i might start one up. But i don't, so i won't. So, i'm done with that - except when there is something particularly pressing and i'll just settle to note it on my space, rather that shove it into anyone else's reading stack.

Probably more than the $0.02 you were looking for, but, uh, you did ask.

The Sasquatch said...

Thanks jimi. I do have too much time on my hands, don't I? Perhaps I should get a job which involves work!