The End of Civility?

[impressive]

Oh, I am.

He's been off and on, but when I saw all the ridiculous threads he started today it was an easy decision.

He started threads today?

 

[Guest]

He started threads today?

I no longer know.



(It's lovely.)

 

[SweetWitch]

And why are we not ignoring JBJ?

He's one of the magic six on my list.

Because of what xssve wrote: "all that is necessary for evil to triumph...", etc.

Pshaw. (I was trying to find a way to work that word into a conversation. )

My gran said if you have a bad dream, you take it's energy away and it disappears. In other words, you turn your back on it and don't dwell, then it can't bother you anymore. It's the same with trollish people. They only have the power you give them.

 

[Guest]

And with that, I bid you good night... and raise you pleasant dreams.

Y'all be civil with each other, now...

 

[Guest]

He's one of the magic six on my list.



Pshaw. (I was trying to find a way to work that word into a conversation. )

And pshakespeare to you, darlin'.

Nite.

 

[Guest]

And with that, I bid you good night... and raise you pleasant dreams.

Y'all be civil with each other, now...

Pleasant and naughty dreams.

 

[SweetWitch]

And pshakespeare to you, darlin'.

Nite.

'Night.

 

[BlackShanglan]

TK my darling, listen to the horsey! The ignore function is your friend!

Stella, listen to the horsey. Those britches are itchy and need to come off.

The frock coat, however, is quite comfy.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Because of what xssve wrote: "all that is necessary for evil to triumph...", etc.

*laugh*

Well, I do really like civility, and I love a pleasant discussion or an energetic yet mannered debate. But evil? I think that that gives such people a great deal more weight than they actually carry.

It also tends to play into their goals, which are usually of the attention / ego gratification variety. Silly and ignored is, I think, a better solution to them than giving them any serious heed.

(Typoed that as "head" initially; I don't recommend that either.)

 

[cloudy]

Ah, yes, the queen of incivility appears.

I'm not uncivil; I just don't like you.

*shrug*

 

[Stella_Omega]

Because of what xssve wrote: "all that is necessary for evil to triumph...", etc.

is that you ignore a pissy old fart?

I hardly think so.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Stella, listen to the horsey. Those britches are itchy and need to come off.

The frock coat, however, is quite comfy.

I'm all ears!

and slightly chilly derierre...

 

[sr71plt]

I'm not uncivil;

You don't know how hilarious it is to see that ridiculous lie next to your avatar of the Statue of Liberty with her hands over her face.

 

[BlackShanglan]

is that you ignore a pissy old fart?

I hardly think so.

*laugh* You put it so much better.

Here, come rest that chilly but exquisite bottom on a nice warm flank. I shall snoofle any parts that need warming up.

 

[cloudy]

You don't know how hilarious it is to see that ridiculous lie next to your avatar of the Statue of Liberty with her hands over her face.

Not nearly as hilarious as your hypocrisy.

 

[xssve]

GNOME youre full of shit.

America was significantly more violent in the 19th Century than it is now. Our Civil War killed 690,000 men. Lynching was common. People were murdered for being Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Mormons. Duelling was common.

This is true, actually - the part about the violence. In fact, there probably has never existed a more peaceful time in all of human history - though there are probably people living in Brazilian slums or certain African provinces that might dispute this - he did say "America" - and we have developed a number of ingenious ways to kill more people much faster and with less effort.

American history is pretty fucking violent, there hasn't been a major riot or massacre since the sixties - as bad as the Rodney King riot was in LA a decade ago, it were nothing compared to the food riots in the Sixties, and that sort of thing goes back to well before the revolution.

 

[sr71plt]

This is true, actually - the part about the violence. In fact, there probably has never existed a more peaceful time in all of human history - though there are probably people living in Brazilian slums or certain African provinces that might dispute this - he did say "America" - and we have developed a number of ingenious ways to kill more people much faster and with less effort.

American history is pretty fucking violent, there hasn't been a major riot or massacre since the sixties - as bad as the Rodney King riot was in LA a decade ago, it were nothing compared to the food riots in the Sixties, and that sort of thing goes back to well before the revolution.

But what's the relevance to this thread . . . really? Isn't the only context for "civility" on an Internet forum the written word?

 

[DeeZire]

Every once in a while, JBJ comes up with a lyrical zinger, like the one he posted the other day, "putting a tap dancer in a ballet". As a songwriter, I'm always looking for those phrases that jump off the page, and JBJ is full of them. Putting him on ignore would be counterproductive to my appreciation of language.

But it is nice to see Shang back. If only we could all aspire to his/her (?) level of discourse.

The antics of BFW and Scouries do draw a certain amount of scorn, as do those of Ami and a few others. I think that's to be expected. In fact, I think that's the reason for their approach - to garner more attention to their cause. In that light, I don't feel guilty about piling on, since to leave them unchallenged would indicate approval of their spouted inanities, which could reflect poorly on the community as a whole. (At least that's my excuse.)

Anyway, thanks to the OP for bringing up the subject of civility. I'll make an effort to keep it in mind, at least for the next five or ten minutes.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Because of what xssve wrote: "all that is necessary for evil to triumph...", etc.

JBJ is evil? Who has he had the power to actually harm?

He's not evil, he's just angry about being so ineffective.

 

[Liar]

I think I'm with Stella on this one. I had a lot more fun here a year ago. Now I don't post nearly as often.

A post just like this one could have been posted a year ago. Or a year gefore that. Or a year before that.

In fact, it was. Everyone always seem to reminisce the good old days. And everone seems to selectively filter out that there were bad old days too.

(Except me of course. Cause I'm better than all of you. )

When I first got here, one of the first things I saw was this big, dirty name-calling flamewar raging over several threads, people accusing each other left and right of god knows what, suspecting anyone who agreed with the other side of being a fake alt, and going on rampant conspiratory ranting-crusades to prove it, shouting "troll" at each other and being as nasty as can be. Just as ugly and uncivil as anything you've seen here lately.

That was the AH in early 2004.

 

[rgraham666]

Oops. Wrong thread.

 

[Guest]

This is true, actually - the part about the violence. In fact, there probably has never existed a more peaceful time in all of human history - though there are probably people living in Brazilian slums or certain African provinces that might dispute this - he did say "America" - and we have developed a number of ingenious ways to kill more people much faster and with less effort.

American history is pretty fucking violent, there hasn't been a major riot or massacre since the sixties - as bad as the Rodney King riot was in LA a decade ago, it were nothing compared to the food riots in the Sixties, and that sort of thing goes back to well before the revolution.

I certainly won't dispute America's history of violence, but JBJ's post selectively focuses on one aspect of Heinlein's thesis and blatantly disregards the rest. I'll leave it to others to decide for themselves how many of Heinlein's points can be fairly applied to our culture at present.

As to using the ignore function, I've done it a time or two but only for brief periods. When I started this thread, I really wasn't thinking about trolls and I'm far less concerned about their impact than what seems to be a generally poisoned atmosphere on the board.

Liar pointed out that things were much the same in 2004, so it may be a cyclical phenomenon.

 

[Guest]

It is cyclical. And sometimes the negativity coincides with the U.S. Presidential election, I'm ashamed to say.

But that's almost over. And there will be a couple weeks of follow up grumping from whomever's side loses, more bitching, more whining.

Then the nastiness will fade. Again. And except for the threads started by Pure or Roxanne, the political threads will fade, too.




(But as for Shang's snoofling? Can I have some, too?)

 

[Guest]

(But as for Shang's snoofling? Can I have some, too?)

I'm sure that Shang has a superlative snoofle supply. Rumors of a snoofle shortage are just fear-mongering.

 

[Guest]

I'm sure that Shang has a superlative snoofle supply. Rumors of a snoofle shortage are just fear-mongering.

An evil trick!

Snoofling is the right of all sentient beings.