Originally Posted by Brian Austin Whitney
Ben,

If it is so horrible, why are you here?

If you are anti free speech, that is YOUR problem, not mine. If we do not defend free speech, including that which we dislike, all is lost. As long as it remains in the designated post, it harms no one. That is a reasonable compromise.

The personal attacks have always been an issue on social media, but when those crying victimhood are dishing out just as much venom to others, it is impossible to hold any side accountable. The sad thing is that men in their 60s and 70s are arguing like teenagers and coming to Daddy to whine about being attacked when they are doing the same. If you are being attacked by someone and have not responded in kind now or in the past, let me know as that is an easy fix. So far no one complaining has clean hands.

Brian




Imagine a junior college professor who teaches an American history course. The students are diverse in opinions.
Every day, his classroom devolves into a series of arguments ad chaos that the professor allows to go on.

The history dean confronts him about it and the professor indignantly and heroically responds...

"If we do not defend free speech, including that which we dislike, all is lost. As long as it remains in the designated post, it harms no one. That is a reasonable compromise."

The professor goes on to say that it is the failing of the students for lacking civility and decorum that is to blame for the chaos in his classroom..

The dean responds,
So, you are blaming your students for the chaos in your classroom. It's your classroom, not theirs.
You are allowing your classroom to devolve into chaos. Nothing is being protected. Students are dropping your course and have been for years. That is what is being lost.
If you do or don't like what Trump is doing, go out into the world and protest against it. That is a true exercise of the 2nd amendment. Allowing your classroom to devolve into insults and disorder is the destruction of your classroom, nothing more.
The future of free speech is not contingent upon unruly, unrestricted classrooms.
"All is lost?" for real?, this ain't Yorktown.

The dean is reason.

More personally...
You told Dom that the next time he insulted me, he was gone.
He laid off for a while and then began insulting me with veiled references in other people' s threads. I ignored it.
When I didn't respond to that, he became direct and started calling out my name with insults. It's here to see.

You did nothing about it.

That left me with lousy options

Do I become... "men in their 60s and 70s are arguing like teenagers and coming to Daddy to whine about being attacked when they are doing the same"...?

or...just take the insults with no response?

or...do I quit the site? (as I did once before)

or hand them back?...in Dom's threads. (my choice)

Btw...I'm here to post songs.

Marty

https://soundcloud.com/sunset-poet-of-texas