G
Guest
Guest
Dear Todd,
No, this is not a Dear John style letter because, frankly, I'm not having that kind of relationship with you. This letter is about how I perceive you as a person and as a poster on the Bulletin Board. I think you are under a few misconceptions about your reception here and what appropriate behavior may or may not actually be.
You are a nice person and you have some interesting views of the world. You also have a way of coming up with topics that are good for debating and make people think about their own views, if only so they can explain them to you. You are not evil. You are not a bad person. You are not the bane of the board's existence. That would be Kid Rock. No one actually hates you.
However, despite the fact that we all feel pretty much ambivalent for you, and I'm taking a leap in speaking for the group as it were, you do irritate, aggravate, and generally bother the heck out of a bunch of people. Most people actively ignore you. Others seem to have that morbid curiosity about what you'll say next that's akin to Howard Stern or passing a bad traffic accident.
The biggest problem is one that is very easy for you to remedy and it revolves around thread starting. No, don't stop starting threads, there is no need to move from one extreme to another. There is a happy medium here. Rather than start a bunch of new threads every day, start one or two. For a few days you were beginning to resemble an almost Ambroeqsue board flood. That is bad.
The next biggest problem is the slant of your threads. While it is okay to slant threads to your political leanings, it is not okay to constantly start threads that actively insult those whose political leanings are different than yours. Which is pretty much everyone on the board. We have not gone to hell in a handbasket and it is not all the democrats fault either. Some of the political views you have been espousing, particularly the things about taxes, are extremist views that are not going to good a good reception outside of certain parts of heavily armed Idaho. You should understand that people are going to react to your threads in ways you cannot predict and won't like and accept it. Acceptance of that will go a long way in making you feel better.
Another huge problem with your threads is that they lack legitimate sources. You put forth an ideology and back it up with extremist propaganda. It would be akin to debating the feasibility of theology with only the Bible as your source. If you are going to put out an ideology and back it up with opinions of people other than yourself, look for unimpeachable sources, not just the ones you have been using. That means look for facts and opinions from people and news agencies that are outside of your general reading milieu. CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, The New York Times, US News, The Guardian, The BBC are good sources of information that have good reputations and are respected not given dubiousness. Certain erstwhile Libertarian board members put forth a view as well and the only source listed is from Libertarian.com or something similar. You don't put credence in their sources anymore than I put credence in most of your sources.
It's very frustrating to debate with you because you are not open to debate. You state your opinions as fact and refuse to see that the other may have a legitimate point. It's very frustrating and probably the reason why you're getting flack from the very people who keep opening your threads, responding, and end up cyberly pulling their hair out for arguing with you. You don't debate well because you're too argumentative and I think that you take things a little too personally when they aren't meant to be.
I don't think anyone on this board hates you or even dislikes you. I do think they are tired of arguing with you because it's rather like beating one's head on a brick wall for no good reason.
You aren't going to change, that's fine just be yourself, but not everyone is going to like that and you should understand that and not overreact to it.
Your friend.
KM
No, this is not a Dear John style letter because, frankly, I'm not having that kind of relationship with you. This letter is about how I perceive you as a person and as a poster on the Bulletin Board. I think you are under a few misconceptions about your reception here and what appropriate behavior may or may not actually be.
You are a nice person and you have some interesting views of the world. You also have a way of coming up with topics that are good for debating and make people think about their own views, if only so they can explain them to you. You are not evil. You are not a bad person. You are not the bane of the board's existence. That would be Kid Rock. No one actually hates you.
However, despite the fact that we all feel pretty much ambivalent for you, and I'm taking a leap in speaking for the group as it were, you do irritate, aggravate, and generally bother the heck out of a bunch of people. Most people actively ignore you. Others seem to have that morbid curiosity about what you'll say next that's akin to Howard Stern or passing a bad traffic accident.
The biggest problem is one that is very easy for you to remedy and it revolves around thread starting. No, don't stop starting threads, there is no need to move from one extreme to another. There is a happy medium here. Rather than start a bunch of new threads every day, start one or two. For a few days you were beginning to resemble an almost Ambroeqsue board flood. That is bad.
The next biggest problem is the slant of your threads. While it is okay to slant threads to your political leanings, it is not okay to constantly start threads that actively insult those whose political leanings are different than yours. Which is pretty much everyone on the board. We have not gone to hell in a handbasket and it is not all the democrats fault either. Some of the political views you have been espousing, particularly the things about taxes, are extremist views that are not going to good a good reception outside of certain parts of heavily armed Idaho. You should understand that people are going to react to your threads in ways you cannot predict and won't like and accept it. Acceptance of that will go a long way in making you feel better.
Another huge problem with your threads is that they lack legitimate sources. You put forth an ideology and back it up with extremist propaganda. It would be akin to debating the feasibility of theology with only the Bible as your source. If you are going to put out an ideology and back it up with opinions of people other than yourself, look for unimpeachable sources, not just the ones you have been using. That means look for facts and opinions from people and news agencies that are outside of your general reading milieu. CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, The New York Times, US News, The Guardian, The BBC are good sources of information that have good reputations and are respected not given dubiousness. Certain erstwhile Libertarian board members put forth a view as well and the only source listed is from Libertarian.com or something similar. You don't put credence in their sources anymore than I put credence in most of your sources.
It's very frustrating to debate with you because you are not open to debate. You state your opinions as fact and refuse to see that the other may have a legitimate point. It's very frustrating and probably the reason why you're getting flack from the very people who keep opening your threads, responding, and end up cyberly pulling their hair out for arguing with you. You don't debate well because you're too argumentative and I think that you take things a little too personally when they aren't meant to be.
I don't think anyone on this board hates you or even dislikes you. I do think they are tired of arguing with you because it's rather like beating one's head on a brick wall for no good reason.
You aren't going to change, that's fine just be yourself, but not everyone is going to like that and you should understand that and not overreact to it.
Your friend.
KM
