Have they actually asked for a specific pronoun? I admit I missed it if so. I try to use they or spell out greene... but see my reply to zeo, and a him slipped through... I pretty much default to male pronouns when unsure... not easy to catch all of them...

The feeling of respect is mutual. Given what I know of your life contexts you even have more than that, as I have a significant amount of sympathy for you. You are frequently even more abrasive than me though ;)

Seems it's working now...

Here goes, I had it saved on a txt since it ate my first attempt.

F&^%... misclick and get the post eaten :(

Sign I'm getting heated up, I'll rewrite and take a break to breathe.


Snowkatt, glad you replied. Truly. Because I don't know you enough to have addressed you individually, but I really wanted to.

So, can you define brute force? I thought posting on open forums was more like free speech... and like totally non violent?

I think you're being a bit more honest when you say this is annoying and grating. But then the question is why inflame that itch by scratching it, instead of soothe it with some ointment? At best you're feeding the troll and proving his point.

At worst... well... at worst I think you and others see very well this is not greene's agenda, this is their identity. And you are choosing to be disrespectful to a frightful level. You see they are trying to act strong, but that you are drawng blood, and you really want more blood.

It's like there's a boring person keeps coming to try and talk to you in a party, and instead of moving away or something, you push them? But of course, it's even past that level of aggressiveness now...



Speaking as the OP, greene's first post was very much on topic. And I agreed with 85% of it. His conclusion about downvoting I didn't agree - but I am clearly a minority on choosing to not use downvotes. As for the mob attacking greene... well let's check my OP:

- Avoiding repetitive arguments is valuable but taboos / banning are not universal solutions.
And yet, here we are and in effect I see an attempt to ostracize someone.
- If you feel you need to answer / respond to someone and their question or post looks like a challenge: be particularly aware of your own emotional engagement.
Really curious what about green's agenda is so annoying and grating. What makes it so difficult to just ignore?
- Be particularly considerate of newbies. Instead of being dismissive (also via joking) point them to FAQs, link to previous posts or maybe just ignore them (if you can't be constructive)?
Hurrah for small victories. Seeing the join dates, most involved have been around for a while. :(
- Be particularly considerate of numbers - what I would call mobbing - when the same person is being talked to by numerous others it is inevitable to feel overwhelmed, even if everyone is polite.
Yeah, kind of difficult to notice when one becomes a mob leader right? It just feels so right to push back against what to one is clearly wrong. And really... many already are far from polite IMO.
- Tone does wonders. Just all around being nice (no sarcasm, no irony, no dismissiveness) and taking others while assuming good faith. This ties back to emotional engagement. If you feel like you are talking to an enemy, you're probably part of the problem.
Oh shit... I will have to repeat myself here. I already mentioned how bad the tone has gotten and how strange it seems to me that greene is so itchy to you all. Why the Krush kill and destroy mode?

So... is this a conversation you want to have? I don't feel great about using greene as an example. If they have a bit of activist martyr complex this shit will reinforce it, but really... the way this thread went is mostly apalling and wholly disproportionate.


Actually. I want to ask the peanut gallery. Should I ask mods to lock the thread?
And greene, your opinion will be particularly considered, feel free to PM me.