I don’t care about your opinion on the matter.
maybe that needed thrashed out. maybe some people think being stern is an insult. I wouldn’t call my son a retard. That would make me an idiot. damn i insulted myself.[:P]
Nope. It’s mollycoddling people which does it. If they don’t know that not only are they wrong, but simply have no business even discussing such things because they have bought into some mindless garbage: that’s not helping them.
Coddle people all you want; I won’t. Never have, never will.
No, it is not. They’re words. Remember: stick and stones…
No one has the right to not be offended. To believe otherwise is to believe in positive rights. And to believe that an insult is aggression is so laughable as to be ranked up there with the labor theory of value. It’s time for some people here to grow up and stop buying into the “I am special, look at me!!!” nonsense. If you get told that you’re an idiot, you haven’t been aggressed against. Hurt feelings are NOT a sign that you have been aggressed against.
And why should we even bother to be nice to such a person?
You also beg the question that we degrade ourselves with insults. Don’t do that.
Libertarianism doesn’t mean you have to be nice to everyone. If you want to be nasty then that is your choice and if you want to be nice then again, your choice. I like to be nice but sometimes people need a witty sardonic comment that stays inside their head. I treat it as a case by case system.
I don’t go to bars. And personal insults are acceptable. I do not believe in sugar-coating things. Deal with it or not. Not my problem.
Wilderness,
You make good points about people you’re responsible for and you’ll have a continuing relationship with, assuming that convincing them of your views is high on your priorities in that relationship. Still I would always argue respectfully without insults. In-your-face “YOU’RE WRONG” (with reasons) can work between friends who have the necessary rapport and history, but on the Internet it doesn’t seem to be that effective. In particular, even if “You’re wrong” is to be accepted, “You’re wrong, fool” seems to add nothing of value to the recipient (now their efforts are likely partly channeled toward trying to prove they’re not a fool) or the gallery (most of whom I assume would prefer to make that judgment on their own).
I certainly don’t mean not to call a spade a spade. I’ve just found it’s counterproductive to get the other person’s ego involved any more than necessary. There are ways to show someone is off track without much risk of getting their ego involved. It’s easy to see in so many threads here every week how the value of the thread simply evaporates once a few people locked get in a tug-of-war because a little defensiveness got into the mix. This is what I’m hoping to see less of by making this comment (not that it will do any good).
And I make the choice when the bring the pain and when not to. The person’s attitude and arguments determine that.
I am referring to personal insults, which happens quite often on these forums.
Then why don’t you stop posting on this thread? If you have nothing to offer, what’s the point in even posting?
I haven’t a problem. You’re an adult, not a child therefore you can control your emotions and dictate what is best.
This isn’t about libertarianism. This is about being a professional. Everyone, of course, has the right to do what they want in this case. I am asking people to be more professional and adult-like. For example, is it really necessary to call every Keynesian a retard? Why even do such a thing? How does it help?
Well that’s a wonderful non sequitur. How about trying to read, and then think before you post.
If that’s how you feel, and you do not feel any need to change, then I can only say that there’s no point in even having a dialogue with you. I should just focus on persuading more reasonable people. But, you would never see any of the economists you look up to personally insult their intellectual opponents.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. If you don’t care about his opinion, why respond to it? Why assume that we care about your opinion that you don’t care about ours?
Well people have varying ways of interacting. Take Baawa, he is a smart guy, especially when he was discussing philosophy several days ago. People get irritated seeing the same arguments over and over. I certainly don’t blame them. They are just using a different approach. Some people need to be shocked, some need to be sweet talked. I see a balance evolving here. Where some are good at the former and some at the latter, it is like a social division of labor. We shouldn’t fight it, we should accept it and utilize it.
And I do. Is there something else you were trying to say?
When did I say I’m responsible for anybody? I don’t exactly know what you are driving at here.
It is when I have to live with them. When it was my job I had to stay with the residents. Interact with them and hand out their meds, etc… I was the adult. I was the role-model. If they acted in the slightest deviation that headed towards aggression I nipped it early. I didn’t accept loudness in the unit. I didn’t accept negative attitudes. I confronted it. Over time I developed a well-learned, experience based way of approaching each situation uniquely. Sometimes it took full blown in your face. Other times it was a simple, “Don’t do that.” Other times it was a pull to the side to ask them how their day was going. Defuse the bomb early, I figured out, or else I would be working eight hours of hell with residents that forgot all their boundaries. I loved going to work in time. The place turned into a very good unit to live in, including not only for the residents but the staff. It became comfortable. I didn’t have to deal with the absurditites all the time anymore. It was nice.
You come off as immature and naive. When somebody is wrong with reasons, they are wrong.
Who has the bigger ego? You that think that you can solve all the problems in the immediate moment or the other person that doesn’t know they are off-track. Are they off-track or not? Is that an insult?
Nope.