Sylvarius wrote:
Slamlander, perpetuating a shitty situation does nothing to help correct it. Yes, perhaps debate is won by whoever presents the illusion of victory, but as soon as you allow that to be enough for yourself you become part of a much wider problem. Realize that it means victory to the common man, but please have enough respect for yourself to call bullshit on a fallacious argument when you see it. If you permit the person who submitted such an argument into a discussion to convince you that they have won I do not believe that you honestly have to right to believe that any of your subsequent opinions on a topic bear any relevance whatsoever. We're nothing more than savages if our response to conflict is to bash someone in the face until they shut the hell up, and verbal conflicts must be handled is the same manner to uphold any pretext of civility. Yes, the world may be fucked up and uncivil, but accepting that fact really isn't going to help anyone, and we've seen the world change because of just one person, or a handful or people, in our lifetime. Things aren't always as they appear.
... a lot of other shit not pertinent to me.
1) Your first instinct, to use PMs was probably the best.
2) Yes, your view is naive. It is simply not the way the world works. I once believed just like you, I got gang raped by the world at large. You need to see the world for what it is before you can change it. Pollyanna doesn't live here any more.
3) Those were my observations of the world, as it presents itself to me. How I react to that evidence is different.
4) Having your party hi-jacked by Buchanan and his religious right whackoids tends to make you a bit cynical. Then having an incompetent like Bush, and his whole anti-constitutional crew, use those same whackoids to violate your most sacred document (Constitution) repeatedly, under the most tenuous of false arguments (and watching the dumbshit American voter fall for it) can drive you there further. Then having your President win the argument against Iraq by lie, cheat, and steal. You tell me that my observations are false, I dare you, I dare anyone here or anywhere else.
5) I will still avoid those noxious tactics, unless I have no choice. I do indeed have my personal honor.
6) Lastly sonny, unless you have walked some serious distance in my shoes, you have no right to judge me. Don't take that as me being condecending, it isn't. However, I have about 30 years, The Viet Nam war, a kid older than you, two ex-wives, and a current girlfriend on you.