Will this forum remain Politics-free?

[FlyingClayDisk]

... But we really should explore this further... at your leisure.

DB's, or mine...or both?

"Leisure" is not something we have at the moment.  What we have is 'real' situations and 'real' world issues.

We can exist in a fantasy world of UFO's and paranormal, but as I have pointed out; this will only hold so much water.

The age-old moderators from ATS may be familiar faces to new members, but candidly, most of them are burnt-out (all due respect).  To suggest otherwise, is misguided. 

DI Admins...be wary of what I say...there are many thorns upon the road upon which you walk.

There are many who intentionally will deceive you.

I honestly think  DB and myself are the least of your worries.

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Allow me, an old radio DJ, back in the "day" to propose a song to you all.  It says a lot, a lot about our lives

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I really don't care, Deny Ignorance, but you have let your 'moderators' weigh in and control your destiny.  If this is what you choose, then so be it. 

I personally think this is a mistake, but I do not regulate this site (your former ATS monitors do; they define you).  I would not let any previous, burnt out, moderators define me or my websites, but here we are.  The choice is yours.  If they say they are not "burnt out", then ask them to prove it...like really prove it (i.e. new, novel ideas, new ways to capture new members, not tired old "we Won't" mantras)  They can't, none of them can.  They're tired, they're jaded and they're "cooked".  Make them prove they aren't...and none of them will be able to.

The ATS moderators are loved, and they've done a fantastic job, but they're old, and they're done.

Think about this for a moment...how long have you seen these troopers, day in and day out, fighting the good fight?

It's time for new blood, new things.  The 'happy days of old'... are gone.  Ignoring things like politics is ignoring reality and the fundamental underpinning of this website, deny "Ignorance".  Anything less is just a lie, or burying your head in the sand.

I will not make political posts in the various forums Blaine talks about...I disagree politic will be welcome there, and Blaine (among others) will be swift to delete my posts (with warnings...strike one...strike two and ... be gone).  He will see to it, if for no other reason than  to see me gone, personally.

Do you not see the bias here?

Ah, but I appeal on deaf ears.

For all others...I will always stand for liberty.  And I will never shy away from honor, honesty and the right to speak out.
I will lose here, but that is okay.  I will always fight for liberty.  To the end.

[putnam6]

Let's put it this way 22 new Topics on ATS 10 of them are easily politically related in 5 different forums

As long as ATS is active there is no reason why DI has to politics in more than one or two locations. Mostly because this discourse is not changing minds, it's just pissing people off, and we can't have proper dialog and discussions and it bleeds into every other forum.

If it's bickering back and forth, no new information no educational value, it isn't changing people's minds or leading to a real discussion what's the point? 

Generally think 3 SUB folders should have political content, a Political Current Events folder, An Election year folder, and we need a DI Political Editorials Folder for everybody's personal political rant. All placed in Politics forum, and political mentions elsewhere need to be strictly shunned or removed outright.

[l0st]

Warning! - Unpopular Opinion Ahead -

 I personally believe no discussion board can continue to exist without a political discussion section.  I believe this to be particularly true for any website which focuses any sort of conspiratorial, controversial or current events content.  Many say politics ruined other sites (such as ATS); I disagree.  In fact, I would posit the exact opposite; attempts by other websites to curtail, restrict or eliminate political discussion see a dramatic drop in participation across the entire site after which they languish in the sun, wither and drift off into irrelevancy.  The facts are, politics occupy almost every single element of the news cycle today, and better than 90% of all the conspiratorial / controversial subjects of our time boil down to political in nature.  Squashing this type of discussion and content only reduces overall contribution on a site such as this.

Case in point; there are a total of 6,722 posts (total, all forums) here on DI since its inception, compared to 22,539 posts in just the last 7 calendar days on ATS (104,841 posts in the past 30 days).  Granted DI is relatively new compared to ATS, but the lion's share of active ATS members (key being 'active') are members here on DI.  So, why the difference?  Well, for one thing, politics often draws participants in, and they then engage on (10) other non-politics subjects while there.  Exclude/prohibit politics, and many of those same individuals do not engage at all.

The other thing I think some are missing is the fact that other websites (ATS is only one example) didn't suddenly shift their focus to political activism, the world outside did.  Between the MSM, social media and numerous other factors, the new paradigm is politics.  Bottom line - politics is what people are talking about, regardless of any website focus.  Failure to realize this is conscious failure to accept what is going on outside one's window.  Politics IS the new conspiracy, and more importantly than ever; politics is the one area where seeking the "truth" and "denial of ignorance" is paramount to survival.  Refusing to recognize this is burying one's head in the sand.  All due respect to members who are interested in paranormal studies, UFO's and other supernatural phenomenon, these are indeed interesting subject areas, but in today's age these same topics alone are not sufficient to sustain a discussion forum today.

One only needs to look at the social media website 'reddit' to see the staggering proportion of political discussions in comparison to all other topics added together.  Yes, policy makers and site creators can say...'well, we just don't want that here!'...and this is fine, but realize by saying this that you turn away large segments of your potential content providers and audience by doing so.  If people are content living in this bubble, then this is fine also, but just know there is a very good probability that is all it will ever be, a bubble.

Again, I'm sure this opinion and editorial statement is a wildly unpopular one here, but I feel it is important to throw it out there in an effort to truly get to the "truth" we all so desperately wish to get to.

Very best regards, and thanks for your time.
FCD

I agree insofar as politics are often intrinsically entwined with conspiracy on many cases. However, the political trolling behavior typically involves those who do not come to these sites to discuss politics as they pertain to conspiracy. What they do is attack every single thread with silliness like "f*ck Drumpf" (I know we've all seen it) and this is not discussion and ads nothing to the conversation. The only goal seems to be insulting those they disagree with regardless of actual facts.

[KKLoco]

Considering the name of the website ‘DenyIgnorance.com’, would we not be doing ourselves an injustice by having political topic forums?

Speaking for myself only, I’ve received about 98% of my daily news from ATS. What is a good portion of daily news - things that affect us personally. Unfortunately, most of those deal with politics. 

I did not come to ATS for anything political related. However, in my older and wiser years, politics are where the current conspiracies reside. Think about’Disclosure’ if that ever will happen. Where would it come from? = Governmental politicians. It sucks, but it is what it is.

limiting that discussion on this site is a huge mistake, IMHO.

[DBCowboy]

That's why I'm not afraid of political debate because I can focus on policy and not personality.

[FlyingClayDisk]

Ah...and so I've said my peace here, I honestly have.

I will drift off into the 'aether'...i never meant to have a big presence here; I don't even know this place.

I am not required here.  My input is not relevant any longer.  I am old.

I wish all of you the best of luck here.

[putnam6]

That's why I'm not afraid of political debate because I can focus on policy and not personality.

Yes you can DB but most people can not, most people have one or two points and either keep banging those 2 points or resort to the inevitable name-calling and sarcasm.

Not to mention some just like to argue.

Once I found myself arguing more than actual learning it was when ATS lost its value.

[FlyingClayDisk]

It's okay, I guess I was mistaken.

Have a great day everyone.

Thanks!

[Byrd]

Considering the name of the website ‘DenyIgnorance.com’, would we not be doing ourselves an injustice by having political topic forums?

Speaking for myself only, I’ve received about 98% of my daily news from ATS. What is a good portion of daily news - things that affect us personally. Unfortunately, most of those deal with politics. 

I did not come to ATS for anything political related. However, in my older and wiser years, politics are where the current conspiracies reside. Think about’Disclosure’ if that ever will happen. Where would it come from? = Governmental politicians. It sucks, but it is what it is.

limiting that discussion on this site is a huge mistake, IMHO.

The problem is that it's NOT discussion.

It's op-ed, it's memes, it's music vids, it's name-calling, it's title-slinging... nothing of discourse in there.  A number of us do try to engage, but it's hard to have a dialogue when you're being called names and accused of being commie/socialist/snowflake/etc (hop over to some of the closed topics on ATS about politics and the Mud Pit and you'll see how toxic it got.)

It would be interesting to have a "dueling op-eds" thing (rather like the debate forum) or something similar.  But a free-form political arena...?  Nope.  Didn't work last time and unlikely to work in a new setting.

[theshadowknows]

It would be interesting to have a "dueling op-eds" thing (rather like the debate forum) or something similar.  But a free-form political arena...?  Nope.  Didn't work last time and unlikely to work in a new setting.

I totally agree. A debate in a controlled setting is a really good idea on compromise here.