"If they are of poor standard, that is our fault, and no one else's."

That's what they would have you believe.
- But the game is rigged.
The people are propagandised from Grade 1
Go against the narrative and be cancelled or attacked.
- Get called 'racist' (criticise immigrants) or 'bigot' or 'xenophobe' (criticise gays) or 'transphobic' (criticise trans)
i.e hate speech
- Don't dare oppose the climate agenda.
Anti science, climate denier

Accept the international agenda or get a target on your back.
Meanwhile the important stuff has all been decided already, like support for US wars and parties are bipartisan, meaning people don't have any choice at all.
- Democracy is an illusion.

They fooled you into thinking we chose it.

"If you want to talk about every other thing that governments do, apart from suppression of free speech, start a thread. You are one of the parasitic non-performers here who rely on the few who start threads so that you can let fly - usually with little or no reference to the topic."

I don't often start threads, it's not because I don't want to
- But that I feel like if I do I'll have to respond to everyone's opinions like a thread minder.

AC

You don't 'have to respond to everyone's opinions just because you start a thread. I don't.

I start threads if there is something I want people to know. If people don't want to know, that's fine. If they do read it, but don't say anything, that's fine. If they respond with a negative opinion, that's fine. If they add something I like, I might address them directly. If they say something I don't like, so be it, but I don't feel any obligation to argue with them unless it suits me. There is not much point in arguing with people who disagree with you.

Think about the more 'professional' opinions that are submitted to the front section of OLO. Not many of those contributors (what they write are just opinions like ours, no matter how grand they consider themselves to be) ever respond to our comments, positive or negative.

OLO is one of the very few places where ordinary people like us get to say what we want to say. We need more people to start more threads.

Yes, if I were to start a thread in the general-discussion area then I would feel obliged to relate to all posts in there, whether they interest me or otherwise.

Gutless people will always have excuses for not doing their bit for democracy; but 'feeling obliged to 'relate' to all posts' has to be the weakest.

OLO give us all the opportunity to have a say on what affects us. We don't have to 'relate' to anyone. Some people simply cannot be related to. For instance, there is no way that I can relate to Paul 1405, SteeleRedux, or Aidan and, now, clearly, Yuyutsu.

There will be people who can't relate to me. Do I care? I do not. Am I going to sit back and not have a say when I want to? I am not.

People who don't take an active part in democracy, particularly when there is nothing and nobody stopping them, don't deserve democracy.

Dear Ttbn,

Indeed I would feel no obligation to relate to anyone - that would truly not be any of my business.

My only obligation, should I start a new thread, would be to relate to the materials presented in the posts, not to their authors!