Originally posted by Fatum:
me and my camp ? .... which camp exactly do I belong to ? .... do
you not think it's presumptious of you to label me ? ... and you
wonder what do I mean ? ....
i quote what you wrote previously:
"... some chaps here are clearly from the opposition camp, while
others simply like to engage in, what another forumer calls "mental
masturbation"; .... some people like playing the intellectual
rebels, engaging in pointless dialectics, these people don't really
have a position at all ... they just like to oppose for the sake of
opposing ......"
you have made many labellings in your short paragraph, why be so
upset at being labelled when you have no qualms labelling others,
whoever they might be?
so ... according to your black and white worldview, if I do not
subscribe to your arguments, I am thus a goverment supporter ?
...
do not interpret my words in black and white. my reference to you
as a govt supporter is merely the flip side of your labellings of
others here as 'rebels', 'oppose for the sake of opposing' and
'opposition', which can be collectively termed as opposition.
this forum has a lot of promise, look at the date which I signed
up, initially, I thought the internet is a free and unbridled space
where people could hold honest discourses on politics and issues
which affect all our lives .... the cynicism sets in very quickly
however, .... I stand by my views of many of the people here, after
a while, it becomes apparent that some are here with an agenda,
others are here simply for the dialectic game, yet others like to
play the sanctimonious intellectual rebel ... like I said, hey, it
takes all sorts ..... but remember this, this is not a debating
club after all, but a forum .... if people gets dilineated into
black and white camps like this, is it any wonder that after a
while, you'll only get to see only people with a view similar to
yours ? ... birds of a feather always cluster together, no ? ... In
anycase, for those people with an agenda, I'll have to say that
they'll have to take care to engage people, not put people down,
logic and dialectics can only get one so far, it's how you win the
hearts and minds of people who are cynical and opposed to you that
really matters ... for those "mental masturbators" have fun
scratching yourselves .......
the Internet is free no doubt, for you as well as others to express
their views. it may not be a debating club but without debates, how
do you get a feel of the relative merits of alternative viewpoints?
if someone presents a stronger perspective, i would say "ok, you
have a point there but ..." instead of thinking "he's putting me
down". and what do you mean by "mental masturbation"?
so .... people of one political persuasion cluster in one
particular forum .... people of another persuasion cluster in
another ... 
... why not take a step
back, and scroll through this forum again ? does it really much
like a real discussion ? ... or does it look like a bunch of people
all talking to each other's hands ? ....
"one political persuasion ... another persuasion ..." aren't you
similarly categorising people?
well ... since you've labelled me first .... which category do you
think you belong to ? ....
you started the labelling first but it doesn't matter.
categorisation isn't impt, but merely a convenient way of
addressing the overall political inclination of that person. in
this respect, i have no qualms in saying i am very, very pissed
with our govt. but that is not to say i am angwee with everything
it has done, just that they blow their own trumpets better than
anyone else and hence needs no extra trumpeting from me ...
