BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory

Subject: RE: BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Jun 00 - 02:12 PM

"I really enjoy a little argument from time to time." And you're not the only one, bert. It's a less violent equivalent of playing Musical Chairs.

Maybe the answer is a new prefix instead of BS for thsi kind of thing. LBHY - "Let's Be Having You!"

Subject: RE: BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory
From: bbelle
Date: 02 Jun 00 - 03:15 PM

Irish Sergeant ... Thanks for "making" your point so succinctly! Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory
From: Frank McGrath
Date: 03 Jun 00 - 11:31 AM

I hate "fence sitting" but I understand both sides of this debate.
The Irish have endured ridcule and discrimination for a centuries. While it is less common now, I clearly remember being infuriated by constant "put downs". There is a grey border where fun and jest become insulting and demeaning.

The thread, "Why are Americns so fat?" was such a silly statement that I naturally assumed that it was "a bit of fun". Particularly as the USA is such a powerful and successful nation, I did not stop to think that many may be offended by such.

So, I think there is no real answer. Much humour is based on exposing the weaknesses in people eg., slapstick, satire, etc. Charlie Chaplin portrayed a pathetic but loveable character. The Irish were portrayed as pathetic but loveable (sometime not so loveable) characters. One instance funny, one instance racist.

If we TRY to treat one another with respect - that is the best we can hope for. The "Fat Americans" thread started an important debate but certainly the title was insulting to some. But even if the debate had a different title such as, "Does the USA consume too many resources?", many people wold be offended by the inplications in the question as well as many of the resulting comments.

My opinion therefore is that debate on all and any subjects is important but we should always respect the views and sensivities of others. Is there a thread prefix "Fun:"? so we can distinguish humour from "Breeze Shooting" or is this going too far? Can we as adults be trusted to contribute to an open forum without degenerating it into an "open slagingmatch"? Certainly, the folk tradition has explored and influenced every subject known to man and it is only natural that contributors to the forum will whish to discuss them again online.

The kind people who provide this venue have acted as generous, even handed and openminded hosts. If we respect the guidelines which they have set out and the example they have given over the years then we will have an excellent base to work from.

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jun 00 - 12:47 PM

One of the aspects I have always loved about the 'Cat and 'Catters is their maturity. On the whole, they whine less and contribute more honest communication than many other communiuties, especially virtual ones where so many aspects of close experience of others are not present.

My sense is that part of that maturity is tolerance, and by and large there are large amounts of it in the 'Cat. So much so that the occasional exception, the rare bitter or sarcastic post, jars loudly as an exception.

In order to sustain a community of this quality, of course, a sense of humor is definitely part of the formula -- those who take themselves too seriously tend to put their cyber-feet in their cyber-mouths. (Well, so do all of us on occasion).

I applaud all of you who keep on communicating, exercising your best qualities and making the 'Cat one of the nicest places in Cyberspace, and I hope it will continue for a long time.

Amos

Subject: RE: BS: Why Do People start biased, imflammatory
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Jun 00 - 01:33 PM

One of the things that keeps me coming back to the Mudcat so often is the fact that it is a trans-national, transcultural thing. You keep on rubbing up against these aliens from the other side of the planet, and exploring the differences is part of the appeal.

That's one of the reasons why threads about that kind of thing pull in lots of posts. And sometimes feelings get ruffled, because as Frank poibnted out, these are prickly subjects.

And so far as America is concerned, one thing about living in a big pretty self-contained country is that it must feel like a world in itself at times. (I mean look at how there are "World Series" contests which are just the United States, with maybe Canada). Moreover of course the Mudcat has mostly Americans on board (look at the Mudcat locator for example).

Inevitably that gets echoed in the assumptions made by people posting. That sometimes feeds into a tendency toward American-teasing which probably isn't too helpful. When it's time to criticise a country (etc),it's best to go carefully if you don't belong to it.

Though of course the post that kicked off this whole thing, about America consuming more than its share of the world's food, was actually from an American, so that's no sure-fire recipe for avoiding conflict. (Incidentally, here's a link to the site with the statistics that I think might have set the whole thing off. And it's an American site, financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Can't get much more American than that, unless maybe you're Woody Guthrie.)