The Value of this Community

[ThatOldGuy]

This has been my first real forum and a great circle of friends. As for the value of this community to me, this passage from The Hunger Games really hit home when I read it and hopefully will supplement what I say below it:

When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts. Do my work quietly in school. Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades in the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money. Even at home, where I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be?

With such a perspective outside the typical paradigm, I feel that I open myself to harsh criticism from those who do not wish to understand what I mean/believe and (not always, but often) prefer to forced laughter, insult me, ignore me, or quote something a radio host said merely to get me to shut up. So I don’t start arguments. On politics with those close to me, I stay quiet. If someone asks me my perspective, I answer humbly and to the best of my ability and try to change the conversation. On the other hand, if I can tell that someone is actually interested in the topic, I might linger around it and ask what they think and perhaps question their perspective- this has led to interesting conversations (I just found a buddy who believes that government controlled education is a racket to control the ambitions of hard-working and inventive people; this started as a conversation about religion).

A few months ago a buddy caught me reading an article and just started trying to debunk every point made in the article and, since he’s into politics (he’s liberal), the continuing awkward discussions in the coming weeks regarding politics pretty much sapped away the friendship we had little by little. Before then we never talked about politics. We’ve hardly talked since then. Because of that little episode, I hide my perspective from friends or family as much as possible (sometimes I can’t avoid it, like when someone close directly asks me if I’m voting for Obama or Romney and everything stops until I answer). My family knows I’m libertarian; that’s pretty much it.

The Mises Forums allow me to have a place where I am able to think critically, discuss what I think and learn, and open myself to criticism from those who are just interested, if not more so, in the given subject as I am. Coming here allows me an opportunity to “get away” with others who care about the truth. I couldn’t help myself from laughing at this post, even though it is clearly intended as an insult, as it helps me make my point: this isn’t a community indivduals who blindly recite what is written in a book and pat each other on the back for doing so. Perhaps we’ve read similiar literature and have similar philosophies, and, sure, agreement about somethings and feuds over other things will happen with such a specific group, but we can still talk about dieting, find solutions to mathematical paradoxes, critique movies and laugh at Paul Krugman. The range of discussion here is just not available with most people I know, from the obscure clarifications on capital theory to the latest news about Ron Paul.

I really do have fun here and I’m glad that I’ve found this community.