Vague_Boy Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Parking, Cycling, Thatcher, Immigrants. It seems that everybody is on one side or the other. There is a tendency to repeat stuff that is just accepted ("everybody knows") or learned by rote. I'm willing to bet half of the people who are blaming "Thatcher" for various things were about 3 years old when she left office. They learned their hatred of her from their parents. Not that she is beyond criticism, far from it, but to ascribe the entire decline of British industry to one person is ludicrous. It's not like everything was absolutely tip top and then suddenly, in 1979, it all went pear shaped. Anyone who lived through the entire 1970s knows what a turbulent decade it was. There is also a tendency to forgive or blank out mistakes and indiscretions committed by one side of the political divide yet to lambaste the "other lot" for exactly the same things. I call this wearing "ideological blinkers". A tendency towards extremely simplistic arguments (e.g. the Tories do what they do because, well, they're evil). And a lack of links or citations to back up sweeping claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megalithic Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Simplistic no, Pedantic hell yeah ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 There is a tendency to repeat stuff that is just accepted ("everybody knows") or learned by rote. I'm willing to bet half of the people who are blaming "Thatcher" for various things were about 3 years old when she left office. They learned their hatred of her from their parents. Not that she is beyond criticism, far from it, but to ascribe the entire decline of British industry to one person is ludicrous. It's not like everything was absolutely tip top and then suddenly, in 1979, it all went pear shaped. Anyone who lived through the entire 1970s knows what a turbulent decade it was. And yet the '70's largely saw an increase in prosperity for the country as a whole. Look round Sheffield and the number of new private estates where working people bought their first house - Chapeltown, Deepcar, Dronfield, Mosborough etc. In the 70's we thought the coming of North Sea Oil would benefit the whole society. 1976 - the best year ever? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3337143/Remember-1976-Britains-best-ever-year.html Afterwards the country was more divided - if you had money you got a windfall from privatisations of water, electricity, gas etc. And tax cuts which outweighed VAT increases. If you were a manual worker then a big cut in wages or the dole beckoned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 There is a tendency to repeat stuff that is just accepted ("everybody knows") or learned by rote. I'm willing to bet half of the people who are blaming "Thatcher" for various things were about 3 years old when she left office. They learned their hatred of her from their parents. Not that she is beyond criticism, far from it, but to ascribe the entire decline of British industry to one person is ludicrous. It's not like everything was absolutely tip top and then suddenly, in 1979, it all went pear shaped. Anyone who lived through the entire 1970s knows what a turbulent decade it was. There is also a tendency to forgive or blank out mistakes and indiscretions committed by one side of the political divide yet to lambaste the "other lot" for exactly the same things. I call this wearing "ideological blinkers". A tendency towards extremely simplistic arguments (e.g. the Tories do what they do because, well, they're evil). And a lack of links or citations to back up sweeping claims. and I'm willing to bet that some people who support Thatcher and her policies weren't even born when she was in office ... and learned their love of her through their parents. Your point is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 There is no middle ground. So, members of the forum. Are we too binary in our arguments? I've added a little poll to find out more. As you've only allowed 2 options, there's no middle ground in your binary poll either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Stn Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 We see it all the time. People taking entrenched positions when arguing on the forum. Parking, Cycling, Thatcher, Immigrants. It seems that everybody is on one side or the other. There is no middle ground. Weve not had a bus related post for ages what is going on To be fair if we all thought the same the world would be a boring place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Jnr Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 and I'm willing to bet that some people who support Thatcher and her policies weren't even born when she was in office ... and learned their love of her through their parents. Your point is? The same as yours by the look of things. Parents deliberately or inadvertantly influence their chidren, it's inevitable. You also validate the point of red attacks blue so blue attacks red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Perhaps, but then again - according to one poster on this forum - "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." Two of us actually, another certain member copied my signature *shakes fist* With regards to the OP, no, I've seen quite a few people on here open to having their minds changed, I myself have changed my opinion on a few things after reading certain discussions. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, the trouble is that some will try to claim their opinion as a matter of fact, rather than just opinion, but when asked to provide some kind of structured argument or explanation to back up this claim many cannot offer any and tend to get angry or abusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMorris Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Lets face it. 'Some' posters on here, positively revel in being argumentative. Whatever an original post may contain, they take great delight in taking the completely opposite stance. Which results in heated debates, and from experience I've seen, puts those who might normally take the 'middle ground' off posting completely, as they don't want to get involved in what can often descend into a slanging match. You only need to look at the thread lists and compare the number of actual posts to the number of 'views' of it, for it to be clear that there are lots that don't get involved because ..... shall we say...the more acidic heavyweights are busy slugging it out with one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bloke Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Lets face it. 'Some' posters on here, positively revel in being argumentative. Whatever an original post may contain, they take great delight in taking the completely opposite stance. Which results in heated debates, and from experience I've seen, puts those who might normally take the 'middle ground' off posting completely, as they don't want to get involved in what can often descend into a slanging match. You only need to look at the thread lists and compare the number of actual posts to the number of 'views' of it, for it to be clear that there are lots that don't get involved because ..... shall we say...the more acidic heavyweights are busy slugging it out with one another. Once again, spot on Mr Morris! I would have written much the same myself but can no longer be bothered to waste my time and effort only to be shouted down by the few antagonists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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