The exodus of the blue avatars

[satsuma]

It's hard to have a truly open forum that doesn't evolve towards some sort of loose consensus. People start to get a feel for what the average member likes and dislikes. People who would have otherwise posted there think, "Well, if that's the sort of person who uses this forum, maybe it's not for me."

It's just a natural thing to be annoyed when encountering disagreement. Debate is interesting and useful. People get something out of it, but it's not for everyone, and of course it's more stressful than sitting around agreeing with your friends.

The perceived quality of an opponent's rhetoric is lower than that of your allies. We essentially downgrade our opinion of people who often disagree with us. I do use some chats that lean left, but I would be pretty annoyed if these were not people I respect, consider intelligent, and/or have areas of agreement with.

Personally, I've never been a regular on this forum. I'll continue using it sometimes, for some purposes, but I'm not an election fanatic. I like playing around with maps sometimes. Since I don't really enjoy debates and I'm not a "classic conservative" who agrees with everything on Fox News, I don't feel obligated to use the more partisan sections of this forum. I change my mind when I learn new things, but "Republicans misbehaving, take 400" isn't very interesting. It's just a rehash of the mainstream news.

[satsuma]

Thing is.. white people FEAR black people more than other minorities. Should they? Absolutely not. When I lived in St. Louis, did I avoid black areas? Absolutely not. But I know most whites fear blacks, which contributes to their lower economic success.

No longer can I assume the right wing is less violent. While I do not carry a gun, I do carry less lethal weapons when I venture out into the wilderness as I am deathly afraid a conservative will try to attack me.

Friendo...

[satsuma]

Thing is.. white people FEAR black people more than other minorities. Should they? Absolutely not. When I lived in St. Louis, did I avoid black areas? Absolutely not. But I know most whites fear blacks, which contributes to their lower economic success.

No longer can I assume the right wing is less violent. While I do not carry a gun, I do carry less lethal weapons when I venture out into the wilderness as I am deathly afraid a conservative will try to attack me.

Friendo...

Black people need to be protected. I grew up in St. Louis as a young kid, but what became completely apparent when I lived there as a cameo appearance as an adult is that people are people.

Whites fear blacks which creates a mutual distrust.

I view blacks as a group that needs protection from oppression.

Hanging around bad neighborhoods is like driving my car. It can realistically risk my life if I did it all day non-stop my entire life, but of course I'm almost certain to survive any given attempt. I just saw it as ironic that you're stating almost simultaneously that you have a fear of being attacked by a conservative in the wilderness.