10A

I have had no interaction with anyone from Hexbear. Personally do not support Russia or the CCP, But I also stand against defederation, regardless of their stances on any topic. It doesn’t make someone a “inflammatory troll” just because they hold different opinions than you. Even if there really are inflammatory trolls coming from that server, it should be enough to block them if you personally dislike them. In general, it’s healthy to expose ourselves to a wide diversity of opinions, and to respectfully discuss topics with people who disagree with us.

You’ve got your parties backward, but thank you.

Funny, that image link is 404 Not Found.

I’d love to see an option made available for magazines saying, “Voters must be members”, and perhaps “Hide content from /all”.

This is part of a larger discussion on moderator pruning.

I think it’d help to start emailing notifications if they’re not checked within a certain period of time.

You are authoritarian and you don’t even realize it. All of your details are irrelevant. Get off your high horse, and recognize that this is a marketplace of ideas, where all of our ideas are equally valid. Stop trying to silence people. It will end badly for all of us.

Like so many other people in this thread, you are conflating the principle of free speech with the US First Amendment. Do they not teach this stuff in Civics Class anymore? The First Amendment is predicated on free speech. Free speech is fundamental to western civilization. The first Amendment is only applicable to government, whereas the principle of free speech is applicable to everyone in western civilization. We must all uphold free speech for all people, lest western civilization collapses.

In a free society, we have the downvote button for content we personally dislike. You’re free to criticize their beliefs, and you’re free to try to change their minds. But as soon as you try to silence anyone, you become an enemy of free society. We must all work to uphold western civilization, while realizing that it most certainly will always provide a platform for people (including ourselves) to explore all manner of ideas freely.

It’s a confluence of many factors, some of which I already listed, and instead of accepting and seeking knowledge, you rejected my explanation. I’m done replying to you here. Take care.

I know what nationalism is, thank you. I also know what American Exceptionalism is, and it’s a well established doctrine, well rooted in fact. I might have failed to explain it well, or maybe you just didn’t want to question your preconceived beliefs. Either way, American Exceptionalism is the real deal, and no amount of bickering over it could change my mind. Thank you, though, for sharing your perspective with me.

Here’s the thing: I’m tired and headed to sleep. This has been a long and meandering conversation full of disagreements, with no real point. It’s a bit exhausting. You’re asking me about a topic that has been written about extensively in multiple books and articles. You can look up “American Exceptionalism” if you really want researched facts with academic citations. I was just giving you my honest thoughts, as a rather sleepy individual. I’m sorry those thoughts weren’t up to snuff for you.

This interaction is done. You’re obviously not a fan of the US, and if you don’t live here anyway then you have every right not to be. It’s no skin off my back. I wish you all the best. See ya around.

Ha, it’s not fascist to click downvote. You wrote something I believed to be false, so I downvoted. If it really hurts your feelings I can take it back. I do enjoy mutually respectful debate. I don’t think a downvote is all that disrespectful, and I also don’t think we’re having much of a debate. (What’s the topic exactly?)

By what metric?

By a ton of metrics, but a few that come to mind off the top of my head:

• We’re predominantly Christian, and that’s not an official religion like in some other countries, but actual self-reported religious affiliation.
• People flock here from all over the world for our freedom, and always have since our inception.
• Our Constitution was the first to establish that God-given rights are the basis for a free people’s self-governance, and that constitution has been imitated worldwide, though never paralleled.
• Our culture of self-defense makes us impossible to invade, because most people are armed and more than ready to take down attackers.
• We invented almost every useful technology that has been invented since our inception, including this here internet and the electrical generators that power it.
• We invented country music. 'Nuff said.

I understand that some citizens of various other countries see themselves as part of an interconnected global world, where countries are fungible. And to be fair, a few Americans think that too. But in reality the US is far removed from all other countries, and we’re blessed with being the greatest country possible, so a foreign perspective really doesn’t impact us at all.

So you’re right to say I’m uninformed — indeed we all are, somewhat, depending on the holes in our areas of focus — but you’re wrong to say my conclusions are not based on facts. Because my conclusions are entirely factual within the context of the US.

If I’m incorrect outside of that context, well okay, I’ll take your word on that. But so? It just seems like such an irrelevant point to make.

That can be true or false. I neither know nor care. I’m sorry to be dismissive, and I don’t mean to be rude. You’re just trying to make a point that seems irrelevant to me. I’m sure it’s meaningful to you, but it’s not to me.

Perhaps — I have no idea about the rest of the world — but Fox serves an American audience, so that’s the context in which it’s appropriate to evaluate it.

As a conservative, when I look at the Fox News website, I typically think all of the following: A) these stories are notably well-balanced compared to the other mass media outlets, B) man, they publish some really stupid articles on this site, C) Why do the articles all have huge videos that are completely unrelated to the articles on top of them?, and D) Yikes, the comment section sure does feature some openly racist remarks sometimes.

But outside of Fox, in the US, there are generally two types of news organizations: large-and-leftist and tiny-and-conservative.

What are you, a librarian? Do you not go out into the world and experience anything in your life? Most of what we learn about the world does not come from citeable sources, but from actual real-world experience.

Fox is centrist, but every other mass media outlet is far to the left of them. And Fox publishes whatever gets clicks, including Trump stories.

I could probably go out and search for a million random people who’ve experienced it too (like everyone older than 30), and some articles about it. But I said what I know to be true based not on having read it anywhere, but rather on what I’ve personally experienced over quite a few decades of life in America.

Wait, do you actually disagree with that? I thought that was common knowledge. If you don’t mind my asking, which age-group are you in? (If you decline to state for anonymity, I understand. I just find this baffling. It’s indisputably true in my personal, anecdotal, life experience.)

Trump was a life-long Democrat until he switched parties. He’s not a Christian. His personality could hardly be described as “conservative” by anyone. Trump may win the GOP primary again, just because Democrats control the mass media, but he does not represent the voice of conservative Americans, even if we end up voting for him in the general election. He’s a political anomaly, which is why he has a fanbase, but is also why he shouldn’t be a factor in this conversation.