(Untitled)

[hirop]

So I’ve been feeling an underlying source of stress lately while I hang out with the #kinky-toronto irc crowd either in channel or in person. I think what’s been bugging me is the flourishing of political talk… no strike that… the flourishing of political wanking

Comments

[chloejaz]

I appreciate your comments, and I hope that people take this to heart. Too bad everyone doesn't read lj! Thanks, hirop :)

[hirop]

Thanks for replying... feel free to point anyone from channel to this thread if you think they haven't seen it already.

[valkyri]

Back in the day (that would be college) I took a class called "Analyzing Ethical Issues" and a main component of the class was debate

[hirop]

Well, you have some interesting comments there and I hope that others in that channel read what you have to say as someone who has decided to move away from the channel somewhat.

The thing that is wacky about it is that the group is playing the politics as sport game not only in IRC. I've been on IRC for more than 10 years and am fully aware that IRC is not the place to have good productive conversations... but that shouldn't carry over into in person interaction.

[hirop]

But that's my point... it's okay to talk politics in channel. There is no need to shut down disscussion of politics. And in fact, I think that shutting down conversation creates some of the biterness of the disscussion. But we should be disscussing in a civil manner.

That is possible. I've seen it.

[asyrol]

"But we should be disscussing in a civil manner."

so... like walking out of a group gathering whenever we hear something we don't like?

Like calling people stupid or uneducated because they have different views or understand a subject through experience instead of academics?

or like tip-toeing around subjects because you just really don't feel like getting into it with the one person in the group who's got a dissenting opinion?

[asyrol]

I want to apologize for my above comment. While I'm not retracting my general feelings, this was an inappropriate way to bring them up with you.

[dukesy]

So I'm taking contemporary european history at UofT and i was reading about the 1920's in europe, did you know that groups of facists would go over to communist beer halls and beat people up and cause shit?

did you know that the communist had there own thugs that would go to facist rallies stir shit up and beat up people?

Thats cool shit!

When was the last time you saw that sort of Passion being displayed about politics? you dont any more! we are a civilized society, (many pardons to the Tawainese parliment and their chair throwing members)

While we may have come a long way from the "Brownshirts" you make the point, and arguabbly so, that we still have further to go. I think your missing the whole "Medium is the Message" contex, that is IRC, or more correctly I.R.C. of witch the first letter "I" stands for Internet

[hirop]

Passion is good... mocking for holding a unpopular opinion is not. I respect more a right wing Tory who respects my right to beleive what I want to beleive than a centrist who beleives everyone must think the same.

THe brownshirts may have been trying to bring about an extreme ideology... but our "middle of the roadism" that we have in Canada is problimatic too.

But yes... I was talking about IRC... but I was also talking about a circle of friends who meet outside of IRC and who are continuing the pattern of disscussion outside of channel.