[Cloudbringer]

Threads that start with negatives like this one did, or comparisons of long past events to current day events, often end up in turmoil. This one is no exception. I see a lot of hurt feelings, bruised egos and posturing going on.

Before you post, stop and put yourself in the other person's shoes. I mean REALLY stop and consider your reaction if you were in the other position: Could the comments you're making be taken as insults to the whole country or just the people running it? Could the comments you're about to send make you angry? Would you feel a need to come back with a retort to whoever posts what you're about to send? Remember, every country has it's bad points and deeds best left to history so if you dig long enough you can find one to 'justify' an argument, but is it always appropo? Is it even necessary? Before slinging mud or doing a verbal 'one-up' on someone else, ask yourself why you're doing it and if it's really necessary to make your point.

Debating politics is not the problem, miscommunication, misunderstanding and the occasional bad judgment are the problem. Try to avoid generalizations or using the country/ethnicity as the noun/subject when you mean it as the adjective to another word like "government, parliament, leader" etc. ie: "In my opinion, the French made the biggest mistake in history when " should be "In my opinion, the French *foreign office/government/leaders* made the biggest mistake in history when ....."

[ 02-21-2003, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]