"Anarchy, Communism, Fascism? Anarchy!" Topic

Well, the top vote was 'this is ridiculous' at 34%.

TMP link

But of the actual choices, anarchy wins at 20%, with communism at 15% and fascism at 11%.

18% went for 'none of these/no opinion'

2% went for 'other (explain)'

And one person was offended and cancelled their Supporting Membership…

In other words, a typical successful poll.

So in other words, the majority of voters did not choose communism or fascism. 54% chose 'no opinion' or said the poll was ridiculous. Even anarchy, which is not a type of government, but a lack of government won out over the other two extremes listed; and was probably voted as a joke by many. Anyway this is good news that most people when given a choice between two extremes; reject them both.

Sorry I missed this pole …

The person who cancelled their Membership was me.

And it had nothing to do with the poll. What it had to do with was the sarcastic response I received from Bill when I asked about the discussion of politics on TMP.

Allow me to explain. I have been a supporting member for most of my 14 years on the board. In that time, I have never been Dawghoused. A point that I actively avoided and found personal pride in. I find no need to say mean or rude things to people on the internet. It serves no purpose. I do know that I have been stifled. I think I had 6 or 7 before the counter was removed. I've never understood why, like I said, I make it a point not to be offensive. And I was hurt by the fact that somehow, someone took such great hurt at something I said that they deemed my comments unworthy for them to see. But I got over it.

Every summer TMP seems to go through a great upheaval; loads of angry comments and Dawghousing by the score. Hasn't happened yet this year. Then Bill posted the thread about Editor Julia. I actually don't care what we all do in our personal lives. As long as you are not harming others, your business is your business. But when Bill posted the thread I thought to myself, "Here we go…"

The Flame War of '18 never happened. Good for you TMP. Maybe we as a group have learned, if we have a positive comment then by all means say it. But if you want to be negative, just to be negative, maybe silence is the best route. I was happy that only one person ran afoul of the TMP rules and was punished.

Then Bill ran a Poll about Politics. Made me go "Hmmm.." So I asked the question in the comments, "I thought discussion of Politics on TMP was not allowed?". Seemed to me to be a legitimate question.

And then Bill replied, with (in my opinion, especially coming from the Editor) a very snarky and inappropriate, "You should read the FAQ sometime. It is discussion of "recent" politics which is not allowed – the 10-Year Rule."

I thought to myself, "Wait a minute. I have read the FAQ. I do follow the rules and play nice. I try to be as positive a person as I possibly can. And this is the answer I get? An answer I PAY to get. Nope. Not anymore."

That is why I canceled my Membership. Not because I was offended the Poll, but because I refuse to pay for insults to my intelligence.

In closing, I know that this really doesn't matter to you all. Truth be told, I wasn't a huge contributor to the collective wisdom here. I wasn't going to say anything and let it go. But now I feel I should, for my own piece of mind, state the reasons behind my request to cancel my Supporting Membership. And now any insults will be free.

Dave