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Originally Posted by AltaGuy
I find that continually expressing my extremely conservative viewpoints in the most passive-aggressive, deflective and condescending manner possible is the best way to communicate to others on a hockey message board.
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So long as you do this while ensuring you label those you disagree with as an angry mob run purely on emotion instead of intellect, you get to tell yourself you are morally superior and a shining example of how to engage in political discussion.
There's a good quote by Roosevelt that some people should read. He was no fan of the critics who never act. He was even less a fan of the critics of the critics who do nothing at all:
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The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life's realities - all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affection of contempt for the achievements of others, to hide from others and from themselves in their own weakness. The role is easy; there is none easier, save only the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance.
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Needless to say, there have always been people that have felt great comfort in the self-righteousness and moral superiority of criticising the critics, the absolute easiest of positions to take. To engage in an issue only by engaging with and criticising those outside of it and never with the issue itself, takes no effort or intellect. But history has always viewed those people as weakest among us, and least worthy of our respect.
It's difficult, I think, to fully understand something like the convoy from a message board in Calgary. Few will really be able to, so people try to take in as much info as they can, but it'll never be the same as being there (thanks for the updates and your efforts, DevilsAdvocate).
It's much, much easier to fully understand those who you are actually speaking with on a daily basis. It's a wonder then why some can't even muster the energy to do that. Feels good to call them an angry mob and log off, I guess. Asking questions is a difficult thing. You might have to listen to the answer.