Reply #23: Newbie, Too..

[Pounder]

I know exactly what you are talking about, A Worker Bee. I, too, was on a board that literally turned into a fascist, authoritarian circle jerk! A bona fide good ol'boys club where every post was devoted to patting each other on the back for a job well done...unless, of course, you had a contradictory P.O.V.

If you had an opinion even slightly askew of the party line, you were literally brow-beaten until you either submitted, or threw up your arms, and left in disgust. I haven't left there, but I'm not there nearly as much now. Actually, In retrospect, most of the forward thinking people that were there moved on to greener, more pro-active pastures, leaving a very small core of inbred hate-mongers.

I say let'm rot in their own vileness & filth!

I've been poking around here...this place is huge! Lot's of different ideas, and not a lot of hate. I know that the vast majority of people aren't the poison spewing bastards that I've been butting heads with for far too long now. I know this because I've experienced other realities, in other lands. I've been to third world countries, and I've seen the devastation...the horrendous, and heartbreaking conditions that soooo many people are living in. And yet, in spite of their dismal station in life, and despite any previous dealings with the classic "ugly American" they might have had, the vast majority of them were still uncommonly kind and generous. I've also witnessed the behaviour of more than a few arrogant and condescending Americans in these countries, and it's no wonder that Americans are so despised in so many places...but, I will say this, if I may...I've visited a few places where Americans were not as well loved as we like to think, and I was not greeted with open arms..BUT, when I left those places, the majority, if not all, of the people that I personally came in contact with, had a higher regard for Americans than they did before my arrival there.

I'm not bragging, because I did nothing to brag about...unless you consider treating people with respect and kindness something to brag about.

We will overcome...I refuse to lose hope!

O! One more thing, A Worker Bee....I noticed your quotated reference to "the mob"....are you a Sandburg fan, perchance?

:)