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Post #1251510

Author
Post Praetorian
Parent topic
The deletion of the political threads.
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1251510/action/topic#1251510
Date created
22-Oct-2018, 1:34 AM

I would simply recommend members be given a specific command they can use to pause an exchange they are having with a moderator in which they feel their understanding of the rules is being disrupted. For instance, when I was in public office we could always command a point of order if the rules underlining a discussion had the appearance of being broken.

https://masterofmeetings.com/index2/articles/point-of-order-what-why-when-and-how

A similar balance of power might be considered in this arena so that your role as Admin does not need to be abandoned, Jay, but instead strictly respected within the confines of its proper mandate. If individuals feel they have a reasonable countermand to your power they would/should not be able to use the fact that you are the Admin as an automatic rebuff against you or your opinions for they would have no real cause to do so.

My preference is that your leadership remain intact. This is your site and it lives or dies at your command. Disenfranchising you is to no one’s net benefit. All that remains is for a reasonable means for you to be flagged if you might cross a boundary a member considers sacred. Awareness is 90% of the solution.

As for other members who might occasionally lapse into vexatiousness, I wish to stress that it is quite possible to discuss differing opinions without using the crassest possible means of gaining ascendancy in an engagement. A truly meaningful political discussion is not at all about winning an argument by emotionally exhausting one’s opponent…rather the general purpose of a proper engagement is to attempt to sway the readers who are not necessarily directly participating–the jury, as it were. A reasonably thought out argument that remains honorable in intent will serve this purpose far better than a proof of pettiness or irritability. I have been swayed by more than one discussion because of even tones and fair dialogue, but have never been convinced by one who has simply been able to land the greatest insults.

Further, one simply cannot bully one’s opponent towards a paradigm shift: it is necessary to be as willing and open to change as one is expecting of one’s adversary…anything less is fairly hypocritical at best.