I hate bullies !!

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

The irony is you're calling people names. That makes your statements suspect.

Nicely done. I agree

So...what are we to make of this then?

Is he - or isn't he?

Oh, Les - let's please do have another thread about how words can't hurt anybody

:-)

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

I use the word argue interchangeably with debate that is one of my faults due to my simple grammar . Ideally we should not be here to argue we should be here to debate .

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: proob4

Thank you for the compliment !!!

But I would like to make your position a little clearer then you alleviated .

You're going to hate me for this one

**grammar Nazi mode initiated**

I think you used the wrong word. Alleviated? I think you meant to type "elaborated".

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

2+2=5 is wrong (unless we're talking Common Core math). Man + man = marriage is a matter of opinion, but very often these days, the people who point that out are called wrong as if they are championing 2+2=5 as true and correct. That's when it comes down to bullying in an attempt to force compliance.

You can feel very passionately that you opinion is correct. A lot of people on both sides do, but just because you feel it passionately doesn't make it so, and it doesn't give you the moral high ground to start bullying those who disagree which is where we are at.

a reply to: real_one

Honestly I used it with the mindset of.....



b :to partially remove or correct


But I guess that doesn't fit exactly either. So the only reason I'm mad at you is you did not correct me before the time limit to edit expired .


Beers!!!!

a reply to: Greathouse

Ideally we should not be here to argue we should be here to debate .

This place isn't really for debate. It's a free for all

I love a good debate. There used to be a separate forum specifically for debating - which suggests that the rest of the site is either for voicing your full agreement - or no holds barred, cage match arguing

I think your rant is interesting. So many people here will argue against being offended - but they are often offended. People argue against bullying - but they are often bullies

Many of us (myself included) have very strong opinions

:-)

Eye of the beholder I think - depends on where you're standing when you're looking

a reply to: ketsuko

I wish you could give me a definition of bullying that we could all agree on. There's your 2+2=5 right there

I see passive aggressive (ahem - cowardly) bullying done all the time. Some people feel that if they're not addressing the people in the room directly (who they know are right there in the thread with them) they can say whatever they want - no matter how offensive or provocative it might be

Other people will address people directly. I can see that that feels overly aggressive to some - even when what's said is no different than what was said by others in an effort to appear to be a kind of mock neutral

Which is more honest?

I grew up arguing - for sport. You've got to learn to protect your face :-)

It's more about thinking than anything else. You should be true to yourself and always respect the rules of engagement. Don't put anything out there that you aren't prepared to receive

You can feel very passionately that you opinion is correct. A lot of people on both sides do, but just because you feel it passionately doesn't make it so, and it doesn't give you the moral high ground to start bullying those who disagree which is where we are at.

Where is that magic line between being passionate but wrong or being correct - as it relates to what we do in here at our beloved ATS? Would love an actual explanation of how often and why you are willing to acquiesce :-)

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: real_one

Honestly I used it with the mindset of.....



b :to partially remove or correct


But I guess that doesn't fit exactly either. So the only reason I'm mad at you is you did not correct me before the time limit to edit expired .


Beers!!!!

If only that time machine from that other thread actually worked you could go back and edit it .



On a more serious note on topic, I partially agree with most posts in this thread.

Bullies suck , I've been one at times, and most here have admitted it too.

You and I have had run ins where I could have been more polite. We disagree on a few heated topics it seems.

These heated topics sometimes bring out the bully in us and we don't realize it until later on when cooler heads prevail.

The ones that irritate me the most are those who have to be the first in every thread with a rude response to the op plus they make it sound like there are never any conspiracies and the op must be nuts for thinking out the box.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm being bullied but then realize I'm being a bully too. I think it's human nature to be defensive when corrected or given an opinion that we don't agree with.

You put it well though, at least we can admit it when we're wrong. It's the ones who cannot admit being wrong are usually the worse.

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

Where is that magic line between being passionate but wrong or being correct - as it relates to what we do in here at our beloved ATS? Would love an actual explanation of how often and why you are willing to acquiesce :-)

If we talking opinion, then there isn't a right or wrong, which is my point. There is only opinion. You can feel strongly that your opinion is the right one, but you can't prove it any more than I can disprove it. So in the end, it comes back to being an opinion. You have yours, and I have mine. When it comes to that, we have to either try to find small points of agreement, places where we can compromise or simply agree to disagree.

And for topics of politics and religion especially, it is all going to be more or less opinion.

originally posted by: real_one

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: proob4

Thank you for the compliment !!!

But I would like to make your position a little clearer then you alleviated .

You're going to hate me for this one

**grammar Nazi mode initiated**

I think you used the wrong word. Alleviated? I think you meant to type "elaborated".

I think he should have used the word inebriated, then he would have been spot on. yea i was a bit drunk last night, My apologies greathouse! I do like you and your post's btw

It seems to me the term is overused lately. Now anyone who acts aggressive is a bully? Anyone who speaks their opinion in an aggressive way is bullying??

The OP sounds aggressive, and is asserting moral superiority over others - is that bullying then too?
Is it an act of self contradiction, hypocrisy?

I sometimes come off aggressive here, more so than in real life, generally. I try to learn to be more aggressive, because I have learned that there are some people (hell a lot of people here in France!) that percieve and use aggressivity in a way that is beneficial.
They use it to bond, strangely enough, and to stimulate others who are being closed, suppressed, or introverted, to opening up to others, and asserting their personality.

When I started to understand that, it made me reflect upon some of the friendships I had when young that actually started of with a very aggressive provocation. Like once on the school bus in junior high, this girl on a seat behind me started hitting me on the head with a big book.

She was very popular, a class clown, and was making her friends snicker and giggle. I had the habit of ignoring acts like that, and kept ignoring it, as she did it repeatedly, harder and harder and harder, until I lost it, stood up, turned and pummeled her face.

The bus took us back to school, and as we sat in the waiting area before seeing the principle, she started to treat me as some sort of accomplice, as if together we'd done a funny antic. I was crying because I was ashamed I'd hit another human - but obviously she didn't give a crap that I had hit her. For her it was expected and reasonable.

Strangely, we ended up being best friends for a very long time after that.

It is only very recently that I started to recognize that even now, adults do this with me. I tend to be in my own world, and others who want to get to know me tend to get frustrated with my lack of responding to their attempts to get my attention. They sometimes just turn to doing something I consider pretty aggressive, hostile and nasty, to sort of break through my bubble - in the same way that girl did in junior high.

One interpretation of events could be that bullies target shy and introverted people because they see them as easy prey and weak.
Another is that they target them because they seem to have such a hard and strong wall around them, and a big collusion (be it physical, mental, or emotional) is the only way to jar them from their castle and have a chance to know them.

a reply to: Greathouse

Who doesn't hate bullies? Well, besides bullies themselves? The only thing I have come close to on the list is the grammar issue, and I typically ignore grammar problems unless the person posting is bullying, and calling someone stupid, or something to that effect. Then, well, I feel an obligation to point out the irony.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

I typically ignore grammar problems unless the person posting is bullying, and calling someone stupid, or something to that effect.

That's a good strategy effective, clean and turns the tables too.

a reply to: Bluesma

The OP sounds aggressive, and is asserting moral superiority over others - is that bullying then too? Is it an act of self contradiction, hypocrisy?

That part was inaccurate sorry .



The real reason is I am old and like to complain a lot .

a reply to: Greathouse

Thanks man. Thanks a lot. I almost choked on my coffee. I don't know if you meant it to be or not but that was funny.

a reply to: Skid Mark

That was a truthful reply dipped in a small dose of humor .

originally posted by: Greathouse
a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

I typically ignore grammar problems unless the person posting is bullying, and calling someone stupid, or something to that effect.

That's a good strategy effective, clean and turns the tables too.

Big time! Almost none of them bother to even whine about it. I guess I do have a tendency to pester the bully/troll sort, in some areas of discussion. Not something we see much of here, thankfully! Some other sites? Whole different ballgame!

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

That's one reason I was so aggressive when I first came here . I had gotten so tired of them on other sites I formed a band of other do-gooders and we went hunting them . Lol

a reply to: Greathouse
True that.
Bullies tend to have a very low opinion of themselves and take it out on others.
Just for the record I hate them too!

I would like to put in a word for bullies. Victims so rarely see the other side. They'll never know the hurt we suffer and all the pain we rise above.

We bullies are the victims of a society that exists principally to protect the weak against the strong. This unnatural state of affairs is the result of generations of betrayal during which, despite our most diligent efforts, the population of wackos, weirdos, queers, gooks, geeks, mud people and monkey men multiplied until they could dictate the social and political agenda in our great country, and honest decent Godfearing guntoting folk couldn't get anything done any more.

Hell, it's got so we can't even sleep sound in our beds at night. Have you heard some of the things those damned atheists and Commies and feminists are saying on television? If you can listen to that #@//**%§ without getting terminal insomnia, your heart must be on the left side of your chest!

Society is doomed, I tell you. The kooks have assumed control. The animals have taken over the zoo. And why is this? Because our namby-pamby legislators sold us out to the goddamn liberal special interests, traducing both our noble Constitution and the good, honest, old-time religion of our forebears.

First they freed the slaves, then they gave them votes. Then they went totally ape and gave votes to women and teenagers too. When you give someone a vote, you're encouraging them to think they're as good as you are.

Now the hippies and the yuppies and the liberals and the lesbians call us names and put us down. They make it look like we're the troublemakers, not them.

They don't realize what an important purpose we serve. What happens to an ecosystem when you take the big predators out? These people don't understand that it's survival of the fittest out there. Without us, women, subhuman types and miserable cripples will dominate the gene pool. We bullies will become an endangered species.

Bullying is Nature's way. Might equals right. But it isn't easy being a bully -- you have to be constantly watchful, with hair-trigger reflexes, and the stress of being Right all the time does horrible things to your body (and especially to the heart). These people talk about us like bullying is a choice. Don't they realize we're born this way?

Star for your rant, Greathouse. I swear, things have got so there's really nothing a man can do but go shoot up the local primary school. At least they haven't taken our guns yet.

Honk, folks, if you agree with this post.