"What's with the anger on ATS?"

Anger Management: Angry dogs are easily wagged.

Observing such easy manipulation, is interesting, albeit costly.

Add the above to the fact that it's an election year, the fact that ATS is now big enough to draw the attention of dogma peddlers, and that folks mistakenly feel the need to scream louder cacophonies in a crowded room in order to be heard, and we get this predictable denouement.

Like I mentioned on another similar thread, much is to be learned about herding and base manipulation simply by watching from an impersonal distance. No need for anger, all that is required is observation.

Meh, all this will subside as soon as folks run out of things and people to blame other than themselves ... which I assume will be soonish.



[edit on 16 Aug 2010 by schrodingers dog]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I was taught, never to discuss politics, or religion, it was impolite, and caused anger. I learned this when I was six years old from my Great Grandma, and Great Grandpa.

If you think about it, people have been knowing to avoid these discussions with strangers for many many many years.

Its not that their is something in the air, or the press, or the technology of coverage, its just the capability to see it, on ATS message boards or others etc. etc. Its been there since politics, and since religion..

I got your back thou, maybe we need the mods to be monitoring a lil more on the boards. Get a lil high power.. I am more concerned with personal attacks at people, not everyone will agree on Politics, religion, UFO's, ghost, or purple skinned fairies. Just because you do not agree, does not entitled a ahem, MEMBER, to attack another member, about it, or what you think is right. What I do, most times, when I am baited in real life, or on cyber community's is Just say I hear ya. For example. Joe smuck says: "your a moron for believing in green jelly on Zercon six" I say " I hear ya." Joe smuck says " your dumb." I say: "I hear ya. Then joe smuck says "Bah!" And disappears never to be seen again..

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Everyone has anger and everyone has to have a way to realease that anger with either debate or violence. You can't hold it in, as it will outburst in a violent rage eventually. Anger is natural with heated debating, such as is on this site. It is certainly more constructive than violence, wouldn't you agree? These are merely 'words' on here and may inflame some, make some cry, or even a bit scared. Others may bring people some joy, such as the additions of animals doing weird things (which I find personally reprehensible), but they are still nothing but words. If people can't hack reading text....they shouldn't be here. With everything discussed on ATS, it's inevitable that there are going to be conflicts. I think it's only natural, (with everything increasing in violent levels in the world) I think it's actually theraputic for free speech to be practiced on the site, no matter what connotation it is in. Let's face it, if one can't contest those who assault their beliefs then there is no such thing as free speech. Even our politicians do it to become president. I would however, agree that it should be limited in one way, if someone used text to propagate the violence to an actual level of initiation, that should be deleted from the site and the person banned. That is no longer free speech but, as action is first initiated with though, it seems more likely that if one threatens with actual violence on here, they mean it. Everyting else seems like a natural progression of anger which our governments have recently placed on us. You asked "what's with all the recent hate?" Read all of the recent policies past in the American and European governments paying particular attention to the parts tat affect our freedoms and most basic wants and needs for our families, ....and you will have your answer.

[edit on 16-8-2010 by Phenomium]

Trust me. When you make new rules, and the PC people who have complained, are no longer able to attack conservatives, or religeon, everybody will simply leave.

maybe the "anger" is just the rumblings of the growing revolution that so many people on ATS call for. Not all revolutions have the best intentions behind them. You can't have it both ways, except on ATS where they can ban you

Originally posted by nunya13
I agree with the part in the OP about the media not informing but inflaming. It really is getting pretty bad. The issues being presented to us by these outlets are portrayed as being a black/white issue (not referring to racism). There is never a third option given. Classic false dichotomy.

Yes. Exactly. See, one of things I admired most about ATS when I first stumbled on it was that the posters here cared about fact checking and sourcing and knew how to separate theorizing based on fact from theorizing based on opinion and speculation, to put it simply. (And of course, theories are pretty much combinations of the two.)

One of ATS's important missions or opportunities just may be toshow or teach people who may not be aware of how vital this practice is how it is done. This seemingly small or unimportant thing to some, is critical in this age of misinformation, disinformation, psyops, and media manipulation.

[edit on 8/16/2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by -Blackout-


Hmmm...interesting. I'm inclined to say that I think such a forum may be warranted.

I am really getting sick of threads that start off so well and very constructive and then suddenly the entire thread has turned into knock-down, drag-out fight. It is always a completely different set of posters who start with the constructive debate from the ones that end with nothing but fighting and name calling. It is easy to say "just don't respond", but the problem is bigger than that because the problem is people DON'T respond and so the flamers completely take over the thread.

I have a specific poster in mind who I see in threads never really stating a position and only post to contradict another poster claiming to play "devil's advocate" all the time. And this member will do this to posters on either side of the issue in the same thread. It is one thing to play devil's advocate now and again, but dong so all the time with every post toward every member seems to indicate an agenda to "stir the pot".

reply to post by dreamwalker74


I have to agree with you.

I kinda gotta out of hand on the Politically Correct conspiracy thread I wrote. By telling everyone to urinate off.

Stating that I could care less what people think about my attitude or beliefs. They are not ANYONE's business. Political Correctness is killing this nation.

Oh, we cannot offend so and so. We cannot speak our minds. We cannot worship the flying purple spaghetti monster or whomever. We cannot say we are sick and tired of the government, government unions, government welfare roles, government partnered banks and corporations stealing OUR LABOR and OUR PROPERTY for their AGENDA.

As for the civil discourse, it seems the control freaks do not HEAR civil discourse, the lead up to the Health Care PROVED that. Then, in the townhalls the government did not HEAR the screams to knock it off. The government response to the Missouri vote on the HC ban, oh that does not matter. They can do anything they want.

Now, we get to hear ABSOLUTE TYRANNICAL idiots like Pete Stark. Pelosi saying if they cannot pass through the gates they are going to parachute in like paramilitary units. I think Piglosi does not understand what stands behind every blade of grass.

I am NOT a subject. I am a sovereign individual.

The government is not Pharaoh and I am not their slave.

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
Long and short of it, ATS is ceasing to be a conspiracy board and becoming a divide and conquer political and religious and lifestyle discussion board, where people pursuing conspiracy angles and higher truths are now being ridiculed and attempts are being made to ‘shout’ them down.

Ding ding ding we have a winner. Proto has seen and called part of the problem for what it is. The flood of feel good/group hug posts coupled with the daily religious battles has turned ATS in the wrong direction, imho. There's nothing wrong with those threads but stick them in BTS or elsewhere and let them be. Utilize BTS more for the daily junk and keep the conspiracy related topics on ATS.

brill

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Some posters do still care about fact checking. The problem is that the number of posters who actually care about facts seems to be diminishing. They are only interested in the emotional aspect of the issue. I have seen far too many threads go by the wayside because posters have presented facts and research and most seem to COMPLETELY ignore it and continue with the incessant bickering. I have seen other posters try to repost the information to try to bring it down a notch or two to no avail.

I have also seen threads that deal with the factual information regarding a certain aspect of an issue go largely ignored with little activity. The threads that almost always become whoppers are the ones that are purely rhetorical.

I think it is sad really. Maybe some of us should try to make a commitment to fact check and research an issue before posting anything. Some people seem to more concerned with being one of the first few to give their opinion rather than making sure that opinion is based on verifiable information.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


The anger that I have seen within ATS recently can be attributed to:

1.Large amounts of newcomming members some potentially just seeking information and others trying to distract others from valid information.
2.Some of the newmembers may be getting upset with learning so much from ATS and really not seeing it in their usual news stations scarring them as well as making them search deeper. Causing a hunger for knowledge that ATS must keep up with, in order to entertain these new members. Otherwise they get board and are sitting on ATS looking for new info. And with no newinfo to share they may tend to troll or even vent anger with the amount of data they have stumbled upon within ATS.
3.Possible what are called disinfo agents being part of the flood of newcommers this year, because I can remember the statistics being posted about all the new members joining this year. W/o proper attention these disinfo agents can overwhelm even ATS. By intentionally injecting ignorance within the threads they post within and create. If not managed correctly this could destroy ATS integrity, that is if the disinfo agents exist.
4.Religious threads have too much compassion within them and if they are not maintained properly they turn into strait hate threads and it gets so weird 1 can hardly tell these are religious followers at all. I being a Christ follower may get upset with nonbelievers. But the hatred I see when it comes to Islam and Christianity is just insane.
5.Political threads I basically dont even bother with for they are usually filled with hatred and I feel why even bother getting involved.

Anyway these are some of the things I have noticed generating some anger within ATS....

[edit on 8/16/10 by Ophiuchus 13]

reply to post by saltheart foamfollower

There's a huge difference between political correctness and common courtesy, civility, and politeness though. While some may be able to discern the difference, others clearly do not and further seem to take the stance that they have to go to the polar opposite extreme of political correctness (which I agree can be a crock and a wussy way out of some things) and be flat out RUDE. In other words, they use it as an excuse for not thinking at all.

reply to post by keepureye2thesky

Originally posted by keepureye2thesky
This thread makes me so angry! Grrrrrrrrr. Here is my recent gripe.

1. More and more people making more and more outlandish claims.
a) I'm Maitreya
b) I am an ET
c) I am friends with an E.T.

HEY NOW!!!!

i hate those comments you just made!

sincerely,
E.T.

p.s.



[edit on 16-8-2010 by Esoteric Teacher]

Your right.

Take your anger to the streets, don't post it on a forum.
You people are all talk and no action.

Instead of complaining to a bunch of forum nerds, try calling your elected officials to complain. Theres more productive ways to get your anger out.

The total economic collapse has made many of us say
"We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore!!!"

So do something about it.
Take your money out of the banks and stick it in a credit union.
Stop buying products from corporations you know are evil incarnate.
Make sure your elected officials are being whipped enough to do the right thing.
Kick them out of office if they act on behalf of the globalist banks instead of the people who voted for them.
Write angry letters to newscasts and flood the mainstream media with your message.
Grow your own food, Get your own water source
Stop eating the poisons that they put in olmost everything.
Get outside and get some exercise, stop being so fat and lazy, it's what they wan't. Fat stupid lazy inactive unconcerned little sheeple just waiting to be sheared and then slaughtered, you sicken me!

reply to post by dreamwalker74


What do conservatives and religion have anything to do with the anger as a whole on ATS?

reply to post by schrodingers dog


We have the same situation every single summer, it does seem a little worse this year, it certainly has got me drifting from posting and I know of quite a few who are doing the same.

You can see this in your data returns over activity.

IMO you need to get a little tougher, start banning those who constantly keep doing it, do what you can to stop multiple accounts, or at least stop these accounts being used on the same day or even a week of when they use another account, we all know some have two three or more accounts, because they need to be able to respond with their full wrath so don't care if that account gets banned, they have more.

Ive noticed several times someone of similar style replying in threads, sometimes its so obvious its another member I cant figure how they are not pulled on it, and that goes for the MODS also, they should be restricted on accounts, get caught and get banned, nobody needs another account unless they are permanently walking away from an old one.

Most of us have got angry over the past few months at one time or another, makes you wonder what the bloody point is sometimes I swear, constant reply threads, made to counter another thread of similar but opposite statements, they should also be stopped when useless, all they are is people who cant get a reply in the original thread, so create another to get their voice heard, total waste of your bandwidth.

Lastly people feel you have deserted the site at times, so much crap gets thrown about, you expect action, but none comes, not long ago you told people to get a spine (owners did) its ok saying that, but not everyone is the same, getting a spine can be construed as an insult, they feel if they speak up they are going to get pasted.

My personal annoyance is the stars for nothing rubbish, someone makes a daft none related attempt at humour, and they get stared to death, yet intelligent and meaningful posts get ignored and get nothing, some even think being nasty gets them a following, it has to stop.

Its your site, do with it what you will, but if something isn't done soon, your going to lose your ranking and drop into oblivion, I guess you know this hence this thread and recent ranking on respective sites who report this.

You asked for opinions and that's what I tried to give, as have others with very similar observations, it needs fixing, because it is broken, we are broken as a membership, most of us anyhow.

Originally posted by brill

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
Long and short of it, ATS is ceasing to be a conspiracy board and becoming a divide and conquer political and religious and lifestyle discussion board, where people pursuing conspiracy angles and higher truths are now being ridiculed and attempts are being made to ‘shout’ them down.

Ding ding ding we have a winner. Proto has seen and called part of the problem for what it is. The flood of feel good/group hug posts coupled with the daily religious battles has turned ATS in the wrong direction, imho. There's nothing wrong with those threads but stick them in BTS or elsewhere and let them be. Utilize BTS more for the daily junk and keep the conspiracy related topics on ATS.

brill

I agree that a lot of these threads belong on Below Top Secret, unless you consider the conspiracy angle of watching how easy it is to turn otherwise civil and fairly intelligent people into rabid dogs ruled by their emotions.

Many of these events do have deep conspiracy angles but it is becoming impossible to discuss them, as most just want them to be a two sided issue of pro or against.

Putting a lot of the threads where the OP nor any of the posters are engaged in any conspiracy angle onto BTS would get a lot of the needless drama off of ATS.

For instance on this latest Muslim issue Imam Rauf has long standing ties to the State Department and FBI.

He works for both on occassion, so there is a real potential conspiracy there in the timing and scope of this issue.

Try getting someone to discuss that though on Above Top Secret.

The media is driving this frenzy for a reason, but try getting anyone to discuss that on Above Top Secret.

The deepest that the average poster can go, yea its a conspiracy Obama is a Muslim!

Try to present possible angles and you get a lot of Proto not everything is a conspiracy you know!

Then they go right back to the emotionally fueled bickering.

Sadly there is a conspiracy afoot to keep me from enjoying conspiracies on ATS!

I shall ferret out these 'evil doers' and unleash a 'shock and awe' on them like they have never seen.

I have Barry Manillow YouTube Videos and I am prepared to use them!



[edit on 16/8/10 by ProtoplasmicTraveler]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Personally an with all due respect, but this anger/ what ever you want to call it isn't just here on ATS. Everybody seems to be angry.

forget the rest, put yourself to your own test.
forget the rest, what is our personal quest?

hate? anger? legitimate or justified?

"but, i can not hate without first being afraid of losing something i love. so how could you be the opposite of love? first i must fear, then i wear you."

How can i honestly justify my hate without first being afraid of losing something i love, or imagining that something i hate has the potential to take something i love away from me?

he approached all as the silly odd man he was, and he did it in the nude with only his truth with him. he would say to them all: Be Not Afraid, please, i beg you, do not fear me. i mean you no harm. i only wish for you to judge my truth and see if it is compatible with yours, i will not judge you or yours, but wish that you would judge my truth, as your opinion is important for me on my way to the truth of what the opposite of love is. they all had the same requests, and would only stop fearing for a moment if i promised to:

1) acknowledge them how they are.
2) recognize them for what they were.
3) accept them for who they are.
4) love them for what they are.

and i did promise, but asked they only tell me their truth, or they could not join me if they wanted to. i explained all my truth to them and told them that they can only join me if they do not lie to me, and do not fear me, or fear losing me. and i made many friends.

and i adopted their truths as mine, as i saw they were true from their perspectives, and they had not lied to me.

i am naked before you and armed only with words of truth, my truth and yours. please judge it accordingly, and see if it is compatible with your truth, this is all i ask. if you feel at any time i am lying, attempting to lie, have lied, will lie, or will ever or have ever had the intentions to lie or decieve you, please leave my journey to me, i will understand fully. if i have lied to you up to this point, or have attempted to decieve you, please, i beg of you, read no further.
source/link: www.belowtopsecret.com...

The space throughout the universe seems to be a big vacuum.
So ... we ALL live in a big vacuum.

AND SOME PEOPLE THINK I NEED TO BE TOLD IT SUCKS?

no kidding!

[edit on 16-8-2010 by Esoteric Teacher]

TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS

I agree with the external factors, many factors for all things really.

But I think we all need to take at least a little damn responsibility for our actions and not blame everything.

There's a buddhist saying I live by and it helped me stop being so judgmental and angry: "Don't hate the stick that beats you"... the person being the stick, the thing controlling them is their ignorance. I've seen how i've acted out of ignorance, i don't hold anyone to a higher standard. I don't get upset with people as much as I just get upset that this is how things are, the state of conversation between people, and how they want to justify chaos, REACTING vs acting, out of control in response to something they clearly don't have the best experience in dealing with.

Is talking louder or insulting someone going to help anything or is it just going to give you a release to your own insanity?

In my opinion, the highest philosophical lessons are the simple ones, the very core nature of who we are, emotional beings. Everything else is just stuff..a related issue that branches off.

I used to be one angry prick and I thought it was all justified. I accept my past actions and I've learned a lot from it. Only from accepting that i'm not perfect, that I am able to honestly reflect did I learn.

We need to take a little more responsibility here is all i'm saying. I'd be lieing if I didn't want to tell a lot of people on this board to piss off or something like that, but that would provoke nothing I would want, would serve me no purpose, would distance myself even more and its ultimately pointless. If you want to deliver a point, take the emotion out of it, ego clashes are a waste. All conflict is a damn waste. Its core stuff here...conflict = opposite of function, thus how can it be justifiable as constructive?...aside from being beneficial to the few instead of the whole... to dominate your "problems" instead of peacefully work them out. Can't get a long with someone?.. get rid of them? Insult them, fight them, whatever it is, as long as they're gone right? C'mon man... reflect on your REACTIONS so you can better ACT. If you care enough, be part of the sollution instead of the problem you know?