I hate to get all serious...

But I'm compelled to say something.   We're in pretty damn difficult times.  I'm absolutely certain there are members of The Hive with whom I would vehemently disagree on politics.  But the point is we're brothers and sisters in our common interest at GRM.  The same thing applies to our fellow citizens and brother man.  Let's do what we can to extend those feelings of camaraderie and fellowship to everyone in our normal lives just like we do on the board before we say or do something that would make things worse.

Mmmmmmmmkay?   

Here’s an easy one for us subdivision dwellers:  ask your neighbors if there’s anything you can do for them.

Be excellent to each other!

It is getting tough.  I have close relatives that have stopped speaking to me because we disagree on politics. 

And I make it a point to not argue with relatives about politics.   

To me family is more important than politics but emotions are running high these days, people assign labels and dehumanize those who think differently than themselves.   And this is across the spectrum of the left/right. 

AngryCorvair said:

Here’s an easy one for us subdivision dwellers:  ask your neighbors if there’s anything you can do for them.

"Can I take your dog to the shelter? I'm tired of half the neighborhood stopping in my driveway or the intersection because your hellhound is out in the middle of intersection causing problems again."

In reply to stroker :

Like I said earlier, just don't be a dick.  That's all it takes.

ShawnG said:

Be excellent to each other!

Exactly!

believe me, that’s not how I was raised.  but it’s how I choose to live now.  I don’t hang out with any of my neighbors, but they all know I’ll help them carry in their groceries or move furniture or edge sidewalks or teach their kid how to drive manual.  At the end of the day, I think that’s how we move the world forward.  

jharry3 said:

It is getting tough.  I have close relatives that have stopped speaking to me because we disagree on politics. 

And I make it a point to not argue with relatives about politics.   

To me family is more important than politics but emotions are running high these days, people assign labels and dehumanize those who think differently than themselves.   And this is across the spectrum of the left/right. 

You should have left that out.  Certainly there are both sides who assign labels, and are emotional.  

But I'm trying to see where one side is dehumanizing, when the other side is very much so.  So much that my wife fears for her life sometimes.  I'm not aware of any right leaning large groups of people who are in fear of people trying to kill them from the other side.

Which is where I wonder about these threads- where does it really start and stop?  Who is the one to decide who is ok to be who they are and who is not?  Or do we really think everyone should be who they are?

I follow Honest Abe's golden rule:

In reply to alfadriver :

You started out really well. Mentioning left/right was a problem. BUt then you exacerbated it by mentioning it several more times in the rest of your post. Is your post going to be productive, or is it just going to incite further division? I can think of examples on both sides of people that can greatly improve in the "don't be a dick" category, but talking about us/them, or left/right is a big reason we're where we are, and citing any example would only drag this thread own into the muck.

If you can't empathize with a human being that looks differently, votes differently, prays differently, or is attracted to people you aren't then that's the bigger issue regardless of where you or they fall on any of those spectrums.

STM317 said:

In reply to alfadriver :

You started out really well. Mentioning left/right was a problem. BUt hten you exacerbated it by mentioning it several more times in the rest of your post. Is your post going to be productive, or is it just going to incite further division? I can think of examples on both sides of people that can greatly improve in the "don't be a dick" category, but talking about us/them, or left/right is a big reason we're where we are, and citing any example would only drag this thread own into the muck.

If you can't empathize with a human being that looks differently, votes differently, prays differently, or is attracted to people you aren't then that's the bigger issue regardless of where you or they fall on any of those spectrums.

Thank you for saying this better than I could have.

In reply to STM317 :

sorry, man, but this whole bothsiderism needs to be called out.  Actual threats come consistently from one side.  I don’t want to be a dick, but when people are consistently dicks to people like my wife, I’m not sure how to take that.  

jharry3 said:

It is getting tough.  I have close relatives that have stopped speaking to me because we disagree on politics. 

And I make it a point to not argue with relatives about politics.   

To me family is more important than politics but emotions are running high these days, people assign labels and dehumanize those who think differently than themselves.   And this is across the spectrum of the left/right. 

Yep. My Faceyspace is flooded with dishonest political propaganda posted by my family and friends. Sometimes the fact that it is made of pure bullE36 M3 is painfully obvious to everyone but the individual who posted it. It pisses me off that my family and friends are having their beliefs manipulated to make them believe the lies and, worse, spread them and convince their friends that the lies are true. When I point these things out, they argue with me, then I get blocked. 

Alfadriver: "don't mention left/right"

Also Alfadriver: "It's time to call out those on the other side!"

How did this thread come to this so quickly?! It was so pure and good intentioned when it started just a few posts ago...In a thread about making a crappy world better for everyone, we couldn't go 10 posts before pointing fingers?

AngryCorvair said:

ShawnG said:

Be excellent to each other!

Exactly!

believe me, that’s not how I was raised.  but it’s how I choose to live now.  I don’t hang out with any of my neighbors, but they all know I’ll help them carry in their groceries or move furniture or edge sidewalks or teach their kid how to drive manual.  At the end of the day, I think that’s how we move the world forward.  

Ths right here! I was raised in a very hateful, racist, violent family. I don't live like I am in a convent now, but I sure do enjoy having a little acre lot with neighbors out of shouting distance. They often will stopy by if they see the garage doors open and know if they need help, I am there. 

STM317 said:

Alfadriver: "don't mention left/right"

Also Alfadriver: "It's time to call out those on the other side!"

 

How did this thread come to this so quickly?! It was so pure and good intentioned when it started just a few posts ago...

I think there is a range of acceptability, one bound of which has become too socially acceptable to breach in some places in recent years. If you're within the range we can respectfully disagree and be friends, if you're outside of it I'll think you're a monster who bleeds spiders.

Sometimes I want to take a DADT approach to the whole thing

I think we can agree to be nicer and more compassionate in real life. Things being what they are, this isn't the place to discuss it. Sorry about having to lock it and please feel free to message me if you want to talk about my decision.