The Big DU "Blow Out"- Insanity? Full Moon?Exploding Gas?

LibraLiz1973

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Thu May-12-05 08:08 PM
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The Big DU "Blow Out"- Insanity? Full Moon?Exploding Gas?

Edited on Thu May-12-05 08:25 PM by LibraLiz1973

Wow. Just wow. I hadn�t done a thorough reading of any DU threads in a few days, so coming back to find the lounge �walls� re-decorated with bloodstains instead of color by numbers paintings was a real surprise.

I read Skinner�s post from yesterday and I empathized. He made what I felt were some very salient points. It is a part of the human experience to come across cliques and feel unappreciated. How many of you have felt that you are on the outside of something trying to get in? I understood immediately that Skinner wasn�t really addressing his post to the Lounge as a whole; rather, to a certain element of the lounge that was getting out of hand. Reminding people to exercise humility and humanity isn�t wrong. I was shocked to see how many people responded negatively to Skinner�s post, particularly those who went out of their way to make it about THEM. I don�t think Skinner was trying to get personal with anyone. My interpretation of the post was that it was a call for decency, caring, understanding and inclusion.

When I look at DU I see a place for all Democrats interested in discussing, understanding & working to change the process. How disturbing must it be to be the creator/owner of something (that you started with the best intentions ) that is spiraling out of control? I can only imagine. I have not seen as much of a problem here at DU as many of you posted that you had. Of course I�ve been here for a considerably shorter period of time than most of you. But I was disturbed to see all the finger pointing that went on in that thread. While some of the responses were thoughtful, articulate & thought provoking, several were down right obnoxious. �You think the Lounge is bad? Head over to GD�. Was that supposed to make Skinner feel better? Because I can�t imagine that it would have. Instead of coming together (& pointing out that 98% of us are here because we believe in the party & the DU Community) it became a cesspool of anger and vitriolic spew.

I don�t know about you, but I�m not here to work toward becoming Miss DU 2005. I think most of us are here with the best of intentions and with a genuine interest in discussion and learning. Meeting quality people with similar interests is the cherry on top of the DU experience. In the short time that I have been here I have actually learned things that I would not otherwise have heard or read about. It�s amazing what a wonderful melting pot of passionate ideas DU is!

The final part of Skinner�s post really touched me. I had a similar experience growing up. I grew up poor & on food stamps, with a father in jail for rape. I was gawky and did not have self confidence. People made fun of my clothes, my house & the fact that my lunch tickets were a different color than theirs. As I grew older my mother got a better job and we were no longer on welfare. I fought to become popular & by the end of high school I was at the top of the popularity chain. Emotionally I paid a heavy price for that. I became a shallow, obnoxious person for about a year there as I struggled to �prove� myself to the �cool kids�. I did and said things during that time that humiliate me to this day. There is nothing to be proud of in preying on people in order to be the top dog.

For the most part DU is a great place to be. The thing to remember is that there will not be a vote on who gets which superlative. The prize is that we all have the ability to log in and talk to each other & learn about what�s going on outside our own little cities & towns. It�s natural to make friends, some closer than others. It�s unnatural to create an elite group that dominates the rest of the crowd.

I�m sending a big hearty wave & a firm handshake to all of you. New or old (to the DU environment) I hope to talk to all of you!

:dem: