In a world where there is constant change, I see very little changes at HO. I haven’t been on the site in a long time. I had gotten annoyed with HO and its group think. Any time I posted something that didn’t fit in with the group think, it got flagged. Even when it was a fairly neutral statement. But if it didn’t fit the perspective of certain regulars, its was in their view political. It’s clear to me that the preponderance of posters are to the left of center so that a centrist looks to be out of line. It was wearing. Frankly I expect this post to be deleted. So I took a break.
So long a break that I had forgotten my password and since I’ve change hardware, the memorized password was gone too. So rather than recover my password for my old login, I decided to create a new identity. A better handle. For those who care, I was fka BKeats. Now I am a guy who just EatsFrites.
I tried posting elsewhere but there’s a core group here who really know and care about good eats. More so than elsewhere. Those are the people I admire and listen to. So I have decided to tip my toe back in and focus on the food and ignore the other babble.
7 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
2
Welcome back.
As you’ll remember, the forum has a “no politics” rule. Whilst it’s obviously open for any contributor to flag a post as “political”, it is for the moderators to decide if that’s the case or not. I hold to the view that the moderators are not always correct, but they are always the moderators.
FWIW, one of the major UK polling companies has recently done a survey to categorise respondents into one of seven political groupings. The most left wing of them are described as “progressive activists” and make up 10% of the total. I did the survey and am very content to sit in that group. Of course, how we Europeans regard the left/right positions might very well differ from a similar regard in the States. For example, I’ve often read that Bernie Sanders is thought of as being very much on the left of politics, yet I find his policies to be quite moderate in keeping with the mainstream views of our Labour government. That is all part of who I am and how I react to issues raised on the forum.
@Harters - At the risk of breaching my own just set guidelines and having a great deal of familiarity with the UK and its politics and more than most Americans, I would say that Tories are to the left of centrist democrats in the US these days if there are such remaining. Remember that one of the biggest supporters of today’s administration is Farage. I will leave it at that.
That’s a very US-focused view - many people in Europe I talk to about Bernie just shake their heads and laugh when they hear such statements as in many countries in Europe he would be considered a slightly to the left leaning centrist
I recently had a related conversation with an Onion who is much wiser than I am. They advised me to keep it about the food and, if necessary, keep my activity focused and stay on your home board (Greater Boston).
I feel like we know each other somewhat well on this board. Some people will drive you crazy and you try to ignore them but in the end, it’s one big dysfunctional family. Can’t live with them can’t live without them!
It seems like the cookware threads are the most contentious and prone to “intense” disagreements though I have no evidence to back that up.
We’re pretty laid back on the PNW board. I don’t usually look at the other regional boards apart from NorCal.
I like this community; but I’ve noticed when things start to veer political the posters here generally catch that and decide to veer back to the topic at hand. We certainly get enough politics forced upon us. I’m glad that the people on here seem to get along rather seamlessly despite any political differences. It’s what used to define the USA. We used to be among the few countries on earth that could have two people, at politically polar ends, still be friends. I could give a rip about someone’s politics, until they start throwing theirs in my face. I don’t care what lean you have, if you really care about my politics enough to test me with your BS about yours, I’ll put on my southside tongue and rip your side, whichever it is. I ride the fence. I agree and disagree with many of things happening in both parties. That’s why I come to the conclusion of being centrist. My issue is with both parties. Why we’ve become so polarized, IMHO. Extremists exist in both and these days the extreme end has more power than it once did for both parties.
I come here to escape that. Nice folks. Thanks to all of you for the respite. We’ll get along great, so long as you realize I’m right.
It’s not the boards that are friendly - it’s the people the frequent them . . . I’ve abandoned several boards because of some of the people that frequent them . . . some people just can’t stop themselves I find. I’ve had my moments too - but I try to keep them to moments, not patterns.
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
16
I used to regularly contribute to a particular Tripadvisor forum but gave it up due to a regular unpleasantness from another contributor. Tripadvisor would delete the unpleasant remarks but would never deal with the guy by way of a ban.
By the by, we used to be able to have enjoyable discussions about “current affairs” at family gatherings. But things are now so polarised between those of us on the progressive left and others on the right, that many subjects are now unofficially banned, including just about anything in the news. You can almost see folk thinking "if I mention this, will someone turn it into something political.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
19
It’s the dilemma for this forum. Food is about choices. But it’s also about government policy. And government policy is about politics.
I choose to buy organic fruit and veg when I can. I choose to buy free range or organic meat when I can. It’s not a difficult choice for me, as I can readily afford the uplift in prices. But very many folk simply can’t afford to make that choice. And that’s the real political issue.
Left/right is so different in Europe than in the US, I agree. What many Americans consider “far left” is seen much more moderate in other countries. I am an American,
I also agree that the moderators are the moderators, and it is their decision to make.
