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Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The title is misleading and deliberately inflammatory and (from the content of the first post) it's obvious that the thread was posted because you read it and it confirmed your already-held beliefs about the situation... that is confirmation bias. The accuracy of the reporting doesn't actually matter as much as the reason for posting it. That's what I mean by the majority of the threads being posted in that mode; "I've been telling you this for ages and here is some more evidence of what I was already saying!". There are a tonne of these threads. As for the discussion that follows? Nothing new to see. Same people reiterating the same opinions they've had on every other thread with a vaguely similar topic (there are dozens). Not one vague attempt at altering or expanding opinions based on the discussion. There is no debate.

Or rather, the threads operate more like political Trump vs Clinton, Labour vs Tory, "debates" rather than academic debates - i.e. people seem to believe that the point of the debate is simply to present their own argument, which they believe 100% and unshakably, in such a way that "the audience" will be swayed by their immense proof and skillful oratory. Except that there is no audience, and as such, it's a complete waste of time. Anyone who is on here "debating" who feels that they have no capacity for altering their opinion in any way is wasting their time, and that currently - quite simply - applies to the majority of threads.

It DOES make me sad because I honestly don't think it has always been so static and stale. Even to use us an example; in our early days there were CONSTANT arguments that would stem from simply misunderstanding each other completely, something that I don't think has happened for a long time. There used to be plenty of compromise and thoughtfulness alongside the bickering name-calling... those things are not the problem. It's how self-assured everyone has become, and how quickly threads descend into back-patting and circlejerking.

This is IT in a nutshell, IMO.
I used to love reading in here although I just don't have the inclination to post very often so maybe my opinion won't be welcome, but.... now it's often 'here's another incident that proves my opinion is the correct one'. Is there really any point wanting a 'debate' about 2 bad eggs in an immigrant camp carrying out some criminal activity? All those similar stories have been 'debated' with nothing new being said...and anyone could search the news and find stories of bad eggs carrying out criminal activity who are not immigrants in immigrant camps....lets have all those stories....

Is it really surprising or 'debate worthy' anyway when people thrown together in a camp, far from home, with growing tensions and uncertainty a way of life for them commit more crime than is normal than they would if living in a settled and familiar society?