General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set." Great screed from FB [View all]summer_in_TX
(2,738 posts)here at DU is incredibly tiring. Even vicariously, when all I'm doing is reading, the taking offense, sometimes nitpicking, and the all-too-frequent inability to take anything with a light touch or sense of humor is grating and wearing.
I've been coming here a long time (since W was still in office) off and on. Had a long hiatus as full-time work and grad school consumed my life. But after Trump was elected, I needed help processing and making sense of the world. I value what DU offers us, but the nose-dive in ease of conversation, the increase in friction, and how conversations too often get hijacked into this frustrating tangle of assumptions and offense is a notable and not positive change. It makes me sad.
I wish very much that those of us here could find a way to get beyond this frustrating state, and back into a more easy and comfortable discussion which flows. If only the adamant tone of voice in the ways some write softened to a tone that allowed for a degree of humility, indicating a touch of inquiry, a giving others the benefit of the doubt.
It's hard even to speak up, because it's very likely I'll be perceived as being preachy. But I'm way beyond ignoring problems at my age. That doesn't do anything positive. Not sure if speaking up will help either but it seems to me preferable to trying yet again to overlook what seems to me to be toxic. But we have so many good things going for us as a forum, and I hate to see it become a place that causes so much frustration that it pushes us away from one another.
Do you think it's all the pernicious influence of bots and trolls? I've noticed it seems to be pretty pervasive in our society these days. People in lots of spaces are quick to assume the worst, far from giving the benefit of the doubt or thinking that there may be extenuating circumstances or simple miscommunication.