Because I've been finding myself growing angry more
often than I like and wanting to respond to some posts
and commentary in a way that would be unwelcome to the
list, I'm unsubscribing from the forum for a while.
My skin is perhaps a bit too thin for this sort of
thing, so I need to thicken it up a bit before I
return.
I do have two requests:
1) I feel that local political/social awareness is
vitally important. While I need to take a break, I
don't want to grow completely out of touch, and this
forum has been a major source of staying informed for
me. If anyone notes a thread which they think I would
want to be aware of, please e-mail me at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2) Please consider the following:
On both this lists and on the state and national
lists, I have seen two tendances that concern me. The
first is a tendency towards directly attacking
assumptions about an individual's ethics or
motivations rather actually arguing about the issue
they are supporting. The second is a tendency towards
repeatedly making a show of trashing the weaker
arguments supporting an opposing view while simply
ignoring any stronger arguments.
Both tendencies are very frustrating to deal with and,
in my opinion, weaken the potential good that forums
like this can provide. What is more important? To
"win" or to truly debate an issue until every side and
every aspect has been evaluated and the best final
decision has been reached?
If you believe the goal is to win, you may well do so,
but in the long run (averaging over many issues) I
believe we'll all be sorrier for it. If you believe
the goal is to reach the best final decision by
considering the merits and flaws of everyone's opinion
on the issue, then I think a lot more will be achieved
and we will end up in a better place.
Best wishes,
- Jason Goray
Sheridan, NE
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