There once was a time when we were all boys growing up in Watford schools (or somewhere close by) - all developing a love for our local football team. Maybe we all stood on the Rookery and did 'knees up mother brown together', maybe we have seen each other at some time and not known it. Then the World had its evil way and twisted us all in different directions - different experiences which made the Kropotkinist of one and the Green of the other etc. etc. But when Saturday comes we are all boys again and whether a ball goes into a net, or not, becomes a matter of infinitely more importance (at that moment) than politics. Maybe we should all remember that - we did not choose the 'experiences' which created our ideas, they chose us. In normal life I would not call whole groups of people 'scum', I would not belittle others, I would not call people nasty words - if I did I would have to take the consequences of it. In real life this could involve sharing black eyes. So why is it done on here ? There are few of us who are completely innocent on this - we provoke, we agitate, we make fun of others, why ? We don't do this in everyday life. It should not be necessary that ideas are going around like stopping all political threads, or moving them to a separate section. We shouldn't need such steps. We should just remember not to hide behind keyboards - if it's not ok. in the pub, it's not ok. here.
There’s a train of thought that says the use of ‘hurtful’ words in itself is not the problem – what is the problem is how they are said and actually to whom. There’s a certain logic that follows that – namely, if the words are not directed at ‘bystanders’, those bystanders really have no right to complain/intervene, otherwise all they are attempting to do is impose their own values on others without any thought or understanding of the circumstances of those others. You identified yourself in this post that “Then the World had its evil way and twisted us all in different directions - different experiences which made the Kropotkinist of one and the Green of the other” – which to me suggests heavily that you accept that others are different, but simply don’t/can’t know the circumstances that led them there. Yet you can’t accept that they have a right to their opinions, and their right to ‘occasionally’ (and I use the word pointedly) express those opinions by using words that you disapprove of? I actually find it hard to understand why the use of certain words – occasionally or otherwise - has transcended the limits of acceptability in comparison to deeds. Is use of the word ‘scum’ really more heinous than the use of heavy-handed violence by a government against those who cannot protect themselves – the innocent citizens of the likes of Syria & Yemen – all in the name of profit? Is it any more heinous than then demonising those citizens who attempt to flee a situation not of their own making? Is it any more heinous than a government forcing its own citizens into poverty, homelessness, starvation and despair leading to suicide – all in the belief that refusing them a pittance is more acceptable than requiring others to pay a fair share of the very taxes that keep this country going? For me, the people responsible for those type of actions – of which there are unfortunately aplenty – are deserving of the comparison, and I stand by my right to say so without being told that it makes my opinion invalid. If others decide that they find that unacceptable and go off in a huff, that's their right - I'm not going to be the one to opine that they are wrong simply because I disagree.
The last thing I want to do here is to start another political debating thread BB. We have enough of those already. I think you know what I am trying to say ie. we shouldn't hide behind keyboards here and use language which, in any other place, would earn a smack in the mouth. I do not spend my time in the real World provoking others or insulting them. If I did I would have to take the consequences. Maybe what I said came over a bit like 'to know all is to forgive all', which, I admit, sounds a bit 'holier than thou'. I can also think of some people in a very negative way, but it is normally about individuals rather than groups. You would not actually believe this BB. but I have known former members of the Nazi youth - I spent about 6 months in very close contact with one, translating 3 novels he had written. Were I to use an expression like Nazi scum then I would be using it about him as well (although he eventually became a rebel and deserted in Belgium), and I cannot do that - it was all past, and, even at that time, seemed very innocent to very many people. So I can only use the expression about the actual criminals, not the movements themselves.
I realise that - was just taking the opportunity to state a case, not really start an argument/debate.
