Sensitive subjects

[phathack]

There's a saying that one should refrain from discussing religion, politics, and money.
By extension of this is you should also refrain from referencing the above topics by mentioning controversial people associated with them.
The members of this forum cover a wide variety of social and political views, and that's great—but this is not a political forum. I urge members to stick to advocating for social change related to men wearing skirts and related fashion subjects, without referencing the topics above

[Grok]

I have seen bickering about politics almost overwhelm forums...forums that weren't intended to be political.

One tactic that didn't work was an attempt to confine politics to one specific thread. But argument kept spilling over into other threads.

As I understand it we aren't supposed to discuss politics, unless it impacts the topic of MIS.

[crfriend]

As I understand it we aren't supposed to discuss politics, unless it impacts the topic of MIS.

That's technically the way the thing is supposed to work, but right there the camel gets its nose under the tent-flap and is pretty soon inside.

It also trusts the hope that there's a sense of society and comradeship amongst the membership ("the citizenry"); if there is, there likely won't be arguments and personal invective (which is strongly frowned upon). However, given the times and the ham-fisted way that politics seems to run nowadays, it's going to contaminate everything because it affects everybody, and the notion falls on its face and civility goes out the window.

The fact that the world seems to be on a trajectory towards another global war doesn't help matters any, and deteriorating economic conditions only exacerbate that. It's difficult to be civil when somebody's got a gun pointed at your head, or that the stroke of a pen in the Capital can ruin your life completely or even end it.

Note that it's possible to disagree with someone and still be civil, and it always worth recalling that there is vastly more that unites us than divides us. We ignore that at our peril.

So, it's inevitable that the pervasive notion of what's happening in our environs is going to creep into conversation -- and forcefully suppressing that conversation (so long as it remains civil) is usually harmful in the long run.

[Ray]

At the moment it’s VERY difficult to avoid the evilness, bullying, threats and repugnant comments that are threatening the globe. I’ll try my best, but these are very disturbing times.

[crfriend]

At the moment it’s VERY difficult to avoid the evilness, bullying, threats and repugnant comments that are threatening the globe. I’ll try my best, but these are very disturbing times.

Trust me, this ol' boy understands that fully and is integrating that into my responses. Bluntly, we are watching the world we all grew up in come entirely asunder, and many of us may not survive the matter if the "big toys" come out -- and that's entirely possible right now. You are not alone in being nervous.

The main thing I'm after is that we stay civil to one another, no matter what opinion somebody may have. We should have the decency to not denigrate our fellow community members.