NationStates Jolt Archive

Over time I have noticed the board has taken a route of rather mean spirited arguments.

I won't call it debate simply because it seems more about "one upping" the other rather then defending or defeating an issue.

The US is rather polarized these days. Well it has been since the shrub was elected.

I am told Great Britain is as well.

Maybe that is some of the problem. Frustration with a place to vent it. Simply a reflection of society at the moment?

Maybe the general is simply a place where the unhappy come to vent. The immature to take shots at others from the protection of anonymity of the Net.

I see people are leaving simply because they are tired of it. It's a problem when leaving this site with a lower mood then when you logged in.

A place like this should be a place to hang out and chat with interesting people and debate a little. Find out what people think about things across the world. Maybe learn a thing or two. Clear a misconception.....

If people are concerned about things now, how is the mood going to be as the elections happen next year? It's going to increase the polarization. The antics of the shrub will add to it.

It would almost be interesting to compare mod bannings and punishment from the shrubs last election to what will happen next year.

Hopefully, this is a phase in the contorting life of the general.

If not, why not take a breath or two before responding. Most people would probably get along in real life. At least in my Pollyanna view of things I think they would.

I have not decided to bail.

Enough with the "awww damn its!"

Well I won't till my master LG bails. ;)

Now back to our regularly scheduled endless debate and insults.

It will swing. I'm staying. I thought about leaving last summer when it died down (I'm not one for debates), but it's still NSG at heart.

Patience, grasshopper.

EDIT: Also, F1r57 p057!!!

it's a trend alot has notice. gone are the debates and now there are more name callings. Some say it's because they're tired of fighting the same old battles with new players.

dunno and don't think that a new US president will change things here. people will still come to lay blame on someone else.

I won't quit this place tho. it's an interesting study on differeing views and opinions and the reactions of all those who encounter that which is new and different.

NSG has always been one giant pissing contest between the liberals and conservatives. It's just more obvious when there are no shades of grey.

it's a trend alot has notice. gone are the debates and now there are more name callings. Some say it's because they're tired of fighting the same old battles with new players.

dunno and don't think that a new US president will change things here. people will still come to lay blame on someone else.

I won't quit this place tho. it's an interesting study on differeing views and opinions and the reactions of all those who encounter that which is new and different.


I am staying for the same reason you are. I find it interesting also. I think as you pointed out the major issue is people get bored discussing the same issues over and over again. That is probably the biggest reason why people leave.

BTW about to take a long trip to Hawaii (6 mo.) Going to join the very few NSr's from Paradise.

I blame the trolls.
That and, in some places in the US, the heat might be getting to some people.

But mainly the trolls.
FAG in paticular.

I am staying for the same reason you are. I find it interesting also. I think as you pointed out the major issue is people get bored discussing the same issues over and over again. That is probably the biggest reason why people leave.

BTW about to take a long trip to Hawaii (6 mo.) Going to join the very few NSr's from Paradise.

I'm staying because the general forum is hilarious. I mean, let's face it, free cock fights. Who wouldn't want to watch?

And TLA, I'd be careful singling out individual players like that. Some might get antsy.

I don't think so, this is more like a colony of mind altering experimental drugs test subjects.

I love the whole thing about us being more polarized than ever as a country - debates and campaigns are the most sanitized they've ever been. :p We've had some close elections recently, which has caused a lot of resentment on the left, but we're no more polarized than in the recent past, and probably far *less* so than in the 1960s, for example. ;)

I blame the trolls.
That and, in some places in the US, the heat might be getting to some people.

But mainly the trolls.
FAG in paticular.

I'd think the trolls would be a good thing - giving everyone something to uniformly disagree with and all. :p In my experience, a good Nazi or religious nut or communist is always helpful in uniting people. ;)

Given my hypothesis that General is made up of about 20 people with, on average, 10 puppets each - making 200 nations - what we're actually seeing is a case of multiple personality disorder being played out on a public forum.

I've wondered if a poster has seen something they disagreed with, written an angry riposte without checking who wrote it, only to remember that the original opinion was their own puppet.

There may be another, perhaps, 50 people who have just one nation to add some variety and provide some semblance of normality.

So is General a reflection of the wider world - yes, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world we live in.

Over time I have noticed the board has taken a route of rather mean spirited arguments.

I won't call it debate simply because it seems more about "one upping" the other rather then defending or defeating an issue.

The US is rather polarized these days. Well it has been since the shrub was elected.

I am told Great Britain is as well.

Australia is as well. We all got into a war, and no matter how we dismiss it as "politics by other means" ... "truth is the first casualty of war."

Notice how we haven't debated the war recently? It's lose/lose, no-one wants a part of either side!

Yeah, war has been going for three years. Not just that.

Maybe that is some of the problem. Frustration with a place to vent it. Simply a reflection of society at the moment?

Maybe the general is simply a place where the unhappy come to vent. The immature to take shots at others from the protection of anonymity of the Net.

I see people are leaving simply because they are tired of it. It's a problem when leaving this site with a lower mood then when you logged in.

I don't know. I see a lot of ego-posters whose ill-thought out opinions once won plaudits, giving up in the face of a bit of "trolling." If they can't win every time, don't have the guts to fight it out, and essentially just want smarter people to tell them they're right, they go down like ninepins.

"Leaving the site with a lower mood than when you logged in" is a sign of reality. Do what you think best, think as well as you can, read ten times what you post, and bloody well work at it. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.

When you win, you win big ... and if that doesn't console you for the occasional bummer when you can't seem to make yourself understood, or your personal insight is steamrollered by doctrine, or you are barking up the wrong tree ... then toughen up.

"Grow a skin" in other words.

A place like this should be a place to hang out and chat with interesting people and debate a little. Find out what people think about things across the world. Maybe learn a thing or two. Clear a misconception.....

If people are concerned about things now, how is the mood going to be as the elections happen next year? It's going to increase the polarization. The antics of the shrub will add to it.

We could just ban any IP from the States? Yeah, it's going to be rhetorical pollution from there, I agree.

It would almost be interesting to compare mod bannings and punishment from the shrubs last election to what will happen next year.

So do it.

Hopefully, this is a phase in the contorting life of the general.

If not, why not take a breath or two before responding. Most people would probably get along in real life. At least in my Pollyanna view of things I think they would.

I agree with "take a breath." But I'm pretty certain I'm getting along with people here who I wouldn't share a bus with in real life.


I have not decided to bail.

Enough with the "awww damn its!"

Well I won't till my master LG bails. ;)

Now back to our regularly scheduled endless debate and insults.

LG has been disturbingly serious lately. Perhaps it's the little Goofball, or perhaps ... NO! Perish the thought!

I think anyone who bails now is going to be crawling back, tail between their legs, in just a few weeks.

Hooray for trolls! If we haven't got the wit to beat "the Pope is infallible" or "Nixon needed more autonomy" then what the hell are we doing talking about politics, religion and other contentious issues? What is this place, a sheltered workshop for retarded politicians?

NSG isn't just a club of mutual admiration. Probably never was.

Yay for the new NSG. The best analysis of the thread dillemma wins, not the first to quote a relevant Simpsons episode.

There may be another, perhaps, 50 people who have just one nation to add some variety and provide some semblance of normality.

Me... semblance of normality? :confused:

Me... semblance of normality? :confused:

Note 'semblance' :)

Given my hypothesis that General is made up of about 20 people with, on average, 10 puppets each - making 200 nations - what we're actually seeing is a case of multiple personality disorder being played out on a public forum.

I've wondered if a poster has seen something they disagreed with, written an angry riposte without checking who wrote it, only to remember that the original opinion was their own puppet.

There may be another, perhaps, 50 people who have just one nation to add some variety and provide some semblance of normality.

So is General a reflection of the wider world - yes, it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world we live in.

And the proprietor of the bread shop is in fact my deceased great-aunt, who taught me to knit. The cop and the grafitti-kid and the weather-girl on the TV are all the same person. Everybody else is Drunk Commies.

It does make a certain kind of sense. I tried puppetting, to escape my arrogant name, but it didn't appeal to me. I'd rather live with all the mistakes I've made, it's like a proof of good intentions I think.

LG has been disturbingly serious lately. Perhaps it's the little Goofball, or perhaps ... NO! Perish the thought!

*pushes you into a vat of pudding*

I don't know if it's due to the fact that my time here is much more limited, or if my wife's almost paranoid discretion is rubbing off on me, but I've noticed that I don't share as many of my silly real life antics as I used to. Rest assured, I still play in mud(as recently as last week) and engage in other assorted mischief. Maybe after the summer I'll have more free time to share stories.

Mmm, warm pudding! It's sticky! It's got plums and walnuts in it! Yum!

Some things never go out of fashion. :)