Its good for the community
I come to JoeUser to write, to read, to comment and to learn. I learn most from people that are different from me, that offer ideas and perspectives that I would never have thought of. I don't think that I am unique in this. But civility is a requirement. When things degenerate into "flame wars" or simple meanness, neither side listens or benefits.
One of my dear friends is our own BakerStreet. I know BakerStreet from the skinning community and he has always had my respect and admiration. We disagree about a lot of things. In fact we first started corresponding on a thread regarding gun control that began during the sniper attacks. We were on opposite sides of the issue and to this day probably disagree on more points than we agree. But I was most impressed by BakerStreet's command of the facts and ability to marshall cogent arguments. In the intervening years, he has taught me much. I like to think of him as a friend. He certainly has my admiration.
O G San and shadesofgrey were introduced to me via threads discussing Palestine. Again, we disagreed more than we agreed. Their arguments were so well reasoned and well marshalled that, again, I learned a great deal. I like to think that a friendship grew from our discussions.
But not everyone seems to take this tack. Some people seem to think that height is a relative thing. If they belittle someone in a hurtful manner, they think that it somehow makes them taller. News flash...it doesn't. It only increases the amount of pain in the world. Believe me, there is enough of that already.
The people that I respect most create new things in the world. They elevate those around them. Michael Jordan in basketball made his team mates better. Just ask Scottie Pippen. They have self-esteem from what they do, from what they accomplish, not form lowering those around them.
Not all the articles on JoeUser are to my taste. People sometimes write things that I regard as silly or childish. In those cases, I ignore them. I don't need to challenge everything. And I certainly see no benefit to insulting anyone. It has no relevance to me.
It is my observation that people who insult others, who openly provoke, have little to offer themselves. They do not make positive contributions because they lack the ability or commitment to do so. I would hazard the guess that they have shallow, unhappy lives. Rather than saying or doing something positive, they try to spreadd their unhappiness around. There is a woderful Elvis Costello lyric about how "Everybody has to feel his pain."
I have linked to an article on Internet Trolls. A comment that seems most germane is the definition of a Troll:
"An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people.
Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it)."
What a sad, sad thing it must be to be a Troll.