If a thread turns political....

[Original Frisco]

Can it PLEASE be moved to the Politics forum please? Many of us on FOL avoid that forum like the plague and would prefer not to have to deal with politics in the TAT section.

Thank you

[Hades]

The moderators cannot read each thread in its entirety. If you see something that is out of place, please report so the moderators can know to investigate.

[wrenchtwister]

Originally Posted by Original Frisco

Can it PLEASE be moved to the Politics forum please? Many of us on FOL avoid that forum like the plague and would prefer not to have to deal with politics in the TAT section.

Thank you

Once it turns political, what seemd to make you keep looking at it? LOL Do you have no self control?

[penguin]

Part of the problem is that with creeping regulation (at lotsa different levels of government) of nearly everything, there are fewer topics left each year that do not have political implications, causes, explanations or possible solutions. Often just understanding a topic isn't possible without some political discussion -- even when that topic is fairly in the "Talk About Town" (or similar) forum category.

Another issue is that talk topics in Frisco include a lot of very interesting subjects as far afield as the other side of the world. We constantly hear about, puzzle over, learn from or become disgusted at things, events and accomplishments at great distance. We have a couple of longtime FOL members over in Australia at the moment. If they were to offer observations on how things are being done differently over there, it would be fascinating over here (and have lots of friends who monitor TAT), but might not make sense without a description of the politics behind it over there. The point is that with the internet, the world is a much smaller place and the death of distance refers to global communication tools as well as airline access.

Another part is that competing political philosophy holders will disagree. Some posters can handle those disagreements without launching really vile personal attacks at other posters, and some can't. I try not to be the launcher, but reserve the right to defend when launched at.

Finally, in any disagreement there is usually a minority. FOL doesn't throw out the minority of the moment, at least without some egregious violation of FOL rules. And that's a good thing. I've found myself in the minority once in a while. But there is a premium on being able to handle differences of opinion, and different understandings of what the facts might be, without going ballistic. It does help to develop a little tougher skin because those differences will arise, whether over something as mundane as spanking, or conduct in traffic, or some unrighted wrong, or some really awful music that somebody thinks is sublime.

FOL is neither a jungle where anything goes, or a dictatorship where everything is either prohibited or mandated. We always live somewhere between those kinds of extremes, and try to cope with as much grace as possible.



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