Stand United

[medi]

I am NOT referring to standing united as citizens of any specific nation. I am referring to standing united as true and honourable humans. Over and over around this community for a little over a year and a half or so I am seeing, reading, so much hate language; so much language of spitefulness; so much language meant only to insult another human that you have never sat across from at a dinner table - - - WHY? Truly, WHY?

Do you think being hateful with your language, being spiteful with your language, being without honour with your words is helping your cause?

If you do, you are a dishonour to the human race. You are a dishonour to your family. You are a dishonour to your cause.

It has to stop before it becomes bullets you aim at another human and not just words.

Too many here have gone too far.

And you know it, don't you? In your heart, you know it!

It has to stop, before it is too late!!

You are a human. All of you. No dogs are typing messages here. No cats. No monkeys. No animals. Humans. Act like humans. STOP THE HATE!!!

 

[NWRatCon]

I am NOT referring to standing united as citizens of any specific nation. I am referring to standing united as true and honourable humans. Over and over around this community for a little over a year and a half or so I am seeing, reading, so much hate language; so much language of spitefulness; so much language meant only to insult another human that you have never sat across from at a dinner table - - - WHY? Truly, WHY?

Do you think being hateful with your language, being spiteful with your language, being without honour with your words is helping your cause?

If you do, you are a dishonour to the human race. You are a dishonour to your family. You are a dishonour to your cause.

It has to stop before it becomes bullets you aim at another human and not just words.

Too many here have gone too far.

And you know it, don't you? In your heart, you know it!

It has to stop, before it is too late!!

You are a human. All of you. No dogs are typing messages here. No cats. No monkeys. No animals. Humans. Act like humans. STOP THE HATE!!!

I can appreciate your angst. It is harder and harder to find a quiet place in polite society. At least, on the internet.

I think there are two sources for this, though. First, there is the echo chamber that comes of being on the internet - it is an artificial "community" where anonymity and lack of connection are responded to in a non-intimate climate. Unfettered by the norms of communication and relationship, we tend to be harsher and that bleeds over into the real world. We form habits of dismissal and confirmation that don't translate well.

The second source, I think, is genuine concern. As my sig indicates, I am a civil libertarian. I believe, passionately, in the core values that inform our foundational documents and permeate the history of our nation. I am fully aware of our checkered past, and the continued existence of antisocial conditions - discrimination, injustice, disparity of opportunity - throughout our society. I see the rise of authoritarian impulses that, my historian background, recognize from our past. Those are impulses diametrically opposed to my sensibilities.

But, my views only represent one segment of society. Other segments see danger in other conditions - poor education, erosion of religion, changes in society, a conflict between races and ethnicities.

Concerns within various communities within the broader community are exacerbated by a steady stream of conformational and confrontational media - not all of it based upon reality. Even commercials tend to create false concerns - "buy this" ads that exaggerate the risks of everyday living - whether of financial concerns, or end-of-society concerns, or social stigma concerns - creating a zeitgeist of anxiety. Pundits and "influencers" (god I hate that word) try to fit within this or that niche and promote particular viewpoints, often by highlighting particular frissons to generate clicks for financial gain.

But, you have, perhaps unconsciously, joined in that process. In your post you used the very disparaging language you are railing against: "you are a dishonour to the human race. You are a dishonour to your family. You are a dishonour to your cause." Even if well-meaning, that perpetuates the very kind of dialog that is the subject of your post.

Food for thought.

 

[medi]

You have made a very valid point here:

But, you have, perhaps unconsciously, joined in that process. In your post you used the very disparaging language you are railing against: "you are a dishonour to the human race. You are a dishonour to your family. You are a dishonour to your cause." Even if well-meaning, that perpetuates the very kind of dialog that is the subject of your post.

I am not meaning to make an excuse here, but I honestly don't remember what my thought process was when I wrote that; but when reading it now I can see that it smacks of trouble.

And I had a very odd experience today that really surprised me. I was invited by somebody to view a committee meeting that was related to the shooting at that Trump rally and some of those elected officials sounded so much like some of the posts I see around this community and I have to admit that I was caught way off guard.

Some of the posts I see around here are like mirrors of what some of those elected officials sounded like. Seemed so unreal, although that reads strangely, doesn't it?

It is just that some decades ago when I had to either be in such meetings, or had to be briefed and with excerpts, I don't recall that style. It seems like the rhetoric these days has turned really weird and harsh and even, sometimes, not making much sense.

On the other hand, I may be kidding myself because I have forgotten such bad stuff and it was just like that --- maybe --- back in the 70s, or so. Meaning, I'm just forgetting.

Now, that part you were writing about that relates to an Internet community, that seems to be an area where I have had trouble. I started getting into trouble at Google back about when the Gmail product was being given out when I started trying to get employees to quit using the vocabulary "user" to refer to what I felt were customers, regardless of no money being exchanged in the normal retail manner. And I was really catching a lot of 'hell' from employees and our volunteer staff and --- well, I suspect folks around here might know I am stubborn and I kept at it.

And I am leading into the idea, to me, that an Internet community, like here, is no different from a brick-and-mortar community, with respect to that word --- respect. A human should be respected, no matter we cannot actually meet each other; you know, face-to-face. But that thought process taken down that path seems to always get me into big trouble. Even here, I know I best not be pushing that notion. Trouble will result.

It's just that there is an odd "tone" to some of the communications between humans on the Net that we wouldn't feel/see/experience if it were a group together in the same room at a convention, or such like that.

We are no less human on the Net than if we were together at some event where we could actually see/meet each other. But many folks don't view that Net in that way.

 

[NWRatCon]

I honestly don't remember what my thought process was when I wrote that; but when reading it now I can see that it smacks of trouble.

I often catch myself doing the same thing. I try to reread everything I write (I hate errors) but, like any human, I make mistakes and sometimes overlook other interpretations that can be made of chosen words.

And I had a very odd experience today that really surprised me. I was invited by somebody to view a committee meeting that was related to the shooting at that Trump rally and some of those elected officials sounded so much like some of the posts I see around this community and I have to admit that I was caught way off guard.

Some of the posts I see around here are like mirrors of what some of those elected officials sounded like. Seemed so unreal, although that reads strangely, doesn't it?

It is just that some decades ago when I had to either be in such meetings, or had to be briefed and with excerpts, I don't recall that style. It seems like the rhetoric these days has turned really weird and harsh and even, sometimes, not making much sense.

I had the same experience, as in the 90s, in particular, I was very tuned into legislative debates (at both the State and national levels). There was a level of courtesy and decorum that is almost completely lacking today. It started, largely, with Newt Gingrich and his take-no-prisoners, hyperbolic and nasty style. It caught on with his Republican compatriots and has metastasized since throughout public discourse. You have ignoramuses like Gohmert, Greene, Gaetz and Boebert, and sleazoids like Hawley, Cruz and the like that are more interested in clicks that governing.

Now, that part you were writing about that relates to an Internet community, that seems to be an area where I have had trouble. I started getting into trouble at Google back about when the Gmail product was being given out when I started trying to get employees to quit using the vocabulary "user" to refer to what I felt were customers, regardless of no money being exchanged in the normal retail manner. And I was really catching a lot of 'hell' from employees and our volunteer staff and --- well, I suspect folks around here might know I am stubborn and I kept at it.

And I am leading into the idea, to me, that an Internet community, like here, is no different from a brick-and-mortar community, with respect to that word --- respect. A human should be respected, no matter we cannot actually meet each other; you know, face-to-face. But that thought process taken down that path seems to always get me into big trouble. Even here, I know I best not be pushing that notion. Trouble will result.

It's just that there is an odd "tone" to some of the communications between humans on the Net that we wouldn't feel/see/experience if it were a group together in the same room at a convention, or such like that.

We are no less human on the Net than if we were together at some event where we could actually see/meet each other. But many folks don't view that Net in that way.

I think, and have expressed that view elsewhere, it is a matter of "permission structure". I was in the military, and the military requires a great deal of uniformity (pun unavoidable), not just in dress, but in comportment. I also worked in civilian government where standards of both dress and deportment were routine expectations. Positions of authority are given polite deference, even if the holder of such office is a moron or of questionable ethics. That used to be true in many major corporations, too. As late as the 90s my twin worked in industries that didn't allow facial hair (we both look like hippies, now), and I well-remember my uncle's IBM uniform - dark suit, white shirt, and dark tie, and he was a software engineer. My dad, always in a suit, wore loud ties - with a company tie-tack! - because that was the only "expression" he was allowed at work. (I still have those ties.)

Those were non-permissive structures. Admittedly, they had/have their drawbacks, too. But the point is, expectations were different. The informality that has permeated society has expanded into government operations, corporate culture (even Disney now allows facial hair), as well as in various kinds of community. Sometimes it goes too far.