Quote from inandlong:
Left unchecked, "profanity, idiocy, and even garbage" would rule the day on Elite Trader. That has already been shown.
Approach any police officer with "vigorous debate" such as you describe and see what happens. You'll be escorted from the premises at least, and perhaps even cited for public disturbance. The mere presence of a police officer is enough to remind most, but not all, of the citizens to act appropriately. It is for those few who don't get it and can't control themselves that the mace, the stick, the cuffs, and the gun are carried. Only the citizens who find it difficult to be civil feel threatened.
Do you see political candidates debate vigorously as you describe it? How about the high school debate teams? How about the Supreme Court? Or your local city council meetings? What happens when the citizens start yelling their "profanity, idiocy, and even garbage?" The gavel comes down hard and order is restored.
As for Elite Trader as a business, pretend for a minute that you are a commercial entity outside of ET seeking to attract new clients. You look inside ET and see that it is full of "profanity, idiocy, and even garbage." Is this going to attract you as a sponsor? Are you telling me that you want customers who cannot express themselves without using "profanity, idiocy, and even garbage?" There is only one correct answer.
inandlong, you know i think you're a good guy. my disagreement here is nothing personal at all.
i think moderating is removing personality. it is normalizing people. for the life of me, i can't understand what makes a word "bad" in the first place. a lot of this nonsense stems from traditions that have no legitimate meaning in today's world.
i remember when i was like 17, i got pulled over by a cop and i had a hat on. HE GRABBED MY HAT, TOOK IT OFF AND THREW IT ON THE GROUND, WHILE YELLING AT ME THAT I SHOULD TAKE MY HAT OFF. WHO HAD THE PROBLEM HERE?!?! what did my hat have to do with anything????? why should his wanting me to not wear a hat trump my wanting to wear it? why should your preference to delete "bad words" trump my choice to use them? i know baron makes the choices around here, i'm just hoping he thinks about things.
anyway, when i was about 12, i remember i was at a pizza place eating with my friends. it was just us guys, no parents. there was an old guy sitting at a table next to us. once again i had a hat on. as i ate my pizza, the old guy got angry and said to take my hat off when i eat. WHO HAD THE PROBLEM HERE?
i've used this other example before when i walked into a courthouse a few years ago to fight a ticket. when i walked into the courthouse, some guy told me to take my hat off. WHAT IS WITH THIS?! WHO HAS THE REAL PROBLEM, ME, THE "OFFENDER," OR THE ONE CLAIMING TO BE OFFENDED?
as for ET, we have an ignore function, so i don't see why "bad words" need to be removed, etc. if i swear and someone doesn't like that, they can put me on ignore. if ET is where the traders are, advertisers will be here; swears or no swears. maybe a very small % would choose to boycott. in fact, if i was an advertiser, i'd want to SUPPORT tolerance.