JerryArkansas has become one of the nastiest and most ignorant posters on this site, and that is no small feat over the past several months.
His political views are not as inherently toxic as those of many others here, but anyone who defends his brand of aggressive belligerence has some things to learn about how people get along with one another.
Of course it has become fashionable to bash politeness in certain political circles - whether politeness is dismissed as a form of political correctness, or privilege, or bourgeois values, or whatever - but how many of you would want to invite someone who behaves like Jerry to a party?
It's as if we've forgotten the idea that it's possible to be both highly political, even radical, while also being charming and charismatic. Never mind any notions that we have things to learn from each other.
You can't build a functioning community without norms governing acceptable behavior that allow people to feel comfortable most of the time. Almost everyone gets cranky or loses their temper, but it's quite another thing for it to be a constant din. Particularly when that begins to mix with an illiberal enthusiasm for street brawling and political violence.
The most that we can hope is that bitter and vicious posters like Jerry, Hagrid, or Alice are only using this site for drunken venting and nothing more. Maybe they're all pleasant and tolerant people in their personal lives. God knows, no adult could function from day-to-day treating people as they do here.
Bitterness tends to come a lot more naturally when you're alienated from a society that doesn't care about you.
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