Posted on 06/08/2024 2:35:05 PM PDT by LukeL
In the past couple of years I have noticed there is a complete lake of regard for other posters on this site. Not only that but swearing seems to be tolerated. In the past day I have been called gay, a lair, that I am talking out of my *** and I am full of ****. Do we even have to go into the fighting on any thread about Ukraine or Russia. Even hard facts from multiple sources no longer seem to matter. Instead it is whoever can come up with the snarkiest reply.
I’m on places like Twitter and I have to put on my hard hat before I go there or I’ll be eaten alive. I don’t like what has happened to public discourse over the last 8 yrs but it’s either fight back or disengage.
And they wonder why the “FReepathons” are dead in the water?
I’ve been here a very long time, as have you. And we all have our stories of being piled on by ping brigades and smarmy, nasty liberals and Rino’s. It has always been somewhat nasty here. The only change is with the bots and paid saboteurs, it is harder to find people we can be congenial with. My agreement/disagreement ratio used to be about 50-50, whereas now I disagree with ten times the posters I agree with.
But my main memory will forever be the recent night Jim Robinson, poor health and all, thanked and greeted every one of us, one at a time on a thread as we all wished him godspeed. That was a beautiful moment on Free Republic. The place isn’t perfect, but I’m glad I came back in 1998.
I’ve been here since 1998 and I’ve never once pushed the abuse button. I figure if I can’t take the heat I’d better stay out of the kitchen. I’m surprised more ppl don’t feel that way and instead go crying to mommy and daddy.
Getting their money's worth on this site.
Sadly, you are correct and there’s no shortage of supporting evidence right here in the responses to your expressed concerns. I agree 100%.
Name calling and similar tactics are way too common a way of responding to those with differing viewpoints. Probably a symptom of a declining culture and civility and waining critical thinking skills. Another disappointment is the way some posters seem to take pleasure in the misfortune of those they deem inferior or consider as enemies, regarding those with whom they disagree as less than human. It’s the kind of thinking that has preceded persecution (and worse) of one group by another. May God turn us around.
Don’t let it get you down, Luke. There are plenty of kind people here, too, and God is still on His throne - and all will be set right in His time.
The issue is less how some views have shifted, and more an intolerance of those who disagree with at least some aspects of that shift. And in a great many cases, the intolerance is deliberate -- a purposeful effort to drive from the site those who don't agree with a particular POV.
A push for extreme Trumpian orthodoxy necessarily leaves little room for actual discussion. Because if there is disagreement/discussion on something, then one of the two parties is necessarily varying from that orthodoxy. And that isn't permitted. So, either agree or leave. And if the only acceptable discussions are those in which everyone agrees, how interesting is that?
If anyone wants to know what happened to the conservative movement just read the sensitivity oozing from some of these poor souls. America is in a street fight with Marxism and some want to throw the latest edition of the National Review at them.
Yes, FR really does have its shining moments, and that is why I stay here. One can still find excellent articles with insightful commentary. Also, I enjoy the non-political threads just as much as the political ones. In fact, I have received some excellent advice on topics ranging from photography to playing guitar. Yes, there are some Grade A schmucks here, but I shake them off like water off a duck’s back.
I’m sorry. That must be tough on you. At least there are a lot more jobs for remote workers these days, if that’s any consolation.
“Let it be so!”
Yeesh
“Ok Karen. Did you come from GOPe squish central casting?“
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In case you are wondering, this is what he is talking about. What on earth would cause you to write something like that?
Need some cheese with this post, or just a hanky? LOL.
Yes, one SHOULD, but one doesn’t. I agree- our world has become uglier and more coarse. But I have long since stopped thinking I can change the mind or behavior of others. It’s quite enough for me to handle my own.
I’ve been here 20 years- and used to post multiple times a day. Now weeks go by without a peep from me. I miss the old FR, but accept this is the way it is now. I work in a hospital and can say the general public is angrier and nastier and more fearful than I’ve ever seen. It’s everywhere, not just on FR.
But as to laughing and humor and poking fun? If we don’t laugh at ourselves and each other- we’re sunk.
you’re a big fat lair
I suspect you and I are on different sides on this, but I'd like to respond your point here.
There is nothing that discredits people, politicians, and lawyers faster than making stupid/obviously incorrect arguments. Because as you can see from what happens here, when some leftist politician says something dumb, or easily disproven, conservatives are all over it. It zooms around via Twitter, YouTube, etc.. We love it when they say stupid things.
But that applies just as much to us as it does to them. When bogus stories, misleading headlines, and just bad facts get promulgated and repeated, we're just setting ourselves up to look like morons if/when we repeat this stuff to outsiders. So it is in our interest to police ourselves. That means checking the claims we are making, verifying articles or claims that look suspicious, and not using wild hyperbole that amounts to just...lying.
The problem here is that if you attempt to do that to other conservatives by pointing out flaws in articles, or in reasoning, or in facts, you get immediately attacked as a leftist, or concern troll, or whatever. Rather than defending the truth, you're accused of defending whomever was the subject of the article. So the result is that the standards for what is considered a good conservative argument have dropped below basement level. Clever invective and insults now substitute for building a solid argument.
So it isn't "operating under the Marquis of Queensbury rules". It's trying to make sure we don't sound like jackasses for repeating claims that any un-biased person with half a brain can recognize as flawed. But...that's kind of gone out the window here in a drive for MAGA orthodoxy. Question anything, and you're the enemy.
It's beyond salvage at this point, which is kind of sad. Too many smart people chased off or just tired of the diminished level of discourse. I first posted here under another screenname back in November 2000, and the diminution in quality is beyond dispute.
Many freepers posting on the Ukraine threads are not anti-Ukraine or pro-Russia. We’re against the war and want it to stop. We especially don’t want to see billions of our tax dollars going to a country over 5000 miles away that was labeled the most corrupt country in the world a mere 5 yrs ago.
We get gobs of trolls during every election cycle like clockwork... Especially presidential elections.
I think some care much more for the emotional catharsis that comes from raging at others rather than actually winning elections and changing the country.
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