Sep
1st
2021
You all ever think that Politics on this site was a mistake? · 1:43am Sep 1st, 2021
Only asking because after doing my best to avoid politics for the past 2 months, I find my quality of enjoyment in life getting better and better. Though I will admit I occasionally find enjoyment by watching people on two sides of the political spectrum go "no it's the other side that's full of dumb people!" while simultaneously being right and wrong at the same time over issues.
Report
TittySparkles · 1,279 views
·
honestly yes to an extent. Fully yes when its the tribalism we've been seeing recently where neither side is so much as wanting to even consider a compromise or understanding so it just turns into screaming matches which can be draining if they are common.
There is debating and then there is the insanity we've had recently which is ko good for anyone and helps nothing.
Avoiding it will improves ones mental health a great deal, especially on a site meant to be a place we go to have fun and enjoy stories of colorful equines with magic tramp stamps doing who knows what.
There is a place for everything, and there are limits to things as well.
We hit some a while back but kept going.
It has been nice not to see things burning down in the fandom outside of general disagreements about the show and such, staying withing the fandom so to speak.
Same thing happened to me. When I got off twitter and stopped listening to most news that wasn't mlp, f1 or cool tech stuff, it didn't feel like things were constantly getting worse or the world was on fire. I remember a few years ago when I was camping with my brother. With literally zero cell reception I was offline of everything for a week. We joked how it could be world war 3 and we'd be the last people to ever know.
It was refreshing!
The best political affiliation is none. I just sit back and laugh at the extremists who makes fools of themselves on both sides.
And seriously I see no merit to political discussions on here. I have no problem if others want to, it’s just not something I see as enjoyable or productive. Just leads to negativity and rancor from my observations. We’re all here to rave over
and sometimes get off tocartoon horsies, not discuss the world and its bullshit.Absolutely.
Yes. Yes it was.
Politics were a mistake.
It used to be funny to watch... now it's not.
You tried talking about politics reasonably to people who shadow banned stories with Nazis in them, even if the story is making fun of Nazis, for being not PC but then turn around and feature stories about fucking children. The Brony community is full pedos who pretend to have a moral high ground by being hyper politically correct. Yeah, mentioning anything that goes against their world view was probably a bad idea.
Yes is it was people need to stop and and think pc people try and rune it for everyone look at what happened with princess Candice I don't care that story was foalcon once she was bullied then it was the the owner of the site should have steped in and stopped it
Commented on a politics-parody story today. Big mistake: the comments section went stupid, nobody wanted to discuss the issue, everyone just wanted to fight. I'm back to my 2010 views: keep your grimdark and IRL shit away from my pony stuff. Pardon me while I go read some hilariously stupid converted-greentext RGRE-HiE crap, because it's fun and IDGAF.
Yes, limiting your exposure to any negativity is good and certain topics will always be filled with hatred.
We can't control the toxicity in the world, but we can choose whether or not to expose ourselves to it.
I hope you continue to feel better as you avoid politics, and with the free time and energy you can find even more ways of being happier and healthier.
I think reasonable discussions can be had and there was some of that. It's just this is not the site to be discussing such things. We come here for ponies, not political discussions. That's just me tho.
I generally agree with that sentiment, but I agree even moreso if you remove the words "on this site"
Politics on this site wasnt a real problem until soneone from WaPo said that the MLP fandom had a nazi problem (which it never did to begin with)
Politics is a part of human nature, as is tribalism. You cannot avoid either. You are physiologically unable to care about everyone, limited to those you actually know.
Any group of people with any roles defined involves politics. This is also unavoidable.
That said, I far prefer browsing sites where people don't acknowledge it, and try to ignore it. Focusing on cute and/or badass ponies is far more fun
5576206
5576209
I feel it’s becoming a stereotype to automatically be sus about bronies
But not gonna lie you have your reasons
Also not to mention the absolute balls you have to have to put down an E rated fic about an adult mare and a depicted minor. Of course no one deserves suicide at all for that matter but the whole backlash and controversy? Yeah PC had it coming.
5576197
Now it’s just sad to watch
Yes.
Agree to politics being on this site is kinda dumb. There's a time and place for it, on a site for recreation and entertainment isn't really it.
5576303
I didn’t know that’s why Princess Cadence got bullied into they felt like committing suicide. It’s still sad that they deleted their account. Does any one know if there are archives of their stuff? I can’t remember what they wrote but I remember I liked some of it.
5576387
I tried checking FimFetch but no dice
5576390
Do you remember the names of their Fics?
5576391
I remember trying to find a story called The Sun and The Stars
Hmm, yes... no... I don't know...
There were some good talks with some people, and there were vile talks with others. I enjoyed the former, the latter... not so much. I guess it's a mixed bag...
One way to look at it is that ignorance really is bliss. As they say, out of sight, out of mind. And... I will admit that staying clear of most drama (here and IRL) had a similar effect to what you described, on me
.
But is this a good approach in the long run? I don't know... but I doubt it. Politics has a tendency to sneak up on you when you least expect it. One wrong word, or 'inappropriate' joke, or one unpopular opinion, and you're knee-deep whether you intended it or not
.
With the way politics is used as a divisive tool on social media, yes, it was a mistake for it to be here. Some good has come of it, but only in a reactionary form against people trying to impose their will on others.
I've always disliked getting involved in political arguments. The absolute viciousness from all sides over the last several years didn't improve my thoughts on the matter.
It's better for my mental health to just keep my distance, especially on unrelated sites like this.
Politics are the new religion. Discussion of it only seems to cause holy wars.
5576586
Doesn't even seem to be discussion at this point, here. I see one group celebrating the deaths and suffering of others for not ascribing to their brand of religion, and no one else even taking the field.
5576594
I don't celebrate human misery. Even schadenfreude has its limits.
5576595
I'm glad to hear that, and I didn't mean to imply you were in that group if that's how it was taken. It's just something happening on the site right now, and I feel drained just watching it.
5576599
One of the few times I've wholeheartedly agreed with you.
5576599
I'm affraid to ask, but... wut? Did I miss something? I didn't notice any drama here lately. Unless, that happens only in specific groups designed to be echo chambers
?
5576642
There's this story and one written by someone who fantasizes about people with the right label being harmed. They're both littered with "Ha ha, people are dying! It's okay because they don't think like us."
5576747
Two of them. Social commentary is one thing, but mocking people for their suffering is never okay.
Politics usually goes like this, it’s avoided until it begins to move into the realm you deal with in one way or another. That tends to be how most get involved.
5576747
I see... Well, I don't think I know the author very well. If he is like that, then... it wouldn't be anything new, would it? SSDD...
That said, I can understand why he wrote that thing. As someone who is vaccinated and encourages others to get vaccinated, I'm also pissed about the whole 'vaccine conspiracy' going around. Maybe that's the reason, maybe not... but honestly, I don't see anything controversial in that particular story
. But the comment section, oh boy... After five minutes of reading. I think I got enough venom to last me until the end of the year 
.
I'm starting to believe what Wanderer D said in that - now-deleted - blog of his about how these people are just a loud minority and nothing more. If that's true, I think it's best to just ignore them
.
5576802
I intend to do so; several of those in the comments section have already 'left' to the greener-grass-gulag site but, shockingly, return to act like this. The thing of it is, for me at least, the people who don't trust the vaccines are hardly doing so in a vacuum. After four years of outright dishonest reporting by the MSM, on top of eight years of heavily biased reporting by the MSM, they don't have a sterling track record as sources of reliable information. So those people are taking into account their experiences and being cautious and wary, which is logical for them to do. Rather than try to empathize with them, give them reassurance, reach out to them, I just see the comments section from those stories happening. Slap the right label onto them, "anti-vax", and prest-o change-o they're no longer people; they're the enemy making us all sick, and deserve nothing but derision and glee at their suffering.
It's just so draining.
5577000
Empathizing only works if the person is open to discussion. If everything is met with open hostility, it can be hard to keep doing it. That hasn't yet stopped me from trying, but I am kind of an idiot, and probably a bit of a masochist.
Yes. I'm glad you're doing better btw. if there is one thing that is a negative from everything, it's a deterioration of mental health.
Exposure to toxicity, especially being involved in it, is just gonna leave you miserable after a while.
5577000
I know. I've been trying to get my mom to get the vaccine for the past few months and could only do that this week. She's not some crazy, 'I'm not gonna let Bill Gates's put Borg nano-probes in me
!' anti-vaxxer. But she is on many drugs, including pretty heavy stuff like immunosuppressants. Plus, she's also pretty allergic to most things. With all that, she was just scared of how her body would react. The fact that after taking my first dose of AstraZeneca, I got hit pretty hard by side effects for a few days didn't help matters.
She asked her doctor about it, and he was like, 'Well, you know... I think you should get vaccinated, but... I can't guarantee there won't be any interactions with your medication. No one knows that
.' Very reassuring... 
People like that are just scared because no one wants to provide them with any real information. Instead, they're just bombarded by the media with, 'Vaccine is safe! Get it now!' while even their doctors are openly saying they don't know. When people's concerns are getting dismissed out of hand, and they're being labeled as idiots/anti-vaxxers/etc. it's really no surprise they don't want to listen to the 'experts' anymore...
But yeah, let's just lump everyone together and call them all idiots. That will solve everything
5577058
People hesitant because of allergies is understandable. People being fed misinformation to the point they fear the treatment more than the disease is just ... Depressing.
5577183
True, but the problem here is that one thing drives the other:
I don't know if it's the same in the States, but here in Poland, the approach comes down to, 'Hey, look! This guy is an expert! If he tells you it's safe, then it's safe. Don't question him because you don't know jack sh*t!'A few months of such patronizing treatment can really discourage many people from vaccinating and push them towards the, 'Bill Gates and nano-probes!' anti-vaxxers which until very recently, were an extreme minority.
If the government were more open about it and actually started to address people's concerns instead of dismissing them, most of the true misinformation would have died in its infancy. Instead... it is what it is, and, yes - it is depressing
5577219
ffn.nodwick.com/ffnstrips/2021-09-02.png This is where we're at now. The virus is getting worse, and people desperate for a solution other than the one desperately being offered to them are seeking... other means to treat it.
5576747
5576802
Turns out the Ivermectin narrative was all just fake news as well. Gee, who would have thought? https://archive.is/6vgDc
5578465
Huh... it's almost as if selling fake news to naive people was a good business
! ... wait a minute...
5578465
Well. I'm feeling a number of complicated reactions to this. First, thank you Tiddy, that lifted my spirits to know that people aren't actually suffering from this. I was emphasizing with their fear and desperation that they had no options left, that despite the caricature of Sock Puppet's characters in his story that it was based on real events taking place. That's a genuine relief.
Another would be disappointment and disgust at the comments and actions of users in those comment sections. On top of their acts themselves being callous and inhuman, they literally had to fabricate a situation to play the victims of and fabricate a strawman to look down on while simultaneously using it as a scapegoat. Willful blindness and a desire to be shepperded from one red herring to the next as long as it has the right label to absolve them of their behavior.
In the end though, I'm just glad that this story was fake, both for the lack of desperate victims and for the heavy implications it carried.
Edit: Skyrim's posts in the comments about the damage already being done in regards to making people think of Ivermectin as only a horse de-wormer are correct. Given the author's behavior and lack of concern or compassion, arguing the point there seems fruitless and will only add to the heat algorithm, possibly giving it more exposure to cause more harm.
5578658
One person in my Discord group said it best about that story.
5578752
That's all true, and I agree with it 100%; if my postscript edit was taken as criticizing Skyrim for the latest posts, that wasn't my intent. Going through the responses, I saw Sock didn't hesitate to delete comments and conveniently label it as "malinformation" she was protecting everyone from, a new and even deadlier strain of misinformation. I didn't want to restart the fire myself just for it to get purged and used as a prop for more posturing by the SJW crowd.
5578658
I don't want to play devil's advocate here, but... don't you think you're pushing it a bit too far here when it comes to the story laughing at 'real victims'
?
If that thing was making fun of poor people who couldn't afford the vaccine and - in desperation - turned towards ivermectin, I would understand your anger. But this? A user wrote a story making fun of ordinary people who are willing to trust Reddit/Twitter/whatever more than the data of already vaccinated people and medical experts are saying. Desperate or not, yo have to admit, this approach is pretty idiot. How is making a story that is laughing at someone's stupidity attacking the victim here? Suppose I make a story in which mane six will laugh at the stupidity of people who promoted revolution only to be the first to get shot after it took over. Will that count as attacking the victim too
?
And to be clear - I'm referring to the story ONLY. The comment section below that thing is a toxic waste dump, but that's a different story.
5578878
It wasn't the story itself that bothered me, though. Taken in a vacuum, it's like you say; "Wow, that guy was dumb," because the story ends before watching the dumb guy die. It was the sheer glee in the comments section about who those idiots 'obviously' were. "Wow, those cis white male anti-vax usual-labels etc. deserve to die, look at how much they're suffering since they didn't believe Science(tm)! Can you believe they're so stupid they're actually doing this in real life!? Haha! Hurry up and die faster so you stop taking up ICU beds!"
And up until the article about Rolling Stone having to "update" their story about it being a complete and total fabrication, there was every belief that this specific incident was actually happening to real people and in great numbers. After all, withholding care due to politics is still happening in real life.
After thinking about it for a moment though, you could in fact look at it as making fun of people who are poor in a specific way; they do not possess reliable information to act on, and that's certainly not their own fault. Every decision has its own cost and risks, both known and unknown, and people inevitably make decisions with some degree of incomplete information if they determine the known and unknown cost and risk are acceptable. Still, that's just elaborating on your wording, and wasn't what my problem with the whole thing was.