Dear Col,

We've been down this road before if my memory
serves me correctly.

I wouldn't dream of telling you what to do.
I was simply making a polite request of both
yourself and Rob - to try to raise the bar
of this thread - because it was being
side-lined into a name-calling, slanging match.
I felt that you're both better than that.

Anyway, if you find my request offensive - that
certainly wasn't my intention.

I still remember with great fondness
the gentleman who offered to wear a
tux to my dinner party.
And the same man - had advised a friend
to treat his ex-with fairness and respect because that
friend had "loved her once."

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their
echoes are truly endless. The same goes for nasty words.
I guess it depends where one's preference lies - in
what we choose to use for good effect. Charm and wit
seems to be a dying art.

What a pity.

Hi all.
Great debate,plenty of mud in your eyes.

Here is the post by Foxy to remind us all of the nature of the original discussion.

Dear Oscar,

Social institutions tend to reflect the
interests of those who control the economy
rather than the interests of those who don't.
In any society, therefore, the laws tend to
protect the rich, not the poor.

Governments uphold the
status quo, rather than undermining it.

Like anyone else, high status people form social
networks, webs of relationships that link the
individual directly to other people, and through
these others, indirectly to even more people.
They enter these networks through socialization in
their families, schools, clubs, corporate boards,
and other elite circles where they associate with
people of similar background and advantages.

Because these social networks have much greater
resources of wealth, power, and prestige than
those of other people, their members have far more
"leverage" in society, despite their fewer numbers.

In effect, they have easier access to the
best education, the highest paid jobs, the most
useful contacts, the most powerful positions,
the most crucial information.

They influence, control, or occupy the commanding
heights of the economic and political order, and their
actions tend to preserve the advantages of their
class as a whole.

This class system survives for as long as
the resources of those who benefit from it outweigh
the resources of those who are disadvantaged by it.

Change may come about if members of the lower
class successfully mobilize their own resources,
by forming a social movement - such as a labour
movement - or as in the US - a civil rights movement,
that organises votes, funds, access to the media,
ability to cause demonstrations, strikes, etc.

In extreme cases social movements aim at revolutions,
using violence as a resource. World History has seen
revolutions overthrow governments, from the French
Revolution to the Russian, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian,
etc.

What more can i say.
Thanks for everyones posts,but im moving on to my next discussions

>>Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. The same goes for nasty words.<<

Too troo, Foxy.

I put in a complaint and got Col's post removed.
I also put in a request to have my turdaceous retort removed as well as it's now out of context.

Yep, it would be better to get out of ruts and move on. But, when someone has a crack at you, you've only got two options, respond in kind or turn the other cheek. Best of all is not to be destructive in the first place, I agree.

Dear Rob,

Thank You. It takes a big man to do what
you did, and I salute you for it.

I know that we all react when the right
buttons are pushed. It's human nature.
I've lost it myself many times.
And, I've been called many names on OLO
in the past.

I find when people attach
insults to their discussions, they're angry.
Angry people need to insult as an outlet
for their anger. However, insults are never
part of a meaningful discussion or critique.
The purpose of insults is to simply punish.

Discussions on OLO aren't supposed to be an
all out "battle." I don't think they're supposed
to be a battle at all. When the discussions slip
into being dysfunctional - well as another poster
once said, "There's another just around the corner."

Anyway, Thanks once again for realizing that people
don't have to face insults, and for doing something
constructive about it. You gave yourself the power
in this situation by taking control of it.