Man this shit will be a great example of the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

TWWers decide to unilaterally disengage while a horde of raving wildmen relentlessly press their assault

6/22/2010 9:05:29 PM

You would rather be uncivil, Solinari?

6/22/2010 9:08:21 PM

hey, fuck you, Optimum. you are a jerk!

6/22/2010 9:08:55 PM

^^ Just think about what Yasser Arafat would do. He will be my role model as I decide how to participate in your peace negotiation.

6/22/2010 9:09:55 PM

If that's what you're taking away from this, then you're missing the point.

6/22/2010 9:11:48 PM

infidel oppressor. stop trying to dominate me with your culture of courtesy. we have our own ways here and don't appreciate an interloper like you on our board.

6/22/2010 9:13:35 PM

If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen.

There was never a Golden Age of TSB. There has always been name calling during heated arguments. Similarly, there have always been people getting butthurt and starting threads about how its "not as civil as it used to be".

6/22/2010 9:15:35 PM

There's no reason we can't raise the quality of the discourse. Simply reducing or eliminating the caustic personal insults isn't something that requires much effort, beyond a little self-control.

6/22/2010 9:18:23 PM

tell that to the palestinians

6/22/2010 9:18:58 PM

This thread is not about the Middle East.

6/22/2010 9:21:57 PM

its about unilateral withdrawal from an armed conflict

an effort which perpetually ends in failure

so excuse me if I got confused

6/22/2010 9:28:37 PM

Will it end in failure because you refuse to give up personally insulting people to make your points?

6/22/2010 9:31:27 PM

yes, similar to the reason why the middle east peace process always fails because palestinians have no intent to ever give up their assaults

6/22/2010 9:34:52 PM

did i mention yet how the premise of this thread is a microcosm of liberalism

sounds great and would be great in a perfect world, but infeasible in the real world

6/22/2010 9:36:53 PM

^ sounds like libertarianism.

They both have "liber-" in their names too

6/22/2010 9:39:03 PM

^^^ Again, this thread is not about the Middle East. We're talking about personal conduct. There are other threads for discussing the Middle East if you want to talk about that, instead.

6/22/2010 9:45:34 PM

I'm merely using the middle east to point out why your idea is doomed to failure.

[Edited on June 22, 2010 at 9:46 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2010 9:46:25 PM

Why don't we call it the vietnamization of the soap box conflict? It will lead us to peace, but peace with honor.

6/22/2010 9:48:10 PM

Do you want TSB to remain personal and caustic? The invective being spat out in many of these threads isn't necessary to make any point.

6/22/2010 9:50:02 PM

The rockets being fired from Gaza into Israeli homes is not necessary either but they keep firing away don't they

6/22/2010 9:51:16 PM

The thread isn't about the Middle East. You can speak and account for yourself; you don't need a metaphor to do it for you.

6/22/2010 9:53:01 PM

Don't try to oppress me with your western notions of personal responsibility. YOU are to blame for my actions!

6/22/2010 9:54:29 PM

My point is being made, thank you.

6/22/2010 9:56:10 PM

so lets say this thing gets adopted by TSB

how long will it last?

i say...2 days...maybe

6/22/2010 10:04:15 PM

What's wrong with trying it for those two days?

6/22/2010 10:05:20 PM

lol, it will be like a cease-fire before hamas starts shitting itself again

6/22/2010 10:11:16 PM

You're saying that you'd prefer not to even try.

6/22/2010 10:12:05 PM

I'll try next time the palestinians give an honest effort to bring about peace.

6/22/2010 10:13:01 PM

Again, can you not speak for yourself? You're referring to this metaphor over and over, but it doesn't address what you personally can choose to do or not do.

That said, you've not insulted anyone personally in this thread for a little while, so you've proved the point that it's possible to discuss without deliberately insulting the other person.

6/22/2010 10:16:07 PM

This thread reminds me of the Powerball lottery

6/22/2010 10:18:05 PM

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Optimum
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Mr. Joshua
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6/22/2010 10:26:05 PM

I think the point is that someone will eventually use a personal attack, the other person will respond similarly, and the cycle restarts. If you have a good argument, there's really no need to attack someone...it just makes it look like you're losing the debate. Accept that there will be some ad hominem arguments made, and don't dignify them with a response. It's not like you're going to purge TWW of incivility once and for all.

6/22/2010 10:26:27 PM

Quote :

"It's not like you're going to purge TWW of incivility once and for all."

6/22/2010 10:28:24 PM

^^ I understand that, and I don't suggest that it would ever be entirely gone. But if you look around in TSB, too many threads wind up with at least some measure of personal attacks. Your point about it cheapening the discussion is exactly why I started this thread. Being personally insulted takes away any joy in posting here. And before someone decides to bite my head off about that statement, stop for a minute and think about why it's true.

6/22/2010 10:32:28 PM

Quote :

"Being personally insulted takes away any joy in posting here."

not gonna bite your head off, just gonna roflmao

6/22/2010 10:35:44 PM

Please take note that I'm referring to TSB. Continue to carry on in Chit Chit.

6/22/2010 10:36:52 PM

look, you might do something one day that changes the world Optimum, but you're not gonna do anything to singlehandedly change The Soap Box

6/22/2010 10:38:00 PM

calling someone an anti-semite is not an attack nor do I mean it as an attack. It is a statement of fact.

I don't really throw out the personal insults that often. I've done it some, but its not a frequently used tactic.

6/22/2010 10:38:07 PM

^^ Like I said before, it doesn't take any real effort for people to back off just a little. All I'm suggesting is that we try.

6/22/2010 10:40:07 PM

^Anti-semite. Only a jew-hater would want an unsustainable peace in the soapbox.

6/22/2010 11:32:14 PM

Quote :

"calling someone an anti-semite is not an attack nor do I mean it as an attack. It is a statement of fact"

No. We see right through that bullshit.
I would love nothing but your swift arrest and prosecution for defamation.
(I'm 100% serious. Your libel will get you in trouble one day. I highly recommend you stop.)

6/22/2010 11:44:08 PM

Very libertarian of you.

6/22/2010 11:47:33 PM

lol, when someone calls for the evacuation of jews from israel, I'm gonna call them an anti-semite.

you can go cry about it all you want, but I suggest that a more effective means of handling the situation is to avoid posting antisemitic comments

6/22/2010 11:48:08 PM

^ that's not necessarily anti-semitic.

Just like supporting Az's xenophobic laws isn't necessarily racist.

6/22/2010 11:50:55 PM

Quote :

"Very libertarian of you."

Uh, yeah.

Quote :

"The right to property: libertarians support legislation that protects the property rights of individuals against confiscation, nationalization, eminent domain, robbery, trespass, fraud and misrepresentation, patent and copyright, libel and slander."

(I bet you heard some libertarian suggesting that anti-defamation laws were contrary to free speech -- and since you love to hate libertarians, you decided to believe that all libertarians see it that way. )

Of course, if Solinari truly believes whomever he calls an anti-semite actually is, then it's not defamation.

6/23/2010 12:29:21 AM

I think the SB attracts many passionate people who are really interested in what's going on today.

I've enjoyed sparring with those who disagree with me. There are some really clever people here.
I could do with fewer personal insults flying back n forth, but you don't want things to get too tame.

6/23/2010 12:49:08 AM

^^ haha

Rothbard would disagree with Hospers. I guess Rothbard must be the "fake" libertarian then, right?

6/23/2010 12:50:31 AM

Yeah, all libertarians are Rothbardians.

6/23/2010 8:49:37 AM

This morning's first example:

Quote :

"You're a fucking joke."

6/23/2010 9:33:28 AM

6/23/2010 9:53:00 AM