Community Poll: Political Discussions

[Nymph]

I just don't like that the political stuff clutters up all the other stuff. I'm not even from the US so I don't really care about what's going on. I wish there was a sub forum for it, it would be pretty helpful.

 

[Amumu]

Banning political discussion entirely would be silly. On a forum about fishing or weightlifting, certainly, but on a forum about suicide... Especially now that everything and everyone is being censored left and right, SS feels like one of the few websites where you can talk about taboo topics.

Maybe contain it to a suifuel subforum though

Why not talk about politics on a political forum? Or create your own blog?

 

[waived]

Elevated moderation. No banning of discussion and no separate subforum or thread. Politics pops up in the middle of other topics because politics has an immense presence in and influence on other things and it would imo be limiting to ban the discussion of it. I think a separate subforum would turn into a war zone because that's what politics is expanded. It is inherently polarizing because one person's wealth is another's immiseration. My predictions for how a megathread would turn out is even less optimistic.

 

[Life sucks]

I hate politics. So in a suicide forum where people are about to end their lives, why do they still think about superficial and absurd stuff like herd mentalities. If someone is suffering or about to die, does superficial stuff like skin, ethnicity, nationality or anything else really mean anything? Their lives would be gone but nobody would care, because humans just want to continue their silly political games.


Everyone should get support regardless of political and personal details. I hope people understand how superficial is politics, how the reality is more complex and atrocious than that, how humans and biological creatures suffer and they need to help each other and not discriminate, hurt or increase their suffering.


I won't say I want to ban all politics because of those points:

1) The forum's nature is actually a political stance, although unexplainable by current politics, Pro-choice is a very advanced topic and ahead of its time.

2) Some reasons for ctb are political or based on nationality. So letting those people vent is good but it shouldn't hurt or attack others.

 

[demuic]

One question about having either a subforum or megathread is what happens if politics gets brought up outside of those place? Like to what extent is that allowed? Just a mention is okay or not?

Like what is considered political? Because a lot of things could be considered a political issue. Economics, social causes, race, gender etc.

In other places with a politics rule or containing it to only one place I have seen arguments arise over people thinking something someone says should actually belong in the politics place and not elsewhere and such so I'm wondering if specific topics would be considered or it's more of a know it when you see it kind of thing.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Fragile]

I voted to open a new sub forum, it's a necessity now that people are getting really heated with their politics, and I'd love it because I'm someone who really enjoys those discussions, specially when they become heated.

Banning them would be really bad, I don't like the idea of censorship, even less so in a forum about the most censored topic that there is.


And now that we are talking about containing posts, can we please do something about the game threads? I have nothing against them, it's just that they completely drown other threads and the offtopic section is becoming hard to use because of them. Opening a new sub-forum for them would be great for the people who use these threads.

 

[FireFox]

Subforum
I enjoy discussing politics and a subforum would be nice.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

I'm against them being banned entirely, a Megathread would be messy but could still work, I think subforum or thread tag is the way to go.

Euthanasia and right to die laws are political topics. Politics and laws can also have huge impacts on someones quality of life in general.

Politics can be incendiary topics sure but so can Religious beliefs or topics. Outright banning specific discussions of any nature is a slippery path to take.

 

[throwaway123]

lol this is gonna bethe end of this forum. If you guys think for one second that section 230 is gonna protect you from the current political fallout I can't help you anymore. When was the last time anyone here saw the news?
Really? Making another subforum to discuss things that get certain people banned on twitter,Facebook,instagram, amazon and pretty much every modern platform??? Who's fucking idea was that?
If you piss off enough people it's only a matter of time now. Not to mention the fact that CTB-discussing here was already pissing people off what do you think is gonna happen when politics get involved. There are already some very shady people here (not gonna go into detail with that) but when politics get involved you can be sure that its gonna end.
RIP SS.

My advice: Ban all political discussion. This site was about pro choice and being able to vent freely. Not some political or other depraved bullshit. This site shouldn't be the thrashcan of the internet like the chans.

 

[NeverSatisfied]

I like the idea of a subform. I feel as if in a megathread everyone will lose track of who's responding to what and when the topic changes. I also think it'd be great to have a subform so there's a place people can either go to on purpose to discuss things or avoid on purpose if they're not super politically-minded.

lol this is gonna bethe end of this forum. If you guys think for one second that section 230 is gonna protect you from the current political fallout I can't help you anymore. When was the last time anyone here saw the news?
Really? Making another subforum to discuss things that get certain people banned on twitter,Facebook,instagram, amazon and pretty much every modern platform??? Who's fucking idea was that?
If you piss off enough people it's only a matter of time now. Not to mention the fact that CTB-discussing here was already pissing people off what do you think is gonna happen when politics get involved. There are already some very shady people here (not gonna go into detail with that) but when politics get involved you can be sure that its gonna end.

^ I'm asking for clarification because I'm genuinely confused about your point. People have been bringing up political discussions already, these options are just more focused on organizing the way those discussions are had in a different way. Who's coming to SS to get a political agenda rolling (besides a pro-choice one)? Are you saying people are going to try to turn this site into an endorsement of a political candidate or agenda or have I missed what you're saying completely? If so, I have a hard time believing this is the site someone would try to infiltrate for political gains, and seeing as we can't actually organize due to us being citizens of different countries I don't necessarily know what there would be to gain.

 

[waived]

we can't actually organize due to us being citizens of different countries I don't necessarily know what there would be to gain.

It certainly isn't running rampant that I can tell but wouldn't the use of communication platforms be THE elimination of geography as a barrier to do various things?

 

[DoNotLet2]

This thread is political in my opinion.

Give me a list of political threads that didn't escalate to some extend. They're rare. So I voted for stricter enforcement for established rules, simply because it would make our work easier.
An alternative for me would be a seperate subforum with the conditions to discuss political topics peacefully and respectfully and with regards to the rules.
Banning it entirely would be a last resort option for me but it would make moderation of this forum much more comfortable and relax the atmosphere in the forum in general... political differences caused a lot of division in the community in the past. And I'm not gonna lie - heated political arguments cause by far the most work for staff.

Let's keep in mind, this isn't a political forum and the question we should ask ourselves: is this the right place to express political opinions? This is a very vulnerable enviroment and not the right place to express possibly harmful and discriminatory views in my opinion. This isn't just a regular forum after all.

Well I believe I made a few such threads that didn't escalate (unless by escalation you mean me getting angry because no one replied) but it's maybe because I didn't touch directly the American subjects (I'm not American even).
I'm pro making a subforum on the very bottom of this site so few people would see or it would be hidden so we would have two "secret" subforums. We should make a big big trigger warning that this section wouldn't be for sensitive people. Or ban some late topics like we could ban talking about what happened a few (idk) days ago in USA but allow to talk about things that happened 2 years ago. We would avoid things highly disturbing without banning everything. Just a few of my ideas.

You know I love writing political threads (and have tons of new ideas) because a) we have here freedom of speech b) I don't need to have followers in order to get some replies. I mean you're absolutely right that this isn't a right place to talk about such things but I do believe it would be bad if we didn't use the very little freedom of speech we have.

The freedom to speak so freely about a topic such as suicide is what makes this site so rare and a lifeline for people like us. Censoring something like politics would change a lot.

Yeah that's what I mean. If we allow censorship it will change too much. :(

Well I can't speak on racism caused by political discussions 'cause I'm white coming from a place where almost everybody (not everybody but the vast majority) is white so I don't know what you guys feel when you're discriminated because of skin color.

I really try my best to avoid political discussions at this point. Everyone is so assured in their opinions (myself included) that there are rarely any meaningful discussions unless with someone who is prone to agree with you already, regardless of view. I've also noticed some can take very ahistorical positions or some just descend into petty name calling or worse and I find these interactions equally pointless.

I don't think banning any speech is the right approach (aside from the hateful, abusive or threatening) nor do I think any meaningful political discussions are possible on this site or the internet for that matter. I didn't vote for anything, whatever is the least work for mods because I will continue to try my best to just avoid these discussions going forward, even tho I still fail at this occasionally. But maybe I'm just too cynical at this point so this is probably more a me problem. I guess just go with what the majority thinks is best and we can go from there.

Yeah that's what drives me crazy. People that always stick to their opinions whatever they hear. I'm the complete opposite which isn't smart either but I'm unstable and my views change radically within months...
The problem is that we ban it once it will be easier next time to ban something else.

I don't think its fair to say that politics have nothing to do with a suicide forum.

I think its kinda ignorant and speaks from a place of privilege. (Which isnt a bad thing just something to reflect on.

Yes I wanted to say so but I didn't know how to word it thanks :)
Politics are connected to suicide and vice versa. Yeah saying "those two things are unrelated" is a sign of being privileged. For example in an atheist community you wouldn't have to worry about how your relatives will be treated after your suicide. On the other hand in my catholic community if I committed suicide I would be considered a sinner along with my relatives. Or I don't know maybe you live in a country where euthanasia is something allowed and I don't.

I voted for "contain political discussions to a mega thread in offtopic" as I believe that offtopic is for other topics as well and that having a mega thread means that all the discussions are contained there. I could see the problem in having a subforum like @CoalmineCanary said. Then again, with the stricter enforcement even in the mega thread, it would keep things under control, much like what @RainAndSadness said.

I believe that making one big thread would make people less willing to talk about politics as it would be more wearing. So if you want to reduce amounts of political discussion it's the best option. So furthermore it would make moderating easier I guess and there would be less hate as fewer people would talk. However I believe you can talk about politics without hurting everybody around you and that's why I disagree despite you being completely right.

I don't have a problem with political discussions as long as opinions are based on facts and absent of personal attacks.

Absolutely agree.

Banning political discussion entirely would be silly. On a forum about fishing or weightlifting, certainly, but on a forum about suicide... Especially now that everything and everyone is being censored left and right, SS feels like one of the few websites where you can talk about taboo topics.

Yes agreed. Freedom of speech is why I love SS and why I feel free here.

Why not talk about politics on a political forum? Or create your own blog?

Please recommend me such forum but a good one. Not like "you're right or you're hated" or the opposite "you're left or you're hated" because I know a few of such.

Elevated moderation. No banning of discussion and no separate subforum or thread. Politics pops up in the middle of other topics because politics has an immense presence in and influence on other things and it would imo be limiting to ban the discussion of it. I think a separate subforum would turn into a war zone because that's what politics is expanded. It is inherently polarizing because one person's wealth is another's immiseration. My predictions for how a megathread would turn out is even less optimistic.

You're right but I disagree politics should have its own space or nothing at all because off topic is mostly forum games only. Off topic is defined as a place to relax so basically today we have no space for politics on SS... Idk if we can elevate moderation. Mods are humans. They have their limits too which is shown by this thread.

I hate politics. So in a suicide forum where people are about to end their lives, why do they still think about superficial and absurd stuff like herd mentalities. If someone is suffering or about to die, does superficial stuff like skin, ethnicity, nationality or anything else really mean anything? Their lives would be gone but nobody would care, because humans just want to continue their silly political games.


Everyone should get support regardless of political and personal details. I hope people understand how superficial is politics, how the reality is more complex and atrocious than that, how humans and biological creatures suffer and they need to help each other and not discriminate, hurt or increase their suffering.

Strong disagree with first paragraph and strong agree with the second. It's not like I made this account yesterday so I'm committing suicide tomorrow. Not everything I do is a preparation for suicide. SS is basically like Facebook for "normal" people.
But yup people don't understand things. They think it's all simple and it's not. And really being a minority doesn't make you worse. We all need support!!

One question about having either a subforum or megathread is what happens if politics gets brought up outside of those place? Like to what extent is that allowed? Just a mention is okay or not?

Like what is considered political? Because a lot of things could be considered a political issue. Economics, social causes, race, gender etc.

These are very important questions so I'm bumping this.

And now that we are talking about containing posts, can we please do something about the game threads? I have nothing against them, it's just that they completely drown other threads and the offtopic section is becoming hard to use because of them. Opening a new sub-forum for them would be great for the people who use these threads.

Yes yes yes strong agree.

I like the idea of a subform. I feel as if in a megathread everyone will lose track of who's responding to what and when the topic changes. I also think it'd be great to have a subform so there's a place people can either go to on purpose to discuss things or avoid on purpose if they're not super politically-minded.

Yup good points. We need a very clear warning "this is a political discussion don't go near if you don't feel you can remain calm".

^ I'm asking for clarification because I'm genuinely confused about your point.

I'm also confused.

 

[gtrfvr]

lol this is gonna bethe end of this forum. If you guys think for one second that section 230 is gonna protect you from the current political fallout I can't help you anymore. When was the last time anyone here saw the news?
Really? Making another subforum to discuss things that get certain people banned on twitter,Facebook,instagram, amazon and pretty much every modern platform??? Who's fucking idea was that?
If you piss off enough people it's only a matter of time now. Not to mention the fact that CTB-discussing here was already pissing people off what do you think is gonna happen when politics get involved. There are already some very shady people here (not gonna go into detail with that) but when politics get involved you can be sure that its gonna end.
RIP SS.

My advice: Ban all political discussion. This site was about pro choice and being able to vent freely. Not some political or other depraved bullshit. This site shouldn't be the thrashcan of the internet like the chans.

great points. tbh voting for a subforum was trying to get rid of it without getting rid of it. ss is plenty controversial. there are plenty of places to talk politics, would hate to lose this place because of heightened emotions political discussions create.
there are blurry cases (right to die for instance) but once it gets to be more political than suicidal then maybe it needs to die?
"we were having a nice talk about how to kill ourselves until somebody brought up political bullshit then all hell broke loose"

 

[waived]

You're right but I disagree politics should have its own space or nothing at all because off topic is mostly forum games only. Off topic is defined as a place to relax so basically today we have no space for politics on SS...Idk if we can elevate moderation. Mods are humans. They have their limits too which is shown by this thread.

Offtopic is "Let off some steam, talk about music, games, your day, or anything that comes to mind.".

 

[NeverSatisfied]

It certainly isn't running rampant that I can tell but wouldn't the use of communication platforms be THE elimination of geography as a barrier to do various things?

As an American currently living outside of my country I wouldn't bother listening if the president here knocked on my door. I'd have no influence or voting power to do anything anyways if I wanted to. That's definitely not what I'm on this site for. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have many more users from around the world and no one's managed to get the entire world for or against something. I doubt any politician would have much success on here- Pinterest, maybe

 

[waived]

As an American currently living outside of my country I wouldn't bother listening if the president here knocked on my door. I'd have no influence or voting power to do anything anyways if I wanted to. That's definitely not what I'm on this site for. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have many more users from around the world and no one's managed to get the entire world for or against something. I doubt any politician would have much success on here- Pinterest, maybe

The internet eliminates geography as a barrier which is why I was questioning why being different citizens would matter since it's used precisely for this reason.

 

[VisionsOfHell]

Politics, unrelared to ctb, should be completely banned in my opinion. This needs to be a high trust community, especially now that they are going after sn sellers. Theres too many mentally ill and obsessive people here who cant deal with politics in a respectful manner.

This issue shouldnt be democratically decided, mods and long time members should decide.

 

[gtrfvr]

great points. tbh voting for a subforum was trying to get rid of it without getting rid of it. ss is plenty controversial. there are plenty of places to talk politics, would hate to lose this place because of heightened emotions political discussions create.
there are blurry cases (right to die for instance) but once it gets to be more political than suicidal then maybe it needs to die?
"we were having a nice talk about how to kill ourselves until somebody brought up political bullshit then all hell broke loose"

have thought more about this as it's imprecise. Some people like to argue. I am not one of them but so what? a megathread or subtopic let's them easily find each other and argue til their hearts content. Just because i dont skateboard i dont think skateboarding should be banned.
if only the converse were true; people high in disagreeableness dont seem content to disagree with fellow disagreeables. To me this is like a skateboarder insisting that i join them in skateboarding despite declining several times. ala "hey, do you want to join me in this thing i really enjoy but you really don't? 'no thanks'. But i insist..."
Politics gets intractable fast. So since the act of disagreeing is of varying pleasure (low for some, high for others), things that tend to be intractable i believe deserve their own separate space. I think?

 

[enuff]

Politics naturally divides people. If you and I, for instance, can comfort each other in posts about suicide but then one of us reads our political commentary in another post and it goes against our beliefs on that stage, are we going to remain on the same terms as before? Would my political bent cloud everything else I might say outside of politics?

i agree with @BrokenBeyondRepair
politics divides people and may turn us against eachother when we used to support eachother before our political commentary turns us against someone we like.
i've always considered politics money & religion the 3 topics to avoid.
if you want to talk politics then go to usmessageboard dot com and have at it with them there.

 

[TotallyIsolated]

Banning politics is a big 'fuck you' to those oppressed or marginalised people whose very existence is considered 'political' by some. Is BLM political? Sorry people of colour, but you're not allowed to discuss whether your lives matter.

 

[waived]

Banning politics is a big 'fuck you' to those oppressed or marginalised people whose very existence is considered 'political' by some.

The request for civility during political exchanges is for the same reasons and a part of that is thinking that when someone engages someone else in discussion that it must be a 'political debate' that's happening.

 

[Amumu]

Banning politics is a big 'fuck you' to those oppressed or marginalised people whose very existence is considered 'political' by some. Is BLM political? Sorry people of colour, but you're not allowed to discuss whether your lives matter.

That's a strawman. Anyway, the poll is closed now

 

[Endeavour]

Politics sucks - I used to frequent a conspiracy forum, ghosts, ufos, parallel universes, that kind of stuff. It suddenly changed (especially with trump) and became a massive load of Americans dominating all threads with political arguments.

Needless to say they're really struggling now. If people want to talk politics they should go to a politics forum, it just creates arguments and stress, no one will ever change their mind or try and think from a different perspective.

 

[Livingvsdying25]

Banning politics is a big 'fuck you' to those oppressed or marginalised people whose very existence is considered 'political' by some. Is BLM political? Sorry people of colour, but you're not allowed to discuss whether your lives matter.

True.

 

[Endeavour]

Banning politics is a big 'fuck you' to those oppressed or marginalised people whose very existence is considered 'political' by some. Is BLM political? Sorry people of colour, but you're not allowed to discuss whether your lives matter.

Bollocks - this is a suicide forum, I don't need telling you think I should X Y or Z because you think you're A B or C. Because politics. And is BLM political - YES. Go to a BLM forum and have your victimhood stroked. Don't expect me to do it for you.

 

[DoNotLet2]

Bollocks - this is a suicide forum, I don't need telling you think I should X Y or Z because you think you're A B or C. Because politics. And is BLM political - YES. Go to a BLM forum and have your victimhood stroked. Don't expect me to do it for you.

ok ok I know I'm very white so I shouldn't speak for people of color but I feel provoked so I apologize for myself.
Endeavour I heavily disagree with you. The topic of "race" (my personal opinion is that there is one race, human race hence the quote) is political whatever you say. You don't have to mention BLM to be political. So basically saying "I'm black I hate my life because of this" sounds political. So by banning ALL political discussions you're banning people of color from complaining about their lives which goes AGAINST the purpose of this website. (I understand that this website is for complaining and looking for advice either on committing suicide or trying to get better) That's why I'm less radical and I would rather ban just some most heated up topics but allow the rest. But yeah that's how I see this as a white person but I think this goes for so many other minorities such as LGBTQ+. Feel free to disagree with me.

 

[Endeavour]

So what you're saying if I get this right, is that you're white, but you feel compelled to speak for black people, because, presumably in your mind they need you because you're better than them.

But in any case, you don't see colour, despite that being the entire diatribe of everything you've been saying, you only see the human race.

But you still feel compelled to mention BLM, which is about the colour of someones skin and is race related.

So to summarise - you're white, you don't mean to speak for black people but you have to because they are beneath you, but you only care about the human race because skin colour and race doesn't matter, which is why you want to talk about being black - even though you're white?

Does that cover it all, or did I miss anything?

 

[omoidarui]

I voted against banning them when the poll was open.

This is a suicide forum but because everyone's using this as a coping mechanism to live (otherwise why are we still here), variety of conversation should be promoted, not discouraged. Talking about self-harm and depression all the time just sends people deeper into it so we should have more opportunities for distractions, and if politics engages people then

We can review this again if the sub-forum doesn't work out.

 

[torimandy]

Being trans in America, I can tell you politics are a very big suicide reason and think they should be allowed. Fot 4 years my community has lost more and more basic human rights and That needs to be discussed in this forum.

 

[enuff]

I voted against banning them when the poll was open.

This is a suicide forum but because everyone's using this as a coping mechanism to live (otherwise why are we still here), variety of conversation should be promoted, not discouraged. Talking about self-harm and depression all the time just sends people deeper into it so we should have more opportunities for distractions, and if politics engages people then

We can review this again if the sub-forum doesn't work out.

yeah, after it's destroyed friendships with people you used to like.
thanks but no thanks
keep politics out of my suicide
and while you're at it, keep your rosaries off of my ovaries (if I had any, i'm a guy)