Although I would most likely be labeled as a Liberal on this board, I find myslef agreeing with some of the things that the supposed "conservatives" have to say. I suspect those conservatives on this board who are honest with themselves feel the same way about some of the stories "us" liberals bring up.

I find it quite humorous that everytime I read a post highlighting a liberal viewpoint, 1 of about six people here at RM will invariably respond with a counter argument or simply decide to bash the person who made the post.

The Same thing happens in the opposite situations. Aside from some very obvious situations in which somebody is playing the Devil's advocate, this trend is quite disturbing. It's disturbing because as far as I can see, most of the people who post to the News & Debate forum seem somewhat intelligent.

As far as my thinking goes, intelligent people should be the first to realize that an individuals ideology should be formed by personal experience and cultural baptism. Always following what is either the left or the right viewpoint is not a sign of personal intelligence, rather it is indicative of a "follow the crowd" mentality.


I have been wrong before

After the election I tried to approach things from a standpoint of "We're all Americans, let's focus on what needs to be done rather than what divides us" but all I got in return was being called a "fucking drama queen" and a "pussy" for my anti-war position. I then decided that turnabout is fair play. Fuck the high road man, I'm not going to get eaten alive.

But probably only one or two times out of all of your four posts though, right?


And yes, I'm just kidding.

What's wrong with the left vs right bullshit? Sure, sometimes people can be too quick to judge or respond without thinking it through, but what else do you think keeps the balance? If everyone all agreed with each other and thought the same things I'd be pretty scared.

I think the only thing I get upset about, is tha people can be overly stubborn sometimes, and even if logic stares you in the face, it's refused acnoledgement. But that has nothing to do with left vs right (to clarify, I dont really believe in left vs right anyway, as it's way too limited to describe the multitude of beliefs people have).

Agreed.

"the left/right paradigm is a phony hobson's choice used to lead those down shallow paths of thought"

...now where have I seen that in someone's sig line before...

This forum is particularly designed for controversy though. Look at the stuff that gets few to no responses. It's all the things that we can all agree on. Boring.

The best threads are the ones where someone presents an opinion and it is vigorously challenged and defended by those on both sides of the issue. The only time this is bad is when it digresses into personal attacks or inane arguments. That's when the mods steer or stop the thread.

My only problem with N&D recently is that it's gotten abit boring since the election season has faded away.

--PunkDavid (A: It all sounds the SAME!! NY: It's all one song!)

Politics are worthless.

*acknowledgement

That's just right wing bullshit peeps and you know it

I am a big fan of debate. It leads others towards (hopefully) understanding a certain viewpoint. I simply find it strange when debate is stiffled by people simply assuming a side that is in keeping with their Left or Right leanings.

What I meant to highlight is the fact that opinion should vary by individual, and that a person can't truly be conservative or liberal in every one of their viewpoints. Maybe I was too harsh is defining that as a trend on this Board.
It is however a major problem among many people that I know.


Remember - I Love everyone, even the people inside of Bush's inner circle - At least I strive to.

You are a far better person than I am. There are some things that I just can't stomach. Steak and kidney pie, for example. Or Bush's inner circle. Yuck.

But, anyway...I admire those that can see the middle ground. I've kind of lost sight of it.

You forgot to mention the times when the mods get invovled in the personal attacks and inane arguments.

Screw you, fatty.

--PunkDavid (i love steak and kidney pie )

I don't get the point of this thread...

There's nothing WRONG with people staking a place on the ideological spectrum and defending their beliefs.

In fact, the idealistic version of the open minded moderate is a fallacy.

politics suck.

I try to take all the left/right arguments with a grain of salt. We might pick at each other a lot, but most days we have good debates. And if you don't have a solid grasp of the facts a good "Liberal horseshit!" or "Right-wing Nazi Propoganda!" always makes the board fun.

If I am not mistaken, where "left/right" ideology becomes bad is when one argues an issue because it is liberal or conservative. Your political stance should not determine your view on the issues. It should be your view on the issues determining your political stance.

Bingo.

Unfortunately, far too often people look at an issue and immediately go into "I am a liberal (conservative) and therefore, this is my opinion." mode.

It all gets god awfully predictable after a while. There are about 10-15 posters on this forum whose opinion on an issue I could pin down with my eyes closed before they've even responded. I think that's pretty sad.