I’ve been debating whether to say my piece here, and have decided to explain my position as it is important to me. I hope this is taken in the way intended.
I consider myself a centrist. I don’t believe that any one political party has all the answers and think that the best system is a combination or the best right and left wing ideas (the Nordic Model basically). As a result I see respectful and honest dialogue, free from hypocrisy as the only way to acheive this. Unfortunately this seems totally impossible in todays polarised world where the media encourages us to hate those who disagree with us and lump people into groups based on arbitrary reasons. Both sides are guilty. Most people live in this grey area, but we are encouraged to only think in black and white.
I am also not American, but I do have a serious interest in US politics so I haven’t decided on my political opinions lightly. I refuse to lump myself into one camp or take the moral high ground on any particular issue. I try to see the good and bad in everything rather than blindly following any particular ideology.
In the past few days I have seen a number of things that I find to be ignorant and hateful from both sides. I have also been called a ‘Trumpet’ and a ‘Thumper’ (whatever that is?) simply for respectfully disagreeing with someone. It seems a fairly widespread belief that people with conservative views are terrible people. That if you consider voting for Trump (or any conservative party) you are an evil bigot. Even tho I don’t consider myself a conservative it has in some ways left me feeling uncomfortable here simply by not being a die-hard ‘liberal’ (whatever that means these days). It’s a shame as I would like to think that my conduct here would show what sort of a person I am rather than what box I choose to tick on a voting slip. People have many different reasons for voting the way they do and deciding on the moral worth of someone on one factor is a sorry state of affairs.
All of us here have something really important in common. Lets not ruin that by focusing on the differences and making assumptions of each other.
I say go with a political meme thread, that way all the moral grandstanding, polarising comments and ignorance can be kept in one place.
Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to get that off my chest.
Well said. I’m with you @Hailstrom.
I’m in Canada and we do have our differing opinions around politics, but I’ve never seen such polarization around parties or such a willingness to come down a person for having an opposing view as I’ve seen around US politics.
I’m sure it’s passion driven but holy it does get very passionate at times!
I’d just like to address this. People flagging breaches of the guidelines are not a problem. As has been said many times before, humour is subjective and where we draw the line is an individual thing.
We won’t always all agree, and that is ok.
We can all choose to communicate with each other via private message (although these can be flagged) or off the forum, if we want to share things that are outside of the guidelines. We will have different views of what is covered by the guidelines sometimes, especially on the meme thread, and that is ok.
As has been shown above, some people just read the meme thread and get something from it. It is as much for them as it is anyone else.
Also, the people who post regularly on the forum changes over time, as do the people reading. As long as threads are on the main forum, they are for everyone and that means we all have to make compromises!
I don’t think your Dodge truck meme is funny in the least. It is a horrible reminder of tragic events and I imagine the last thoughts of a peaceful protester mowed down by a lunatic. I would flag that “meme” immediately.
A thumper is a religious fanatic who constantly quotes the buybull, constantly shames people for not being religious, constantly thanks their god in comment sections, etc. Also, I completely agree with you that there should be a separate political memes thread.
There are already guidelines that govern the forum. I guess people are free to say what they want, but if they do, they have to accept the consequences.
Is posting a political meme on here really that important? We know it is a touch point with some. Maybe, as adults, we try to understand that it is a touch point, respect a little bit…and just find something else that is funny.
If not being able to post a political meme, or an overly crude meme, ect…ruins your day…then maybe the problem isnt just the person that is offended, but with the person that “needs” to post such memes.
I agree with you so much on this. Politics in the US have become completely polarized. Someone either picks Team A or Team B and then shouts down those from the “opposing team” with personal attacks and often without having any type of nuanced discussion. I think humans instinctively still pick teams and tribes. There’s a level of safety in knowing you won’t be challenged and that your beliefs will just be echoed back to you. It’s easier. I don’t ever bring up politics online for this very reason. I have beliefs that span both sides the aisle, but most people are too lazy, or don’t have the time, to really get into the details of each issue. It’s easy to just pick a side and blindly ride with them.
Personally, I wouldn’t care if political memes were banned, or if memes in general were banned, because that’s not what I’m on this forum for. I know there are other “just for fun” categories that don’t pertain to sobriety necessarily, but they also don’t seem to stir up as much controversy. There’s plenty of other outlets for sharing and seeing memes. There aren’t a ton of outlets where folks can come on and share about their recovery and struggles so openly. That should be the primary purpose here.
If we do keep it open for all memes, at what point does personal sovereignty come into play? If you see something you don’t like… move on by it. I get that if something is truly egregious it should be flagged. We’re all adults and I think most of us know where that line should be drawn. But if someone is just taking a shot at a politician you support, let’s not be so sensitive. No matter how this all gets structured, it’s not going to prevent people from being offended if they chose to be. Are there consequences for unwarranted flags?
