Thread to Discuss Current Events & Politics

[Forlorn Drifter]

Could we possibly do something a little different? Instead of a general political thread, a thread (possibly in the "Games as Culture" section) specifically dealing with politics in relation to video games, such as when we discussed (argued TBH) about Anita Saarkesian's videos. I'm not sure that in itself is a great idea, but it might be a bit cleaner than general politics.

I'd rather no politics threads at all, but I don't really have a say.

[CFFJR]

I have a suggestion.

A toy forum I visit (The Fwoosh, for those curious) has a dedicated board, known as "The Soap Box". It is strictly for threads discussing politics, religion, sex, and all that happy crappy that folks like to argue about.

The interesting bit is that it's an opt-in board, and it is locked by default. Unregistered users can't view it. Members who want to view it have to go into their user settings and join a group that allows them to see the board.

I don't know if the software here on racketboy would allow for something like that, but I always thought it was a great compromise. I've never seen those discussions bleed out into any other part of the Fwoosh forums. It seems to work well.

Something to consider.

[marurun]

The problem with threads like this is that moderators - due to their misplaced fetishization of nebulous concepts like "free speech" and "rational debate" - will allow, say, LGBT members and extremely homophobic types to butt heads, occasionally pop in to tell "both sides" to "settle down", whilst reminding us that "both sides" have "equally valid" concerns. What happens next is that LGBT peoples and other marginalized folks bail because why the fuck would they stay, while those who chose to marginalize and discriminate become emboldened. Radical "centrism" just rolls out the red carpet for fascism.

As a mod who has been guilty of this, and is very aware of that fact, I think BoneSnapDeez has perfectly articulated my own concerns on the issue of allowing political discussion on the boards.

[Michi]

I have a suggestion....

^ That seems like a good possible alternative.

I have sort of mixed feelings about this thread.

On the one hand, I agree with what others have said. While we do seem to be a pretty mellow board in general, politics seems to be the one sticking point that causes the most animosity here. Hell, we had a thread about religion for a bit that didn't cause nearly as much hate as the political discussions seem to bring up.

Of course, that's not to say all the members here bring that out in each other. While there has been a lot of political vitriol, there have also been some very civil conversations between members, which I very much appreciate. But at the same time there's been some posts that, I feel, were deliberately meant to cause a stir and rile people up. Some people just can't help themselves, I suppose, and that's a damn shame.

On the other hand, I do think we need some sort of current events thread. Sure, people could bring up such topics in the Random Thoughts or Smile/Frown thread, but I think having a dedicated thread for current topics would make more sense.

[Jrecee]

I was happy to see it go. I only ever posted in it a few times with some pretty non-extreme devil's advocate type thoughts but the water in there just boiled too quickly.

Personally I think everybody is stupid and yet I like having friends. So I have friends and family who are straight, gay, liberal, conservative, transgender, racists, nice, assholes, vaguely misogynist, feminist, and everything in between. And the thing is, so does everyone. But as soon as you put up a screen between you and the other person, they become this generic villain if they disagree with you. It's like the entire internet is some sort of WWII propaganda. We can hate the Japs if they've got buck teeth, scary mustaches and claws!

So my vote is boo. Let's talk about video games and movies and shit.

[emwearz]

I actually came into this thread to talk about Australia officially saying it will enact ANZUS (the political and military treaty between Australia and The US) if North Korea attacks Guam, I thought we could have a discussion for a few replies on what people from the US thought on this topic and have a little back and forth (as I had a few times in that thread).

I barely posted in the thread, but I agree with the "enter at own risk".
If you find the discussions too hard to join in with in a civil manner, then don't enter the thread.

While we are a video game forum, I find it interesting to talk to people who share a hobby with me and how they view the world, I think once you start making topics taboo, when does it end?

Also regarding the topic I came here to talk about, should I create a topic for it of its own? Seems like a waste of time if I only wanted a little back and forth and not a whole discussion. Would creating a topic that has anything to do with politics be against the rules.

/Rant

[Tanooki]

I don't care much for the freedom of speech being shut down, but given how these threads inevitably end up on any site I'd be grouped in with those here who wish this was just put to bed once and for all.

Albert over at AtariAge has a forum wide ban on political discussion and it has worked out great there because it doesn't allow people to start fights and make actual grudges or opinions over other members due to their political leanings. The site is supposed to be about all forms of gaming discussion obviously with the roots in the Atari brand but it covers the gamut of it. I've enjoyed that place more than most spots online for game discussion in the last 10 years because you don't have to worry about this crap popping up so it's far more stress free and centered on what really matters.

[stickem]

It shouldn't be that much of an issue. Be adults and respect others beliefs/values even if it's different than yours. Everybody isn't always going to be on the same page, everybody's different. Just respect that and don't personal attack and it should be ok.

[Gunstar Green]

It's not really a "freedom of speech" issue. At the end of the day this is a forum about video games and gaming culture (which I digress, includes politics quite often). There's got to be a point where you stop and recognize when an off-topic discussion is hurting the community as a whole and examine whether or not it's worth having as a result.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should have a blanket ban on political discussion in the context of other thread topics where it's unavoidable but having a catch-all containment thread often turned out to be more of a leaking nuclear reactor instead, especially throughout the past year with situations as they currently are around the world.

There are other places to talk about politics, probably more places than there are to not talk about politics at this point. People are angry, raw and burnt out and I can understand them wanting to keep their hobbies free the same stress that's coming from practically everywhere else in their lives right now.

I personally think it's inviting further Internet drama, however I'm not against the thread staying up if it sticks to the guidelines in the OP.

[SamuraiMegas]

This thread just makes me think of the Tyler, The Creator tweet about cyberbullying.

If you don't like the thread, literally just dont open it. I saw the old one and I dont know if I ever commented on it and I opened it like 10x the entire time it was a thing. Not because it offended me, I just didn't care for it.