I don't know if you are still lurking here or not but to respond. You might find this patronizing but I think expecting Clutchfans D&D to be able to make any sort of change in macroeconomic policy is very naive. Change has to start from somewhere and the most direct change that can be made is through local level actions. As you know our system is a Republic and even Presidential elections are decided through several local level elections. Paul Wellstone's mantra was "Organize Organize Organize!" and what he meant wasn't massive national campaigns but focus on the local level and build from the ground up. If you are looking to effect change short of having a ton of money to run a national advertizing campaign that is the way to do things.
I'm not sure this is true - they are certainly obsessed with wireless devices, but it also connects them far more to the whole world. I think each generation is more and more interested in travel and "seeing the world". The world is also far more accessible today than 30 or 50 years ago.
We agree about something, judo!! As for Sweet Lou 4 2, my guess is that we haven't seen the last of him in D&D. Might take months, it might be a couple of years, but he won't be able to stay away. Just wait until the 2016 elections. The cat will be foaming at the mouth to post down here. If nothing else, he'll show up someday under a different moniker, and we can have fun figuring out that it's him. ;-)- (it's happened before!)
No dispute here. To reinforce my original reply, there's a shift towards the digital space that's disconnecting people with others around them. You're not forced to spend downtime with your obnoxious coworker anymore, so that coworker stays obnoxious, and you're both allowed face to retreat into your bubble while operating at nothing more than a professional level. As for seeing the world, I wonder how long the duration qualifies as a rich experience. I don't think a typical 2 week vacation can satisfy the requirement of stretching out your cultural perceptions and it's totally hampered with the presence of internet communication for you to publish and post your personal product. As much as people whine and moan about the D&D, even the regulars who complain or meltdown the worst always come back in some shape or form. This might be the ass of Clutchfans, but it stinks less than other political forums like it.
I give Sweet Lou a lot of credit. He started out here as a troll but was man enough to outgrow that persona and post honestly.
No next forum. Not expecting Clutchfans to be organizing point for anything. Am working on a few other projects, was seeing if anyone was interested in getting involved on exploring ideas. Figured it was better to be open minded. Acting locally is important. It's more important to leverage the skills one has though. My skills are in media. I think i should stick to that area, and that's what I will do. Issue isn't political - you are right. After much thinking and investigating, issue is awareness of how macroeconmics work. For a society that believes in capitalism, the average citizen knows very little about how it functions optimally. It's very well understood by the FED, but the fact that people demonize the Fed is pretty mind-boggling when you think about it. I am not sure you've seen the last of me. Whenever you see a new user you'll always have to wonder. Heck, you have to wonder now how many of these posters are really me. You better put that thinking cap on now! You were one of my favorite posters here. I actually enjoyed being NewYorker more - there was more interesting debates to be had. The current status of this forum is - it's at a low point for sure. And end point I think. This forum should cease to exist. It contributes nothing - is filled with partisans spewing garbage, and is an eyesore. It's a gross waste of time and I realize my time is better spent on other things. Seems like you basically came to the same conclusion. Many of the opinions and posts "NewYorker" made were honest. Truth is only a few were really outlandish but served to make people believe I was a lot more radical. My posts really change more in tone and packaging, but perception plays the key role. The same views from New Yorker was attacked as conservative, and then when I posted it as Sweet Lou, it was attacked as liberal. Just goes to show. Anyway, you're a smart guy, a well meaning guy, and a very fair minded person. Was interesting to actually talk to you on the phone that one time. Weird but interesting. Would be interesting if everyone from here could all meet in a room. I wonder how people would act in real life. Alright, that's it. Deck - I will be back under a different username. Just to keep you guessing. Maybe I will check back in for 2016 to see what's new. Until then good luck.
D&D was more prominent before twitter, etc... where lots of debates are carried out. there are other outlets. which makes arguments on Clutchfans glorious beyond measure.
The DnD is like Cheers to me, where everyone knows your moniker...or not. Anyways, it's always been a quasi-****hole for people to drown their political sorrows in, and there's a lot to be sad about. What will keep me coming back even if everyone's gone is the issues and what I can get out of it. I'm just not passionate about the current issues of today compared to the challenges I want to face in real life, so I keep an eye out to what certain people say in the meanwhile. It's just another digital watering hole, and one that I spent more time than I'd admit growing up in*. Cheers to you New Yorker/Sweet Lou/et. al. Growing up inside the D&D? Pathetic!
Except Cheers wasn't filled with cowards who spew hate...but outside of that yeah, pretty much. It used to be a quasi-*$&#hole....now it's just a total #*(&hole See you in the GARM.
This forum wasn't created by Clutch on a whim. It serves a purpose. D&D gives the vast majority of controversial posts that don't pertain to sports a place to land. Before, we'd frequently have what bugs people down here popping up in Hangout and even the GARM. I was against the change at first, strongly against, as I recall, but quickly changed my mind when I saw the improvement in Hangout. I agree that we had better discussions and less trolling a few years ago, but if D&D didn't exist, we wouldn't be able to say to members, "Hey! That crap doesn't belong here. We have a forum for politics, discussions about religion, and other controversial topics. It's called D&D, or The Basement (by me, sometimes). Post that stuff down there, or Clutch will give you the boot." That's a very valuable tool to have in the mods back pocket, and for those of us who aren't mods, but also aren't shy about straightening out someone in the GARM or Hangout who has wandered off the reservation. Really, the big problem in D&D is not too hard to fix. Get rid of the trolls. Not from ClutchFans, but from D&D. We all know who they are. Hell, they know who they are. Because they basically get away with murder here (murdering good discussions), a boot from D&D would be just what the doctor ordered for this forum. In my humble opinion.
Honestly it sounds like you are being thin skinned here. A lot of us take a lot of crap here, heck you've given me crap before, but if you can shovel past it you can find some good stuff here. I feel like the quality has diminished here too, not that it ever was that great. Part of that though is that good posters don't post so much anymore.
Also lets now forget how crappy the GARM is much of the time. Frankly these days I post far more in D&D and Hangout than I do in GARM because of dumptruck loads of crap that clogs up the GARM.
No sir, it's not the insults that are the issue, it's the lack of intellectualism. I don't know why you are trying to contort that into a sensitivity issue....after 10 years of the crap that's been spewed at me, I'm pretty thicken by this point. It honestly is just a lack of intelligent discussion. Good stuff? no, there is no good stuff. I am not the only one saying this. The D&D has declined worse than Detroit my friend. It's time for this thing to be blown-up for the mercy of those who still can't wean themselves off it it. I definitely post more in the GARM than D&D. There's good stuff in the GARM. There's nothing here. Nothing.
Really nothing? Frankly that is the kind of thinking that is reducing the intellectualism in the D&D. I won't deny the D&D is worse than it has been but there is still plenty of smart posts and posters here. To me your last few posts do sound like sour grapes.
He has a history of chastising someone for responding to a troll and later he'll praise the troll. Now he's lamenting the lack of intellectualism. Phshaw. He's a drama queen and this thread is further evidence of it.
I might be exaggerating, but you are too here. C'mon S.C. - the reason this place is gone down hill isn't because of any kind of thinking, it's because any normal rational thinking person is scared off from this place by the ridiculousness of it. The problem is guys would take troll bait instead of ignore it. The Trolls won, they dominated the weak-minded people on here and won.
One thing we agree on. It's just like that "Hey Everybody" thread by MacBeth. Only thing missing is that he starts a goodbye thread in another forum as well. Just to then come back and keep responding to it for two years.
