What Great Responses, Thank You!

Dear One Under God,

I'd like to give you a hug.
Your words touched my heart,
because they came from yours.

Dear Polycarp,

I wouldn't want you to change CJ or Pericles.
The Forum would be so much duller without
the inter-action between all of you.

Dear Col,

Again, your wicked sense of humour provides
just the right touch to this discussion ...

Nice thoughts, Foxy. My own are:

1. Spend more time with my children
2. Do more toward fighting the scourge of "male-bashing" that is becoming entrenched as part of our social fabric.
3. Become debt-free

For once, I actually agree with Col Rouge, as well. The growth of pervasive bureaucracy under Howard was horrendous and I can't see the Labor Government doing anything much to reduce the daily interference of the State in our lives. The "perfect storm" of a feminised bureaucracy and a lazy government that finds it easier to be a "nanny state" and micromanage than to try to accommodate the vagaries caused by people living their lives freely and unconstrained by handouts and penalties is leading to a very bleak future, well described by Orwell among others.

I'm wondering if any OLO posters would be ready to make the resolution to spend less time posting their thoughts on a blog to total strangers, and arguing with people who are never going to change their position.

There seems to be a core of people who post on most topics, and I wonder what must be wrong in their lives that they have so much time for such an exercise. Especially those who spend so much time trading insults with that polycarp guy.

Dear Houellebecq,

I can only speak for myself regarding this Forum
and the reason why I spend so much time on it.

Simply put, it's addictive.

I enjoy the interaction with what you call 'strangers.'
However, to me the posters here, have become much
more than that.

They're a great bunch of people with
diverse opinions from whom I've learned a great deal.
At times, I've been forced to re-examine my point of
view and admit that it was rather narrow.

Another plus is, because there is such a
wide variety of topics covered in this Forum,
and because this is one Forum
that presents many sides of any given discussion -
it forces me to delve into areas that I probably
normally wouldn't go.
And that's the challenge that is so enjoyable.

Some people enjoy crossword puzzles,
I enjoy these discussions
in cyber-space on a wide variety of topics.

You obviously must enjoy at least something of what this
Forum has to offer, otherwise what are you doing
here?

Dear Foxy, thank you for the good thoughts and optimism.

My New Year's wishes as they relate to OLO would bring vast improvements, I reckon.

1. Opinions that are actually informed and reasoned instead of mere platitudes and a parade of perennial prejudice.

2. The use of facts without adulteration instead of selective plagiarism from other fact-free websites.

3. Compassion for people in need instead of stereotypes, gross generalisations about minority group members and callous blaming the victim.

But, dear Foxy, I don't expect to get my wishes. Not unless Polycarp, runner, Col Rouge and the rest of the God squad take a sabbatical. They're back already and it's not even New Year!

Foxy,

I can understand the attraction of the forum, as you say I spend some time here. My concern is with balance, and the efforts people seem to put into it, and actually it disturbs me the time people are putting into what amounts to a relationship with people they really don't know at all. It must come at some expense to some potentially more rewarding relationships in these people's lives.

I'm sure you find yourself refining your position on many topics, but I see others who I seriously doubt achieve any such payoff. It seems to me many are either very lonely and need the attention of others on OLO, very bitter and want to argue if at all possible, or very insecure and need to 'win' some pseudo-intellectual contest to feel better about themselves.