intolerance...

Hmmm... Sometimes I really wonder about people, especially bloggers.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm not addicted to any particular political party since there is no party which matches my evolving personal philosophy. I'm fiscally conservative (small government, limited intervention, hate the nanny state), I believe strongly in personal rights and personal responsibilities but I am socially tolerant. I don't use the word 'progressive' because it has been hijacked by a political movement who seem determined to destroy society but that's a whole other subject.

Anyway, before I lose focus, I enjoy reading about and discussing politics but I also like reading and discussing other subjects as well... a wide range of subjects, in fact, but I've always like philosophy.

I read a thread on a blog which posed three moral conundrums, each with simple choice answers. A couple of people had written their answers and justifications thereof. I decided to post my opinion. The blogger challenged my opinion and we exchanged a couple of posts. I found some of the notions offered interesting but some didn't make sense to me so I said as much. Long story short, the blogger posted a rather rambling diatribe, suggesting I was putting words into the blogger's mouth and if I didn't like what I found, the blogger would prefer that I didn't come around.

I re-read my posts and the replies. Nope, I wasn't rude or offensive... but it certainly appeared this individual was intolerant of anyone disagreeing and there was emotional investment in the points which the blogger made so by disagreeing or dismissing those arguments, I was offending the individual. Being a good Canadian, I apologized and I suspect I won't bother going to that blog again. I didn't offend intentionally but that point is moot, I suppose.

Think got me thinking about intolerance. If there's one thing I can't stand it's intolerance. Yes, I appreciate the irony in that statement; it was written in good humour.

People in general and bloggers in particular seem to have a predisposition to be intolerant of anything/anyone they don't agree with or understand. At several blogs which I visit, it's not unusual for bloggers to make outrageously insulting replies and to engage in personal attacks. I don't generally engage in such activities. I'm no angel and I'm not above telling someone what I think of their idea(s) but I generally try to concentrate on the concept, not the person.

Blogging, with it's relative anonymity, tends to bring out the worst in people. Bulletin boards, forums and internet chat rooms are likewise afflicted. Keyboard tigers abound. Since this is still a relatively "new" form of communication and the generally harsh and subjective medium, it's natural to see some growing pains, I suppose. Emoticons give some graphic means of expressing non-verbal 'clues' but they're not always available.

I can't relate how tired I am of reading blogger bemoaning the lack of discussion or debate when they're completely intolerant of either discussion or debate. Then there's the all-knowing trolls who mock and deride the efforts of others to try to articulate their thoughts. Then there's the "chirpers" who chirp in a snarky comment and then disappear.

So what can one do or so to the intolerant to cause them to reassess their behaviour? I don't think there is a right answer. If I ever figure one out, I shall bottle the results and sell it.

As bloggers mature (eternal optimist) hopefully the level of communication will improve.

-Mac

how do bloggers do it?

How do bloggers do it? No, not THAT "it"... get your minds out of the gutter... and besides, bloggers love their computers which means... oh, never mind...

How do bloggers manage to create new posts daily? Some cheat by grabbing a headline and a link, adding a couple of pithy comments and leave it at that... but some bloggers write volumes of opinions, thoughts, analysis, you name it... every day!

Some of them, I suppose, don't have kids, spouses, mortgages, full-time jobs, overtime, on-call time, you name it... all the encumbrances of a modern life. Some of them do and yet, they manage to crank out stuff. Sometimes good stuff; sometimes not so good but the point is... they're producing.

I suppose, in a way, a blog is like a journal or diary. One of my great-uncles was an author. I can barely remember him but he wrote daily, usually in his journal, sometimes for the newspaper and he had a couple of books. For some reason, I have the impression that my mother didn't like him. Certainly, he and my great-aunt (the blood relative) didn't visit at our home. One of these days, I'll have to ask about that. Getting answers from Mom isn't always easy... Once I'm done here, I'm going to go see what I can dig up about him on the Net as I just realized I don't even know what kind of books he wrote; fiction or nonfiction or ??

Perhaps I'm just too fussy. Sometimes, I write and rewrite, don't like the result, dump it into a file and forget about it. Other times (like now) I just write off the cuff.... but I don't make entries daily (as you can tell) and most aren't long.

My motivation for starting blogging was a bit obscure. During the 2004 election, I saw references to blogging, both in print and regular MSM and on new aggregators. I read and lurked for a while and I used to occasionally post remarks on a variety of blogs. Then a blogger who I often read and occasionally posts on changed his settings so non-registered bloggers couldn't comment. I didn't realize there was a difference between registering and starting a blog so I did both at the same time. Suddenly, I was a blogger... the world's slowest and inconsistent blogger but there I was, nevertheless.

Hmmmm, now I'm going to go search up my great-uncle's name. I hope he didn't write under a pseudonym.

Goodbye 2006... Hello 2007!!

The world staggered out of 2006 like a drunken sailor leaving the seaside tavern. It'll be interesting to see where we end up in 2007.

In the dying days of 2006, Saddam gets hanged, surrounded by a gaggle of howling witnesses who managed to make Saddam look dignified (neat trick, that) but at least there's one less Ba'athist on the planet. Europe's leaders all clucked their tongues in dismay over the use of the capitol punishment. After all, it's not like Saddam killed thousands of Kurds or anything, right?

Kofi Annan uses his last speech as the Chief Crook of the UN to slam his hosts (yet again) while questions swirl around why Kofi had family members living in subsidized houses in New York. Ahhh, the joy of having diplomatic immunity!! I wonder if the world will ever learn just how deep Kofi's hands were into Saddam's pockets? Let's hope Ban does a better job than Kofi although it's hard to imagine he could do a worse job.

The new year brings hope... Will 2007 improve the plight of mankind? Will socialism finally be declared a mental illness and, if so, will someone invent an effective treatment? Will the Mainstream Media start reporting unbiased news reports? Will all the screaming enviro-activists suddenly realize that climate change is a naturally occurring process which happens independently of mankind's minor impacts on the planet and start concentrating their energies on something useful like reducing pollution, controlling world population, stopping the destruction of the rainforests?

Yeah, I know... too much to ask...