A happy ending?

[661-Pete]

From the 'Thatcher' thread:

UNLOCKED
...
A happy ending is in progress . . . .

Sorry Graham. I seriously doubt it.

Is it time to resurrect the concept of a separate, visible-to-members-only, Politics section? I've had several goes at proposing this, and each time I've been outvoted or outgunned, so it seems. Perhaps I'm beating the air.

But .... whatever the political climate outside of this forum may have become over the last few months ..... I can see a change in the 'climate' right here with us, in our midst. And I'm not happy. I thought I liked the flavour of the debate on the CTC/CUK forum...

[Graham]

Alas, we cannot identify Cycling UK "members" using the system.

I would be quite happy to kill the "shock jock" topics which seem to be so common now.
The trouble is that what I consider an unpalatable topic might be of interest to others ( and sometimes interesting debate can be had ).

It did cross my mind that one or more political movement are encouraging their adherents to go out on the internet and "spread the message" or "dominate your chosen internet space", etc.
But that would just be a fantastic conspiracy theory, would it not ?

Sometimes I wonder whether a dodgy topic will be given the tumbleweed treatment for a change - just be abandoned to slip off our screen pdq.
But, no, alas, one or more people always seem to get drawn in.

[reohn2]

I think the problem is people like to debate politricks,that's evident by the number of politrick threads and how may pages they run.
That's the consequence of an open forum,we can choose to engage or not,that's the individual's choice.
Whether there should be a politrickal ghetto is up for debate.
We could debate that

[blackbike]

The content of a topic is only visible to people who chose to read it.

Or is the mere knowledge that a topic exists too much for some people?

[landsurfer]

A members only forum, where guests can read and view but not post.
There are costs associated with running the forum so why should non members have the benefit of it ??
I must say i have used and commented and opened topics while out of membership.

But surely the answer.
Another club i have been a member of is the Mazda MX-5 Owners club, no membership no post ...simple ....

And definitely a politics only forum ...

[661-Pete]

...

[661-Pete]

Alas, we cannot identify Cycling UK "members" using the system.

By 'members' I meant members of the forum, not members of Cycling UK.

[landsurfer]

Of course we could follow the advice of Isaac Asimov, set up a structured debate format, require membership ... then ban all those that want to to be members ..... their the problem ....
His idea was that anyone that applied to join the Police, by their very application, made themselves wholly unsuitable for the post .....

[mercalia]

maybe A 661-pete forum for anyone who wants to discuss with him

[bovlomov]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

[Norman H]

I'm inclined to agree with 661-Pete. It might be easier to change the name of the forum to Politics UK and include a separate cycling ghetto.

I'm all for free speech and although not participating do occasionally enjoy the arguments. My concern is the unrelenting nature of the political threads. We are living in exceptional times and the country seems more polarised than ever. Cycling ought be a unifying force but the forum seems to be dominated by the divisions of politics.

I also wonder what purpose is served by such debates. Certainly the main protagonists are unlikely to alter their opinions. It's possible, I suppose, that some onlookers may have their prejudices challenged, if they haven't all lost the will to live, but I get the feeling that the main purpose is the gratification of the thread instigators. Grahams use of the term Shock Jock seems very appropriate. The Helmet Ghetto was formed I believe because people became bored with the recycling of the same arguments. It appears to me that a similar case could be made in this instance. Whatever the mods decide, they have my support.

[bovlomov]

I'm all for free speech...

I think almost all of us agree that it's not a matter of free speech. We're guests in a private space, and the owners can chuck us out at any time. [Note to mods: that's not an invitation].

[reohn2]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

You left the floor out

[landsurfer]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

Cycling ??... i'll do a combined ride / put the world to rights day with you ...

[bovlomov]

I like most of the political debate here, but if it was banned I'd have more time to do other things. E.g. staring out of the window, staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, sleeping...

You left the floor out

What kind of loser do you think I am?!! I have some pride.