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Old 12-17-2008, 07:16 PM   #41
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Gak, please don't quote this stuff at length. Most of us have sihtbox soapbox on ignore for a reason...
I certainly understand that. (Before I recently became a mod, I had the Soap Box on ignore, too.)

The goal isn't to move the sewage into other boards, but to stop the sewage. The idea is that FIRE-related political discussion will be moved to the new board, and that existing boards won't be allowed to become toxic.

Look, here's the thing for all who aren't sure of the intent. We're not trying to stop all political discussion. As I see it, there are a couple of primary objectives:

(1) Eliminate disrepectful and "flaming" political discussion;

(2) Eliminate political discussion completely unrelated to FIRE and the Quest for FIRE.

I'd like to think point 1 is obvious; it's simply a violation of the Terms of Service and the Community Rules.

Point 2 is something I'd like to expand on. The closing of the Soap Box "as we know it" isn't intended to stifle all political discussion. The intent is to eliminate political discussion that isn't relevant to FIRE or the Quest for FIRE.

Discussion of Social Security reform is relevant to FIRE.

Someone in Iraq throwing a shoe at President Bush is NOT relevant to FIRE.

Health care reform is relevant to FIRE.

Sarah Palin's church being set ablaze is NOT relevant to FIRE.

Medicare reform is obviously related to FIRE.

The status of Barack Obama's birth certificate is NOT all that relevant to FIRE.

I hope you see the pattern. Anything which very clearly relates to the financial ability to retire early -- or stay retired early if you already are -- is fair game.

If it doesn't relate directly to retirement issues -- it's probably out of bounds.

The bottom line is that there are many other places to go if your desire is to debate full-contact politics. This forum is not the place for that.
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:18 PM   #42
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The goal isn't to move the sewage into other boards, but to stop the sewage.
While I think this is a noble goal, it ignores a fundamental part of human existence: the poop has to go somewhere (or else you explode).

But much luck to all the mods in policing all of the boards with extreme prejudice instead of just one...
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:22 PM   #43
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Gak, please don't quote this stuff at length. Most of us have sihtbox soapbox on ignore for a reason...
I have soapbox on ignore too. However, I don't know which individual posters you have on ignore
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:25 PM   #44
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I have soapbox on ignore too. However, I don't know which individual posters you have on ignore

Prolly not that hard to tell in this case...
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:25 PM   #45
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So the mod team has decided that its a good idea to dump the cesspool into the drinking water and then spend their time trying to ensure water quality by using a teaspoon with holes in it? Tell me again why this is a good idea?
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While I think this is a noble goal, it ignores a fundamental part of human existence: the poop has to go somewhere (or else you explode).
But much luck to all the mods in policing all of the boards with extreme prejudice instead of just one...
No problem. There won't be a Soapbox so we can just report the dreck to the mods for them to edit or delete.
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:30 PM   #46
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No problem. There won't be a Soapbox so we can just report the dreck to the mods for them to edit or delete.
That's the plan.
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:35 PM   #47
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I think the SoapBox did exactly what it was suppose to. People that were not interested in the type of topics posted there put it on ignore. People that were stayed there and the rest of the board remained free of the stuff that was spewed there. Well for the most part. I think you are going to find that without it the 'Free Speech' stuff will come back, people will be drawn in by trolls to meaningless arguments, and the moderators jobs will become harder not easier.
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Old 12-17-2008, 07:42 PM   #48
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I think you are going to find that without it the 'Free Speech' stuff will come back, people will be drawn in by trolls to meaningless arguments, and the moderators jobs will become harder not easier.
That gets back to ownership using SEO & Adsense to draw in everyone on the Internet who thinks "early retirement" means that we're interested in what they're selling.

Or in guys like Capt Karl, whatever he's selling...

Now if Google & Adsense were used to draw in people who want to use the Soapbox as a totally separate board, yet still part of the SocialKnowledge system, then our E-R.org moderators wouldn't have to put up with trolls or Soapbox backflush!
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Old 12-17-2008, 08:24 PM   #49
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What I found is that the value and civility of posts on other forums, like money, health, other topics, etc. dropped inversely with the heat and BS in the soapbox. I found myself enjoying the entire board (not just the soapbox) considerably less than I had before.

For example, hostile sarcasm seemed to pop up everywhere more often, even when irrelevant to the topic. Kinda' like the comments quoted above, a nice example of how even mentioning the soapbox brings out, well, not the best of the board.
From my POV the problem with this board is not too much vinegar, but too much cotton candy. You bite it, and it is gone. Too many threads that pretty much parse to "One More Reason Why We Are Better Than Everyone Else".

The other thing is, once one has been retired for a while, dealt with some good markets and some bad markets, and figured out how to spend his/her days, what the heck does s/he have to learn about retirement? Nothing, except details that come up occasionally where a well informed answer can be very helpful.


As for "educating newbies", I think that is nothing more than arrogance. How many newbies came here and people immediately tried to convince them to have larger equity allocations than they previously had. Not sure this helped.

For my part, it is more than enough to try to figure out what I want to do without appointing myself a helper to someone else- someone who may be closer to correct than I am at a given time.

There really isn't much to learn about early retirement. Here is the Cliff's Notes:

Don't develop expensive tastes. Maybe avoid children. Get a government job if you possibly can. Invest reasonably, maybe with some care about valuations. Be very careful about whom you marry. Best is someone similarly monomaniacal as yourself. Don't get divorced. If you do get divorced, get a good lawyer. Never ever go without health insurance. Move heaven and earth to satisfy this one. Drive old cars. Prefer old second hand clothes. Eat a diet similar to a teacher or low level bureaucrat in Egypt.

That is about all you need.

So how can we be expected to pleasurably kill time around here without joking and the occasional barfight?

Ha
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Old 12-17-2008, 11:57 PM   #50
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...
There really isn't much to learn about early retirement. Here is the Cliff's Notes:

Don't develop expensive tastes. Maybe avoid children. Get a government job if you possibly can. Invest reasonably, maybe with some care about valuations. Be very careful about whom you marry. Best is someone similarly monomaniacal as yourself. Don't get divorced. If you do get divorced, get a good lawyer. Never ever go without health insurance. Move heaven and earth to satisfy this one. Drive old cars. Prefer old second hand clothes. Eat a diet similar to a teacher or low level bureaucrat in Egypt.

That is about all you need....

Ha
Thanks for the summary. You nailed it perfectly! I'm gonna share this with my daughter and several of her 20-something friends who've asked me about RE.

Excellent!
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Old 12-18-2008, 06:43 AM   #51
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Ha, I hope we'll while away the hours here on the fabulous "other topics", like bacon, old cars, dance, movies, books, and travel destinations...and don't forget our various bodily ailments and disabilities.

I believe that the basic civility of all of us will improve if we don't know each other's politics and that this is a positive change for the tenor of the board discussion.
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Old 12-18-2008, 07:15 AM   #52
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So how can we be expected to pleasurably kill time around here without joking and the occasional barfight?
This change has absolutely nothing to do with joking, which will continue to be highly encouraged. If left up to me, proof of a sense of humor would be a requirement for board membership. No joke.

As to bar fights, the same rules apply here as in most bars: take it outside.
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Old 12-18-2008, 07:58 AM   #53
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If left up to me, proof of a sense of humor would be a requirement for board membership. No joke.
I vote giant bunny slippers should also be a requirement.
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Old 12-18-2008, 08:06 AM   #54
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Someone in Iraq throwing a shoe at President Bush is NOT relevant to FIRE.
Someone threw a shoe at Sarah Palin, but she threw it back 'cause it wasn't a Prada.
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Old 12-18-2008, 09:09 AM   #55
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I have a good friend who has completely stopped communicating with me since right before the election. She was involved in a political discussion with someone else (not related to me as family or friend, just another acquaintance), their discussion was completely amenable as they were both on the same side, and "her" candidate won (whom I also voted for, which she knew I planned to, but did not financially support as she did). Apparently the fact that I simply did not join in the bashing but continued talking about something nonpolitical with another acquaintance was enough for her to write me off.

There was a reason politics and religion were taboo subjects for the dinner table. I miss her.

On the other hand, REWahoo's reference to "we'll know it when we see it," makes me perk up hoping there will be some good old fashioned p*rn joking around (I believe that "it" was pornography in that quote)! Bring it on!

Somehow we all managed to visit this board and have a ton of fun on it pre-Soapbox. I don't see what that will be any different now that the election is over and the Soapbox is on hiatus. Unless some of you are mad at me for not supporting someone enough, like my friend
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Old 12-18-2008, 09:16 AM   #56
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Feever, two points:

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I have a good friend...
I think the correct wording might be "had"...

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Originally Posted by Bestwifeever View Post

On the other hand, REWahoo's reference to "we'll know it when we see it,"
...and Gumby gets the credit for Justice Potter Stewart's porn comment.

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Originally Posted by Gumby View Post
To paraphrase U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart -- "We'll know it when we see it."
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Old 12-18-2008, 09:30 AM   #57
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Gumby, Gumby, of course. I don't know why I think REWahoo when I think "it."
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Old 12-18-2008, 09:33 AM   #58
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Gumby, Gumby, of course.
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Old 12-18-2008, 09:55 AM   #59
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If left up to me, proof of a sense of humor would be a requirement for board membership. No joke.
I'm doing the best I can to keep my sense of humor, but lately attempting that has taken its toll on me....
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Old 12-18-2008, 10:08 AM   #60
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This change has absolutely nothing to do with joking, which will continue to be highly encouraged. If left up to me, proof of a sense of humor would be a requirement for board membership. No joke.

As to bar fights, the same rules apply here as in most bars: take it outside.
Recovering from bar fights is a good time to contemplate early retirement. Both from bar fights and w*rk.

There is an old Aleutian method of avoiding some bar fights, throw your knife in the bar, if it does not come back at you, it is safe to go in.
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