Please stop telling me what to be concerned about

[walldude]

Why is it I have spent so much time today reading about how we shouldn't be talking about this and we should be talking about that. Look, we come from all walks of life, different races, religions, and backrounds, that give us all different perspectives at different times on different subjects. We login when we can, sometimes for 10 minutes and sometimes all day. Just because at this moment in time your biggest concern is the Iraq war, or Katrina or Poverty, doesn't mean that I am not drained from days of heavy debate on those serious subjects and that I shouldn't be able to have fun in a thread cheering Olberman or denouncing Coulter. If you don't like what a thread is discussing don't click on it. On many days I only have a few minutes here and today it seemed like I spent most of my time listening to people tell me I should be more worried about what they are concerned with than what I am concerned with at the moment. If I spent all day every day worrying about poverty, Iraq, the administration, Katrina, etc, etc, I would go totally insane. Please let me keep my sanity....

:rant:

[sendero]

1. Works..

... for me :)

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Right. You should all be concerned about me and whether or not

I will float away in all this rain from Ernesto.






:hide:



:yourock:

[FlavaKreemSnak]

3. I think a lot of people feel like that

Especially when you realize that we are getting closer to a time when most of us unless we are like in the top 1% rich group won't be able to not think about poverty because so many of us will be moving into a more low income lifestyle, and also more people we know will be going to Iraq and pretty soon Iran, etc or wherever for the war on terror, that people want to enjoy not having to think about any of that while they can.

[OwnedByFerrets]

4. I couldn't agree more nt

[SeattleGirl]

5. walldude, I was thinking almost exactly the same thing earlier

today. What gets me is when people express their opinion as a proclamation or directive. "Do NOT listen to AAR!" "Do NOT support candidate thus-and-so!" "You MUST take action on this!" Please! I am a grown-up, I am intelligent, and I can make up my own mind about things. I certainly welcome others' opinions, but I wish they would express them AS opinions instead of absolutes. I love DU, and have learned so much about so many different issues from DU members, but still, I want to read, research, watch, listen, and as I said, then make up my own mind.

As to which issues are important, there are so MANY important issues, and as you said, walldude, maybe you spent the previous day totally focused on one or two issues, so you need a break, or to focus on something else the next day. It's the same for me. Also, there are some issues that just aren't really interesting to me, and so while I may look at a thread, see what's going on, there are so many other things I can focus my attention on that mean more to me than that particular topic. So, I will let those who are passionate about that topic spend their time on it; I probably have things I am passionate about that others aren't. And actually, I think that's great. That way, a wider variety of topics get time, energy, and attention.

Nice rant, walldude!

[walldude]

8. Thanks, I was worried it might be taken the wrong way...

I think I just came across too many of these "demanding my time" threads today...

[prole_for_peace]

6. totally agree.

i get upset when i am reading a thread about something, say a pop culture thing. and there is almost always someone who tells everyone that we are wasting time on stupid useless stuff and there are more important things, blah, blah.

i KNOW about katrina and iraq and afghanistan and whatever but think and obssess about that stuff all the time. i would loose my mind. i need something senseless occasionally. damn

[havocmom]

7. Roger that!

:thumbsup:

If I wanted to be told what to do and think about, I'd join the GOP, get on Mehlman's mailing list and join a radical xian cult.

Free Will - it's a good thing. :toast:

[City Lights]

9. Great post, walldude.

Totally agree. :thumbsup: :yourock:

[K8-EEE]

10. Yep!! Also Don't Like The Lectures About

being "anti-" or making anti- comments. Whenever they say, "Why is everybody at DU..." it's already BS...we aren't freepers and we have our own minds.

I wish people would just argue their points as they come up on the thread, I hate it when they tell us to "stop being" this way or that way. Annoying!

[w4rma]

11. As a point, when the group is organized towards a goal or few, it is

a good idea to join the group, assuming you agree with those goals, to help get them accomplished. If you are off doing your own thing, then you aren't lending that extra power to the group. And if everyone is refusing to listen to anyone about what needs to be done atm, then the group is disorganized and won't have any power at all.

[OnionPatch]

12. I agree

Democracy is all about people thinking for themselves and speaking out about what concerns them without fear of being chastised or marginalized. If DU were a board for a specific group of activists for addressing a specific problem, I could maybe see the "stop focusing on....." threads. But this is called "general discussion" for a reason.