Thread: General Chat - Politcal?

Bring the soapbox back and have these sort of things there - and as before exclude it from the new threads search so if you want to go there for a bit of a barney you have to want to deliberately go there - after all that is why the posters put the stuff up to get a bity of a bite from someone else or to push their barrows. Maybe even have a special log in process with maybe access only to those who pay a special additional subscription - would help finance the site a bit more.

These type of political/social threads are always started by a handful of people and rarely post elsewhere in the forum - and of course there are a whole lot of others who then jump on the bandwagon and off we go .

People are right that you don't have to look at it but when nearly a third of new posts when I search new posts are these sort of things on a 4wd site I wonder.

Also there does seem to be a bit of a policy shift in admin/moderation policy where these political related threads are not supposed to be permitted but seem to now, with some mods etc actively participating. Now thats fine if there is a change but then publish the changes.

Now I am guilty of the above a bit myself but I come here for the 4wd stuff bit often get caught up in the other stuff - guilty - but personally I would prefer to discuss 4wd stuff.

If I want to discuss asylum seekers, the state of the nation, Hinch etc there are plenty of other sites where these issues can be discussed.

Admin - please take note of the issues that have been raised in this thread because clearly some people would prefer to have the main body of the forum and General Chat back to what it was and not what it is now.

Thanks for your indulgence.

Garry

Originally Posted by ugu80

and forcing your agenda down everyone's throat....

Deary me, where's that "roffle" icon when I need it?

Here's how you deal with this problem

If you begin to read a thread and realize too late that it is on a topic you don't like... stop reading immediately!

Now, if you accidentally start reading yet another thread and the same thing happens... stop reading immediately again! You can once more ignore it and move on.

I absolutely guarantee that if you continue applying my method, before you know it you wont have read any threads you don't want to. This approach works really well with the whole internet. Do it, it is very liberating.

This thread reads like those threads people are complaining about. That's my opinion.

Originally Posted by Ferret

This thread reads like those threads people are complaining about. That's my opinion.

It's much the same as people who complain about there being too much sex or violence on TV. Well, there can be as much or as little as you like, the "off" button is the most powerful censor around.

There is one thing that is worse than the threads that have political overtones.

That is the threads in which people complain about the way other people use the forum.

If you don't like the content of a thread, don't read it.

If you think that someone has started a thread to push the same old political barrow, then don't respond and the thread will quite quickly disappear down the list, never to be seen again.

Expecting the mods to enforce a policy so that everyone will be happy is unrealistic. It might be easy for them to make you happy by deleting a particular post, but it is almost certain that the deletion will make someone else unhappy.

Enforcing rules in a black and white world may be easy, but in the real world where most things are a shade of grey it is a thankless task. Of course there are some blatantly political or provocative threads, but they are greatly outnumbered by the posts that are borderline. Whatever decision the mods make, there will be someone upset.

Does it really matter that some people want to spend their time around the campfire presenting the same, predictable views? You don't have to listen in on their discussion. There are plenty of other discussions going on around the same campfire.

Originally Posted by sheerluck

It's much the same as people who complain about there being too much sex or violence on TV. Well, there can be as much or as little as you like, the "off" button is the most powerful censor around.

The point being (not being your agenda, you missed it) that there are plenty of other places where you can all feel warm and fuzzy together. You are right that people will push the off button, that button being the entire Chat forum and for many, perhaps, the AULRO website which the majority do not wish to be politicised. A good alternative, I agree, would be a well policed Soapbox area. In the meantime, here is a link to save you looking for another place to post.
Socialist Alliance | For the millions, not billionaires

Originally Posted by ugu80

The point being (not being your agenda, you missed it) that there are plenty of other places where you can all feel warm and fuzzy together. You are right that people will push the off button, that button being the entire Chat forum and for many, perhaps, the AULRO website which the majority do not wish to be politicised. A good alternative, I agree, would be a well policed Soapbox area. In the meantime, here is a link to save you looking for another place to post.
Socialist Alliance | For the millions, not billionaires

As far as I am concerned, politics is something that happens to other people. I have no love whatsoever of politics, but if other people want to get all hot under the collar about their particular affiliation, and talk about it, I couldn't care less.

For me, the distinction of what I do care about is as simple as a capital G. Government versus government. The act of creating and applying laws, versus the individuals themselves.

The laws and their application very much apply to me, the individuals of whichever side or colour of tie, and how they stab each other in the back whilst scrambling as far up the ladder of politics as they can, most definitely do not.