They don’t, but they make the wrong (which is really more a counterreaction than a "wrong") that follows the first wrong a lot more understandable.
Understandable? Yes. Helpful? No, quite the contrary, since it then means that a third party is often "wronged" even though they had nothing to do with the original "wrong", and the cycle continues. For it to end, someone has to decide it's not worth it to punch back. If everyone decides that it's not their responsibility to care about others, we all suffer.
Less so there than on boards like U.S. General Discussion, but I and most other Republican/conservative-leaning posters definitely recall things very differently. It’s funny how differently we can "recall" things based on our partisan/ideological preferences, isn’t it?
I recall threads being started about something Trump or another Republican said, and while that can certainly be criticized, it's different from a non-sequitur.
No, they aren’t? In fact, some of them are some of the most "respected" forum members. It’s not just red avatars, by the way — there are "green" and Socialist avatars have been more unpleasant and combative than even most partisan red avatars, and yes, I’m not oblivious to confrontational right-of-center posters either. I also don’t want to lump all liberals (I prefer that term to "red avatars") together, but the problem is that the minority of extremely aggressive/combative posters is a large and very vocal one that thinks it can get away with anything because it is part of the majority and ~80% of moderators are Democrats.
Many red avatars who are very hackish and rude to anyone who disagrees with them are very lowly regarded here, and their "opinion of" polls back that up. Perhaps they get a 25-30% FF rating instead of a 10-15% rating, though that still means a very large number of left-leaning posters disapprove of them. Can you name any aforementioned posters who are "some of the most respected members"? Yes, the toxic environment has rubbed off on posters of all ideological persuasions, though that just illustrates the problem of the "if they can be jerks, so can I" line of thinking.
Yes, but the problem is that "collectively holding them to a higher standard" never materializes. One good first step (that would probably also do most of the work) would be to create a more civil atmosphere in which personal attacks, grudges, personality cults, etc. (e.g. "Opinion of user xyz?" threads or general references to other posters) are discouraged or disallowed, but there is absolutely no indication that the majority of forum moderators has any interest in doing that.
I normally don’t insert myself in these personal fights/attacks, especially since (a) it’s largely a waste of time and (b) it’s useful fodder for certain moderators who have always held a grudge against you and are desperately looking for reasons to ban you, but again - it always helps imagining yourself in the shoes of the other side while browsing this forum and posting something. You’ve been here for years, so you really shouldn’t be surprised by the reactions of the more right-leaning posters.
It never materializes because, as I said, the majority believe that it should be someone else's responsibility. I actually mostly agree that "opinion of" threads do more harm than good in general, thus why the only ones I've started have been about users of which I have a high opinion. I think that criticizing one's posting style (while making it clear that it's not necessarily a reflection of them as a person) is fine, though that distinction can be very hard for some. I think that creating a less toxic environment is challenging because, in some ways, it goes against our very nature, which is to focus on negatives and recognize potential threats. It takes conscious effort on everyone's part to try and make any community more positive and to see the best in others while forgiving their mistakes.
I'm not
surprised by the number of right-leaning posters who have gotten more aggressive, nor do I think it's coming out of nowhere, but that doesn't mean it isn't disappointing, particularly when they go after left-leaning posters who did not personally attack them. Empathy has to be mutual. The anger and aggression of many left-leaning posters here have is also a response either to the political reality, or attacks that they've faced elsewhere. That doesn't mean that lashing out at all right-wingers is going to help.
