Riku wrote:
Watch it...We're getting into that "even if I at least partially agree with you, you need to cool it" territory. Aimed at anyone and everyone.
Raimu, dude, no need to deliberately agitate people. That makes you an asshole. I agree with you in concept (at least in regards to not becoming just as guilty of dehumanizing/generalizing), but holy motherfuck you came off as a pretentious, arrogant twat after a few posts. I'm getting really tired of having to say variations of this statement to people.
Great Handsome Oppressor and Malum both, I understand that you feel very strongly that Trump is a terrible person in a variety of ways (and I feel you are indeed correct), but you did jump in a bit too aggressively. I know that he essentially attacked an entire major demographic (which you happen to be a part of) that has historically been treated in a horrendous fashion. I get the anger.
But at the same time, it is entirely possible that people who are unaware of certain problems straight up do not have the context to understand those problems yet. Should they have bothered to be more literate on their social climate and candidate? Hell yes, and they are at fault for inadequate preparation in that regard. However, it doesn't work to yell at them that they are just as monstrous as the person they are considering voting for. If they didn't have context, the aggression makes them averse to your argument. If they were being willfully ignorant of a problem or didn't see it as one, then they will disregard your aggressive argument anyway, meaning that they are a waste of your energy. (I'm sure you already know this on an intellectual level, since you're a smart person, but I know that I need reminders about things once I get upset, so I figured I'd try.)
This isn't to say that you should always be polite and softspoken about things that you are passionate about (human rights, honesty, competence at an important office, maintaining logical order and avoiding fallacies), but we should all be aware of how our delivery affects the argument and debate.
The forum as a whole does tend to be what an American would consider quite Liberal/Left (I don't remember if some countries have assigned different terms to the same concept), which is great on the human rights front, possibly debatable on the financial front, and potentially clouding views of what is a reasonable expectation for change. The most passionate people tend to be idealists, which is excellent for driving us to progress in the long term, but also a detriment in that just as they tend to view the positive traits and best case scenarios of their favored options as the most likely/relevant, they do also tend to only consider the negative traits and worst scenarios of the options they've turned away from. Obviously, not everyone does this in every subject, but even if you do vehemently believe that someone is fucking terrible for the office that they are running for, do remember what would actually be effective communication (granted, if civil reason fails, by all means, engage in catharsis and leave, should you feel the need and not mind the reputation).
Should I need to correct/clarify anything, do let me know, as I am massively hangry and probably ineffective at editing.