The times, they are a-changing -- The stressful days on ATS.

Yeah, we should all remember to be steady. It's just hard in a world where there are wars and economic collapse and environmental tragedies. There are rumors of wars and earthquakes and volcanoes exploding. Terrorism and out right murders taking place on the news. Yes, we should remain steady though.

I feel as though I have been locked in a room with a rabid pistol wielding monkey but I will remain steady. How good of a shot could he really be? Steady as she goes, nice monkey.

reply to post by tothetenthpower

ATS has been crazy as of late. I admit I haven't been here this long, but whether it's the exponential increase of members which provide for more opinions or our present situation in the world which causes those opinions and therefore discussions to be more heated, people are agitated.

I agree. I had made a thread about having to take a break a month ago or so because I had literally had all I could take. After posting nearly every single day...making endless threads over the last year and a half...it has simply become too much.

There is someone who always thinks you are a fraud, a liar, or any other name you can think of. I've seen the wrath of both sides of the political machine on ATS and have been criticized by both.

Often it just seems to be endless arguments...although there are many who are just looking for answers...some have no intention of looking for answers as they believe they already have all the answers.
I'm sick of politics


[edit on 1-6-2010 by David9176]

Sometimes it's hard to stay steady when everyday something horrific is happening in the World, what helps is coming to ATS and getting a little perspective, looking at another's point of view can change everything if you are open to it.

Thank the Good Lord for BTS. If it weren't for that place of refuge I would surely go mad.

I think the single most disturbing thing to me recently is the huge influx of doublethink and hypocrisy here on these boards. I may not have been registered long and I haven't lurked for that long before that, but I don't recall the amount of pure irrationality that I've been seeing around the past month.

They're bad qualities and they are becoming increasingly prevalent here. And if we here choose to deny ignorance, part of denying ignorance is denying hypocrisy. People say one thing in one thread and go around saying the other in another thread.

Considering the revelations of Israeli internet propaganda efforts and efforts by the US government to disrupt sites like this, people who are truly seeking the truth need to not only keep a keen mind but to expose those who aren't here for the right reasons.

The shills, the propagandists, the hypocrites, the spin artists; if you are a truth seeker, if you see someone like above you should call them out on it and let it be known their games won't be allowed here. I'm not suggesting censorship; by all means, let them spew their filth. But after you clean it up you sure as hell should chastise them. Let it be known that people should be wary of these individuals and possibly even blackball them from the community through the ignore feature.

But I also want to echo what Ian McLean has said. People get too caught up in the moment and even I have on the rare occasion. The truth is self-evident though. In the end, it requires no defense. Truth is not an aggressor that destroys any attempt by those who don't accept it. The truth needs no army, only an army that knows what is the truth. It's a war of worldview, a battle of paradigm in a persons mind. They can fight the truth, deny the truth, cover it up, smear it, lock it in a chest and hide it away deep in the keep. In the end, the truth is revealed, people see it, and people accept it. It's a battle of attrition that pits a force that is infinite versus a force that is finite. The truth is all that is, the farce lives on only when there is fuel for the farce.

"Truth will first be ridiculed, then violently opposed, and finally accepted as self-evident" A. Schopenhauer 1788-1860


[edit on 2-6-2010 by SpectreDC]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


SO,

Great OP.

I have watched ATS evolve over the years. My only wish is that I would have went ahead and got involved from the beginning. I now find myself questioning how much longer I will stay. I guess what we see now is just part of becoming a bigger site. More people.. more opinions.. more disagreement.

While I don't agree with probably at least 95% of ATS's members political affiliations.. I enjoy reading the political threads. It gives me insight into the hearts and minds of those that do get involved with shaping the political landscape of my own country.. and my world. I understand the passion, what I can't understand is the overwhelming feeling that there are some out there that fail to listen. I can't understand how someone can feel they can win an argument when they don't even know what the other side is saying.

No one person has all of the solutions.

Thanks for the thread.. I don't even know why I'm rambling on. Your point, at least what I think you were trying to say, and what I took from your post, was well received.

Thanks for putting up with this on the daily.. I couldn't. I'm glad there are those that can though, because at the end of the day.. it's still the best damn site to come to on the net for alternative information.



Peace.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
...The reflexive tendencies to lay blame on religions, ideologies, politics, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups other than our own for the multitude of problems can, and will, be overwhelming for many of us...

Alas, before this thread reached one page in length, someone could not control their "reflexive tendencies". I will not point out the offender, though.

Skeptic, you have indeed cast a light upon a negative aspect of some of this site's members. However, it is only indicative of society as a whole. While here there is a comfortable degree of anonymity, many who choose the self-righteous path, do so in their everyday lives, as well. That is what should concern us more.

With refusal to communicate (which is simply the mutual transference of ideas) comes chaos. It is impossible to make everyone happy. In fact, more are becoming impossible to satisfy. If you say its black, they'll say its white and vice versa.

Sad days, indeed.

[edit on 2-6-2010 by WTFover]

Steady? STEADY?! The ones that survive wont take anything steady! lol just joking I advise prudence to all.

I agree with SkepticOverlord post, and we are seeing a frustrated populous.
I cannot even discuss most of what I know in the real world to most people that I encounter. People do not want to hear anymore bad news I have family who will not watch the News on TV anymore, when I asked them why, the reply I got was it’s all negative, we don’t know who is telling the truth anymore, and we are sick and tired of seeing no accountabilities in the oil spills, the Stock Markets, the bailouts and the list goes on. The other answer I got was why bother, there is nothing I can do to make anything better or solve the problems.

I know it is hard to keep a civil tongue at times; I just want to pull out my hair.

We all disagree with many opinions but, some days I just want to wrap my keyboard around someone’s head.




[edit on 2-6-2010 by impressme]

I like steady, and the spirit of this post. The thing I see missing from a lot of the newer, large threads, is respect.

We all come from different worlds, different backgrounds, different views. No matter what the topic, we all need to remember that others will think differently, or stronger about a subject than us. Respect them for who they are, and what they believe. Debate and debunk, but do not disrespect them for feeling differenty than you. Just because you may disagree completely, gives us no right to attack another person. Challenge, yes. Attack, no.

On an aside, kudos to admin and mods working overtime to try and keep all this clean and forthright.

We are forced to seek and try to understand how others feel simply because we can't smack them upside the head.

What I mean by this is that there are many members here on ATS that are obviously extremely intelligent, yet it seems that many times they are too intelligent for their own good and they always seem to lack a single ounce of common sense.
It always leaves me wondering how they manage to get by from day to day.
I'm talking about the pacifist appeasers and the political correct police.

Yes I understand where they are usually coming from, but they alway seem to fail in realizing that many times their idealogies are only theories, ideals that may look and sound great in theory, but can never work in the real world.
..hence the smack.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


My advice is calm down, you will live longer. Or not. LOL. But you just might die happier and go into that great light with a better attitude. Or the darkness.

There's no sense in getting all worked up and stressed out over things you have no control over. And if you have control over something, then you will surely make better decisions and do better for yourselves and for others if you retain calmness and level headedness.

I know I'm not an old man. I am 57 years old. And in my years, I have found myself in a panic from time to time. I have fretted and fumed about things. Some things I could do something about, others I couldn't.

But those times I could do something constructive, I didn't do well when I was in a panic.

Calm down, think logically, react sanely, recognize those things you can do nothing about and accept or move out of the way, and recognize those things you can do something about, and do the best you can.

And remember, whatever you do, you are an example for those that follow after you. Help them learn to do better and react better.

I suppose I could have put it altogether better, but the hour is late and I wasn't prepared to put forth my philosophical isms about living life.
Anyway, do what you do best and I do what I do best.

It all comes out in the wash anyway.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
[color=gold]...
Now, more than ever, people need to vent.

Now, more than ever, we need to accept that venting (within the ATS T&C) as an opportunity to understand how others are effected by the stress and turmoil of these days.
[color=gold]...

All pushing the limits of... BUT... skidding through under the wire of T&C.

Until 3-8 year old kids become more adept at hacking their parents computer password and start creating accounts here at ATS it's, relatively speaking, an adult crowd that can stomach some of George Carlin's prohibited words and their variations.

Here, especially now, our goal should not be to use ATS as our own personal soap box, but as a means to find understanding, or at the very-least as a path to learn how others are affected differently by the turmoil in the world.

People are angry. People are scared. People are confused. People are seeking answers.

Anger may not be quelled. Fear may not be alleviated. Confusion may not be solved. Answers may not be found. But seeking to understand the cause of these feelings in others is a major step. It's what mature and civilized people do. The new breed of ATS members and users are capable of understanding. It's what "deny ignorance" means.

As much as I might see ATS as a soapbox or a place to vent... It comes down to one thing...

As we all go through this together; Since we really have no choice; ATS MOD's SuperMOD's & Owners should continue reminding themselves and each other that the other side of the screen is where reason finds it's home with the users.

Having faith ... reestablishing faith. In fellow man.



I've had my views altered by annoying mofo's that I would love to reach through their monitor and slap upside the head ...

We can only take posts at face value! That doesn't mean for an instant that ones annoying scathing retort (post) goes unconsidered.

We're all here to have an effect on others... NO?

WE EXPECT TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON OTHERS.

Shun the counterfeit.

Perceive and engage the real.

Stupidity/ignorance is like an opinion, everyone has it; some people bare/bear more ignorance than others. (_!_)

The forum is a reflection of the world, and I agree with SO,

We must be careful our words don't incite people.

Right on time SO, well said. I believe fear is the most powerful emotion we as humans experience and these days there is plenty of fear to go around.

What goes so well with fear? Pride! No one wants anyone else to know they are afraid, so they try to hide behind their anger. Anger makes people feel strong. Some people feel better knowing that others are weak and even better knowing that something they said caused someone else to fall.

The mentality that I have run across often on here is this: A false sense of pride fueled by anger when someone views us as weak or afraid. So we fight to save face. Some would rather be warned by MODS than to be viewed as weak.

We need to remember we are all human and have very similar human emotions. Each of us has a right to feel what we feel and no one has a right to tell us differently. With that said we also need to remember we have no right to force our feelings onto someone else. I think we all want the same thing a chance to be heard and to have our feelings validated. Right or wrong, we just want to be understood.

Remember we are allowed to agree to disagree and still demonstrate grace while doing it.

Thanks,
Pax

What is so amazing, and frustrating, is how so many very intelligent people can come to such vastly different conclusions about things. On here, the web, all we can do is try and make our case with logic, and occasionally spice it up with emotion and strong rhetoric if we can't seem to get our point across.

Whats missing, of course, is the politeness that being physically in front of someone's face demands. Along with politeness is a degree of caution and a genuine desire to "get along" with whomever is in our physical presence.

On the internet, all that doesn't matter quite as much, and the chaos that ensues ends up spoiling the whole thing -- everyone goes away mad, frustrated and maybe even vengeful.

Steady. One day we might learn that even on here, it is for the most part, real people we are dealing with; deserving the respect that we would afford them if we were in each other's immediate presence.

Chill....

I have to say the world is falling apart and people need to speak up on world events especially in the USA. I feel as though it will get worse from now till 2011. Then some big event is going to happen. We are in crazy times. Even some people I know are starting to believe.

u always seem to have a way with words, i think its incite and concern like this that separates ats from other communities.

with understanding comes opportunity for positive influence

or cooperative development

its really a win/win

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I stated something similar too some time ago and I fully agree. Steady on Capt'n

Yeah, the Israeli Piracy power push got a lot of us on edge lately.

But when too much pressure builds something has to break and did.
(Jeez, I could also be referring to the Gulf Oil crises with that statement.)

As a result of the strong armed Gorilla tactics that Israel just employed on the high seas, Egypt will now lift its side of the embargo (perhaps only temporarily).

So at least some good did come of it and the Palestinians can now start getting essential items to rebuild their homes that have been blown up.