Quote:The ugliness, animosity and self righteousness here really sticks in my throat. Being here, somewhere I've considered home for so long, with people I don't just consider friends but my family.. isn't somewhere I want to be anymore. I can't tell you how that is hurting me.
It appears that Helen is not alone in her thoughts. All one has to do is look around, think back a few years and count those that for what ever reason aren't here any more. No goodbye posts, no deleted profiles, no nothing.......just gone.
KevinM writes: Quote:In a more detached frame, the political threads can be amusing.
True. But those political threads can also set the tone of what's acceptable and what's not. Those threads also tend to inflame passions that spill over to other areas.....
BobP writes: Quote:Been a dynamic of the board for a long time.
True. A dynamic that's been both ignored by many and exploited by a few for their own personal enjoyment or agendas.
Mosaicwench writes: Quote:There is a reason that the good, smart, compassionate voices of Clusterville go silent occasionally.
It's not temperament or exhaustion or ambivalence. It's the unmitigated ugliness that takes over from time to time. It's damn near impossible to keep that ugliness from leaking into ones own consciousness.
Well said.....a good explanation of what many feel.
I wrote back in February of this year: Quote:Win at all costs, damn the casualties. Bludgeon the innocent along with the guilty.
No need for professionalism, class, tact, or any other civil notions. Save face at all costs. Say what you will, true or not. Insult, embarrass, and intimidate. He who shouts the loudest wins. Whatever it takes. After all, it's only the internet.....there is not a human being on the other end, it's just words on a screen. If people get mad or hurt along the way, that's their problem, right?
Isn't that how we roll around here?
While full of sarcasm, I think most will get the point.
I won't beg someone to stay, that feels they need to go. I stayed one time when I should have left and it damn near drove me nuts. Why didn't I leave then? I felt an obligation to help the newbies and the good people here that keep the lights on even when they really might not feel like it. This place has saved many lives...it can save many more. It saved mine........that's why I stay.
Bill