[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

No one I know of on here desires ANYONE to be banned.

What is desired though, is for thread topics to be able to be debated/discussed without:

1) repeated attempts by SOME to deflect and derail the thread once it becomes clear that THEY are losing the argument.

Its not losing an argument though is it. When two people are up against a dozen who mock, clap and laugh at anything we say its more like losing the will to live.

2) repeated attempts by SOME to render further debate/discussion FUTILE by their use of Circular Argument because THEY know that they have no answers and are losing the debate/discussion.

Its funny how counter argument is often accused of being off topic or pointless waffle. There are plenty of answers coming from your opposition. Just because you don't agree doesn't make them 'no answers'!

3) repeated attempts by SOME to make false allegations within a post of being 'baited' or 'targeted' for the purposes of intimidating their opponents into silence and also convincing readers/Mods as a precursor to using the REPORT button purely because they KNOW that they are losing the debate/discussion.

I'd like to see you sit in my shoes for a day in here. Even when I write something positive and agreeable, people jump on me and pick holes in what I say. It feels like I'm surrounded by spit hating enemies. I've watched people like me on here stop posting or apologizing upfront before they post anything that may cause a reaction by a mob of posters. Sometimes its clearly a case of, if you can't beat em, join em.
I've had emails on here telling me certain people pm him and try and pester him to come and join in a thread to knock me back. Perhaps he's just a siht stirrer but whether its true or not, its an insidious style of bullying. And yes, I do feel bullied. Perhaps that's because as well as being sensitive towards other peoples misfortune, I'm also sensitive by nature. That doesn't make me a weak person, it just makes me someone who cares passionately about certain issues.

4) repeated attempts by SOME to stealthily 'raise the emotional temperature' of a debate/discussion by clever tactics to elicit 'heated responses' borne of frustration or retaliation. for the purposes of ultimately having a thread CLOSED because they KNOW that they are losing the debate/discussion.

Oh come on Kirk, you love a heated debate.
You keep saying 'losing' as though this is some sort of competition. Does there have to be a winner and a loser in a debate? How many people on here come up with long counter arguments? you do but you are one few, not many. If you want to make this a competition then allow for real counter argument and stop believing that the one liner brigade count in a debate.

As for your statement that minus you and Kizzy the rest of us would have no one to debate with and have very short threads where we all agreed, that is pure tosh.

There are a few people in here who want to get energetic with a post and want to put in their ten penneth worth. There are people in here who seem to thrive on anger and look for insult. This is why threads often go on page after page.

I only come on here because I'm politically minded and enjoy a debate but the debates on here of late have become so one sided because most of the Left no longer post. I'm only here because I'm stubborn and refuse to be chased out but I can't see that lasting. I'm finding it all a bit much. I left here last night feeling so frustrated. I woke up last night thinking about some of the things some people on here are saying and I lay there feeling thoroughly deflated. This isn't a healthy environment for people like me who sit to the Left so I doubt I'll be around on here much longer.

NONE of us agrees on every subject and short honest debates where NONE of the above unfair tactics has been employed would be far, far more satisfactory than the longest thread where they are.

See, there you go, accusing us of tosh. Apart from when I'm replying to flippant troll like posts, I give time and thought to my responses. Just as you have knowledge from your sources, I have knowledge from mine. I am staunchly anti-racist. I'm passionate about human rights and I believe May and her government are dreadful. Those are the things that I talk about, debate, try and reason with.

After re-reading what I've just written, the realization that this place is, on an emotional level, a very unhealthy place for me to express any opinion. I've just sold a painting. We've just bought a new home and I've just had a promotion at work but I'm on here getting frustrated and depressed. I think its time I went off and enjoyed the fruits of my labor.