No Politics

[Rustic23]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting tired of politics. I have not seen a single political statement on this board that has changed my mind, and I am quite sure no political argument I ever contributed to ever changed anyone elses mind. So a couple of options.

• Give us a section for politics. Then those that want to push an agenda can push to the hearts content, and I will not have to read it.
• If we don’t have a ‘Politics’ section, start you post with ‘Political – … whatever you want to title your post’ Then those of us that don’t want to play politics and are interested in ER type discussions will know to stay away.
• If someone gets off subject and just can’t resist touting the administration, or calling them all idiots, post the following image in the next post.

or

or

and maybe the thread wil get back to it's original intent.

I am in no way trying to stifle someone’s first amendment’s rights. However, everything does not have to be political!

 

[travelover]

Yea, I agree, it has gotten tiresome, including the political "jokes" . I read this forum for the financial advice sharing and other common human interests.

 

[TromboneAl]

Something that has bothered me is how early the presidential election stuff started -- over two years before the actual election.

 

[Sam]

Give us a section for politics. Then those that want to push an agenda can push to the hearts content, and I will not have to read it.

Good idea. But also give us the ability to IGNORE that whole section. That is, it's never here unless requested. Oh boy, this would be great! The guy who posts there, will have to go there and argue or agree with himself. Lower blood pressure for everyone.

 

[fluffy]

You do realize that turning your back on politics just plays into neocon hands, right?!




Sorry, couldn't resist... I actually completely agree with the OP...

 

[dumpster56]

I agree that politics are well bad bed fellows. That said, it really is easy to ignore the political threads. Almost all the political rants I put up here on the forum go unresponded to. You don't need to make new rules just do as you are all doing. Ignoring what you feel is not important.O0

 

[REWahoo]

Newguy, do you think the lack of response to your rants might have something to do with the number of people who have you on ignore?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ah come on...lets put the blame where it belongs.

Its Clintons fault.

Or is it because Bush is a boo-boo head?

 

[Nords]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting tired of politics. I have not seen a single political statement on this board that has changed my mind, and I am quite sure no political argument I ever contributed to ever changed anyone elses mind.

Me too, especially the posters who see politics where they're not part of the discussion at hand. It's too convenient an excuse for logic & reason or taking personal responsibility. It's also driving posters away, especially around election time.

Give us a section for politics. Then those that want to push an agenda can push to the hearts content, and I will not have to read it.

There's concern that a "Politics" section will encourage behavior that'll slop over onto other parts of the board, especially when two political factions can't confine their feuding to the Politics section.

Luckily the problem has already been addressed-- here's one of the world's best political forums, and everyone's welcome to take it over there!

Politics Discussion Board

Newguy, do you think the lack of response to your rants might have something to do with the number of people who have you on ignore?

Behavior modification in the same way that parents walk away and ignore their kids when a tantrum is in progress...

 

[wildcat]

I agree. Pure political rants are of little value -- for example, just posting some worthless link to article that tells us our political leaders are idiots. At times, we [-]argue[/-] debate over some topics that are greatly influenced by political agendas -- see national healthcare. With those, I am kind of a toss up because it does pertaint to our ability to FIRE. Any suggestions from the forum on those so long as the debate stays pretty clean?

 

[dumpster56]

Newguy, do you think the lack of response to your rants might have something to do with the number of people who have you on ignore?

Most likely. Kinda funny though, I rant and make no bones about that I really don't know what I am talking about. People actually think I am well being overly serious. Hey I go off at odd times so do many of us. Hey its just the internet. I never dis respect others, or if I do I will admit the mistake. Hey its all good.

We don't have to go to work.

Oh and Booboo was used on a new computer because I could not find my new info.

Geesh BooBoo is newguy

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Whoops, looks like you forgot to log out of your 'booboo' persona and back into your 'newguy' persona. :

 

[Moemg]

New Guy alias Boo Boo ,I just think you should take a deep breath and say I'm not in Newark anymore three times and you'll feel much calmer.

 

[dumpster56]

Whoops, looks like you forgot to log out of your 'booboo' persona and back into your 'newguy' persona. :

Nope, figured it was time already to put this to rest. Still I might be booboo on some computers , cannot find my old sign in for newguy.

 

[Rustic23]

I agree there are many subjects that effect the retired community. However, too often the discussions start with something like sicko, which takes a film that takes truths, half truths, and out right falsehoods, along with selected anecdotal cases and the discussions goes from there. People quote Sicko as if it is gospel. Seldom is there what, I would consider, an intelligent discussion of health care. If we were standing in a room we would be shouting at each other, each trying to remember something we had read or seen on TV, attempting to ‘win,’ when in fact, what we write will do little to change the mind of the person on the other end.

For example, compare the use of Proton treatment centers in Canada, or Cuba, to the U.S. They cost in excess of $125,000,000. I googled it and found something about a Canadian firm building one in Oklahoma, but did not find one existed in either Canada or Cuba. I thing there are only three or four in the U.S. Now the way most thread go, the author takes that as evidence that the U.S. system is better….NO! Neither does it make the Cuban system worse or better.

The star of House, (can’t remember his name, but he is British) was ask which system was better. He said if he were poor, England, but ‘I’m not poor’. So an actor said it, there fore it must be true. Case closed! Adopt the British system.

I bring these up, only because it is indicative of the type of discussions of issues that I seem to see. Someone will find an article that supports their point, quote it, and do nothing to analyze the effect.

Generally when the subject is financial in nature, the discussion is good to great. When the issue is somewhat or totally political, it generally grinds down into my side is better than yours, and your political parties practices are destroying the country.

I would love to see thoughtful discussions on Health Care, Tax reduction, Tax increase, what happens next in Iraq, Should Corporations pay more tax, What does an increase in minimum wage do. Either keep them on subject, quote facts, and don’t ridicule the other side. It should not be about wining a political point, but what and why it is good for the country.

OK, guess I won’t be surprised if the political flag is thrown. However, I tried not to take a side.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Don't think I don't understand the pleas to ignore or contain hotbutton posting and how effective just keeping quiet when upset is.

However my experience is that there isn't much to be done administratively about it, especially here.

My experience tells me:

• A political board will encourage that type of posting and spill over into other boards on the same forum. (It spills over already. The 2004 election left bad aftertastes for months.)
• Somebody will respond. There are just too many people with too many moods and too many hotbuttons. Somebody will reply. Often a moderator gets in the mix.
• Trying to enforce posting guidelines over and above blatant profanity and spam causes all sorts of problems and disruptions with cries of censorship and claims of a political slant to the forum or to its participants in aggregate.

The main focus of this board is hopelessly woven into the fabric of politics, so I don't see how to draw a line between acceptable and unacceptable political posts.

I'm all for voluntary self-labeling of political posts, but the last time a moderator made a spelling correction to the title of a thread people got really upset, so I don't think moderator-labeled political threads is going to go over very well.

The anti-politics banners? Hmmm, maybe. It's worth a try.

Unfortunately, my experience also tells me it's going to continue getting worse as the primaries and election approach.

As for directing people who want to talk politics for the sake of talking politics or arguing or recruiting or whatever I've always liked Nords' suggestion of suggesting they try M* for that activity.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'd be all for shooting people who have nothing else to do but start threads that look like a direct feed from the national enquirer headlines.

And I want two dollars if you're going to use that avatar photo...

 

[FinallyRetired]

• Give us a section for politics. Then those that want to push an agenda can push to the hearts content, and I will not have to read it.
• If we don’t have a ‘Politics’ section, start you post with ‘Political – … whatever you want to title your post’ Then those of us that don’t want to play politics and are interested in ER type discussions will know to stay away.
• If someone gets off subject and just can’t resist touting the administration, or calling them all idiots, post the following image in the next post.

I think those are all good suggestions. I've not perceived a problem with politics on this board, since it is well organized according to sections and threads. If a politics section would make that easier to sort those posts, I'm all for it.

What I wouldn't like to see is censorship, where posters have to be avoid certain topics, particularly in this "Other" section. So many retirement boards, books, and magazines are all about asset allocation and gee what do I do if the market goes down 5%. I was concerned about that many years ago, but am now settled in my finances, so what I appreciate about this board is the ability to discuss other things that may or may not be meaningful. For those who are still worried about asset allocation and the like, those sections are there.

 

[maddythebeagle]

I have nothing really to add except that avatar is awesome BMJ....

and you people are kinda slow not to figure Boo=Newguy

 

[Nords]

and you people are kinda slow not to figure Boo=Newguy

That fun & games gets picked up pretty quickly by the moderators, especially after comparing IP addresses.

But it's usually a poster's "style" that motivates a moderator to check the IP addresses. New posters who leap right in without an introduction, who behave like they've been lurking (or posting!) for months, and who don't talk about themselves are a dead giveaway. Like Morse code "hands" it seems to be difficult to disguise, or maybe the kind of people who feel compelled to be multiple-personality posters aren't competent enough at self-analysis to be able to pull it off...

 

[dumpster56]

That fun & games gets picked up pretty quickly by the moderators, especially after comparing IP addresses.

But it's usually a poster's "style" that motivates a moderator to check the IP addresses. New posters who leap right in without an introduction, who behave like they've been lurking (or posting!) for months, and who don't talk about themselves are a dead giveaway. Like Morse code "hands" it seems to be difficult to disguise, or maybe the kind of people who feel compelled to be multiple-personality posters aren't competent enough at self-analysis to be able to pull it off...

No Nords, You are quite off base. In addition is there a reason you like to make comments about others that do not follow your ORDERS?

Funny how this place sounds and looks like High School. Oh right You have me on your ignore list. Like I said High School .

 

[FinanceDude]

No Nords, You are quite off base. In addition is there a reason you like to make comments about others that do not follow your ORDERS?

Funny how this place sounds and looks like High School. Oh right You have me on your ignore list. Like I said High School .

Hey booboobear, newguy888, whatever, dude look in the mirror...........

 

[Nords]

I guess quoting gets around the "Ignore Poster" feature. Maybe it should be called the "Blissfully Ignorant" feature.

But hey, Newguy, as long as FinanceDude is bringing it up, here's a thought. Remember those times when you said that you'd try to tone down your posts and make more productive contributions to the board? I'm not going to spend the time looking them up, but you're the one who has to live with your self-introspection of how your words match your actions. Your ACL post was very helpful but that's one out of dozens-- mighty little wheat among the chaff. I hope you have more ER accomplishments to be proud of than your Chicken Little posting record.

And if you're unhappy with being on everyone's "Ignore Poster" lists then I suggest that you start your own blog like OldAgePensioner. You can rant & rave to your heart's content and even pick up a little AdSense revenue without having to worry about moderators.

The nice thing about not being a moderator is that I no longer have to feel obligated to pay attention to, let alone do something, about your behavior. You don't have to worry about my "orders"-- just the moderators!

 

[kumquat]

I really don't like the political threads. Mainly because they all involve US politics and I'm not a US citizen. I try to leave US politics to US citizens.

Now I'll start something but I hope it's not political, I consider myself American since Canada is part of North America. Canadians and Mexicans are Americans too.

Anyway, this is my last political post.

 

[Martha]

Kumquat, I agree with you. But it is hard to refer to us in the United States as Unitedstatesians. So, I have given in to convention.