The Dudeism Forum

Can we knock it off with the political posts? It's getting very old, and I want to see something different on this site.

I'm going to second this. I don't like the level of division that political debate is causing. It's becoming a microcosm of the world stage and discussion is fine, but when people are upsetting one another, then this agression will not stand, man!

Oh and happy dudemas to those that do ????

Thirded (?actual word? Probably not :-/ ).

My mellow has been seriously harshed on this forum lately. It's exhausting.

I couldn't agree more.

From now on all political topics are off limits. There are plenty of places on the Internet that welcome that sort of stuff but it doesn't belong here.

I've largely disengaged from the political discussions. Most of the threads quickly dissemble into tediousness or trolling. There's precious little real thought, comity, or creativity in them. So I tend to stay away.

But, man, banning all political topics seems un-dudely in the extreme. Is it not more dudely to ignore that which infringes on your dudeness rather than ban it? That's the approach I strive to take in my everyday life. Sometimes I pull it off. Sometimes I don't. But just sanctioning something into non-existence usually isn't an option. I get that it is here, though. And maybe it's the right one. Just sayin...calmer than you are.

I thought crime and politics were separate topics. But sure, avoiding controversial discussions on a forum for people who are trying to relax sounds like a good idea.

It appears that we have to do this.
I find it sad that we are totally incapable of conducting an adult discussion and most sad that on a site which is supposed to give people the tools to deal with stresses we have to formally use the "nuclear option" of putting certain discussions out of bounds. Its sad and borderline shameful that dudeists of all people are so incapable of maintaining their mellow that burying our heads in the sand is the only viable course of action. We above all others should be most impervious to these stresses IMO. A sad day indeed. What is the meaning of dudeism if it apparently leaves it's most ardent supporters incapable of dealing with this in any other way. But we have increasingly seen people advocating for this sort of censorship here. And the final irony is that we surrender because we find the alternative too stressful. We are officially a safe zone. Perhaps we should label certain threads with "trigger warnings". (I'm being sarcastic of course)

I think the main problem is that political debate is causing disinterest (yes, I know it's inescapable at the moment). I for one, have grown tired of reading the same thing said in different ways. The same goes for Christianity. (Oddly, others religions don't get the same  level of distain).

When discussion descends into stubborn defensive attitudes, then agree to disagree in a civil but polite way.
I fear that respect for opinions is dwindling and where we hide behind the internet, it's easier to use it as a shield, am I wrong?

All that happens, is someone ends up getting banned, the "Victor" ends up smug and gloating because if it and the matter doesn't get resolved anyway. We should all try to end this thing cheap without having buddies lying face down in the muck. Just sayin'.

The truth is that I believe that in general the collective is capable of withstanding even the most spirited debates. But the nature of debates has taken a ridiculous turn. A thread about events of the day. Politics or whatever will inevitably turn to accusations of child sex rings and the harvestiñg of pineal hormones from living human hosts. A government conspiracy to poison the populace using chemtrails. And when the stink gets so bad nobody can stand it genuine sensible debate goes out the window in response to lunacy. I mean we are literally putting discussion of the biggest news events off the table. I know that we are capable of discussing more than bowling. But any attempts to bite off anything beyond the trivial gets crapped on by people who btw have advocating limiting discussion since the first day they came on board. It would appear they are winning. It's a sad day. Appeasement on a Chamberlinian level.
Just saying.

I'll admit I played into this. It's partially my fault that that last political thread devolved because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. But I really don't like the idea of banning specific topics though, and I really don't think we should, but it just takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel. It's just gotten really old discussing the same hackneyed topic, Trump, Clinton and the Russians, mostly because it always devolves into name calling and conspiracy rambling. idk man, I agree with you BikerDude, I think we can be better than childish naming calling and arguing, but so far the evidence seems to disagree. I don't want to see anyone or any topics banned on this forum, I think we should be allowed to speak our minds without fear of reprisal, but clearly some people take that liberty too far and abuse it.

One of the things I really get tired of in Dudeism facebook groups and forums is the idea, usually advanced by our more opinionated and sometimes tiresomely aggressive brethren, that any form of limiting or editing of content on any of the sites is against free speech or (hilariously, as if parroting Walter) un-American.

This is not censorship or curtailing of freedom. Anyone is free to set up any Dudeism forum or FB page they like. But Dudeism is not anarchism. If people fuck up the ambience and atmosphere here by being dicks or assholes then we either have to eject them from the party or, in the case of the continual annoyance of boring and aggressive political discussions, we have to set parameters from time to time. Banning politics from the official FB groups has done wonders for the vibe there. And it will do the same here.

Rules and limitations are not bad things, or implicitly "unDude." It's a shame that people can't behave themselves better, but none of us wants the feed to be full of jerks yammering about political conspiracy theories or insulting each other over bullshit lies, which have largely become the common currency of political discussions these days.

It seems to me, that A, most topics have been covered (I sometimes, will have a thought, or subject that I want to post, but looking around for a while and finding something that someone has already posted, stops me. I don't see the point in saying the same thing, but adding something new is ok I guess). I don't want to set up another page or forum, as I see this one as THE forum, that and I don't know how.

Or B, there's not much to talk about given that current global affairs takes over the media and diverts us from anything else. (Although I have become privvy to some new shit, but it seems to be centered around US politics lately and sorry dudes, but the world doesn't revolve around you (corporate media)).

Or even C, where my career has slowed down so much and I don't really go anywhere, that I don't have much to say, so usually comment on other people's threads. (Am guilty of this, sorry if it's annoying). I'm not one for Facebook drama and kinda keep myself to myself, but here, I can just be a dude.

Spirited debates can be glorious to read and join in (I err towards just reading, mostly, as my debating skills are quite lacking). However when perfectly sensible disagreements are hijacked by people spouting unsubstantiated rhetoric and conspiracy theories (and no, posting links to conspiracy theory websites and videos is not substantiating evidence), it's as bad as arguing with a child that constantly repeats "I know you are, you said you are, so what am I?". The debate goes nowhere and just raises hackles with people that want to continue discussing things rationally.

I don't want to see topics banned, but I want the (majority of) people wanting to have rational discussions to be able to have those discussions without having to fend off insane diatribes.

I dunno, man. Not my call to make. I just really enjoy being chilled out.

Quote from: Dudeist Monk on December 31, 2016, 05:57:16 AM
Spirited debates can be glorious to read and join in (I err towards just reading, mostly, as my debating skills are quite lacking). However when perfectly sensible disagreements are hijacked by people spouting unsubstantiated rhetoric and conspiracy theories (and no, posting links to conspiracy theory websites and videos is not substantiating evidence), it's as bad as arguing with a child that constantly repeats "I know you are, you said you are, so what am I?". The debate goes nowhere and just raises hackles with people that want to continue discussing things rationally.

I don't want to see topics banned, but I want the (majority of) people wanting to have rational discussions to be able to have those discussions without having to fend off insane diatribes.

I dunno, man. Not my call to make. I just really enjoy being chilled out.

Yes!
Exactly.
Maybe I will be accused of being somewhat elitist but I have always been drawn to dudeism specifically because it's "core" is marked by wit and a wonderful appetite for irony and a delicious irreverence. Despite the fact that we get overrun by paraquat on a semi regular basis I still assume that there is a core that has a certain level of unpretentious sophistication. Preserving this while attempting to maintain our "dude" is pretty thorny. But the alternative is inevitably dealing with the village idiot by making him mayor.

And jinblade I don't believe it is your fault. Flame baiting should not be engaged in but that's not what we are talking about. Ideally you shouldn't need to keep your opinion to yourself.
Just saying.

As dudeists we are getting to a place where we need to question the validity of creating a quiet beach community. Is that really possible? It goes to the core of the dudeists endevour? When lunatics move in next door is urging everyone to get along a viable way to maintain the community?
I don't know. It's about balance IMO.

Wait, what? Are we all on the same page? Lost my train of thought there!