Hi, I've just joined. I'm hopeful for this forum. I'm a member of another one and lamented a bit the fact that over there conservatives seem to be at least 85% to 90% of members while progressives are maybe 10 to 15%. I wanted to find a forum with a more balanced membership for better debates and less of a sounding board effect, and another member there recommended this one as being like this, so I'm giving it a shot. I hope that the person is right about it. I define myself as a centrist... which often means that I'm attacked by both conservatives and progressives for my ideas... But I don't mind. I always try to debate with civility. I don't do personal attacks. Being a centrist doesn't mean that all my opinions are in the middle of the political spectrum. It rather means that I harbor some opinions that most people would consider as rightist, as well as some other opinions considered to be leftist. I figure that each set cancels out the other set, landing me in the middle. So on any one individual topic I may be very rightist, and on another one, very leftist. Sometimes this defies people's expectations and some might assume I'm trolling, like "how come you think X and now you appear to be thinking Y which seems incompatible; are you just trolling?" Rest assure that not only I don't do personal attacks, but I don't troll either. With me, what you see is what you get. I think I always post in good faith. It's just that I have this unusual mix of opinions that are wider-ranging in terms of where they sit, than most people's. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but it is what it is. I'm not about to change. But I'd say that having opinions from both sides, makes me a bit more open to other people's ideas and less judgmental, because I can empathize more easily with a larger number of people, by always finding specific topics where I agree with them. I wish in America we were all able to do that more often, instead of being so divided as we've been, lately. A good way to think about the Right and the Left, in my opinion, is that we're all patriots and we all want what is best for our country, but we differ in terms of what we consider to be best. Thinking like this, I try to respect everybody's opinions. You'll see that my most annoying characteristic is that I'm very verbose. My posts tend to be overlong (like this one). I wish I could change it but it's been my way for decades... Sorry if you find it off-putting. You'll also see that the overwhelming majority of my posting will be on COVID-19 (at least while this lasts), for some reasons that I'll be glad to share with you all, and other reasons that I won't share because they are private. A little bit about myself: American male, married to my lovely wife for decades and still madly in love with her... two grown children. No grandchildren yet (I wish!). Working full time in a very intense job but I still find time to post about politics, which is one of my hobbies. Other interests include gourmet food, fine wines, and classical music. My favorite sport is the NFL; also love college football. I like cinema especially indies and foreign films, some TV series, and like science fiction novels and crime thrillers involving lawyers and detectives. I like to travel and I speak several foreign languages. I'm gregarious and like to enjoy the company of friends. Cheers.
Glad to have you here, CenterField. It's great to have some voices here that are not so polar. And I applaud those who have to power to ignore the personal attacks. Some see that as a weakness, but I think it takes a way bigger person to control that mindless 'reaction' response. Have fun!
Thanks, Dairyair. You avatar reminds me of a cover for one of Pink Floyd's albums, haha! Thanks, Adfundum. Yes, when someone personally attacks me I tend to just say "thanks for the personal attack; I won't respond in kind because I don't do those." And I then move on immediately to refocusing on the topic of conversation.
A favor: maybe someone might teach me how to enter a signature? I figured how to do an avatar but I don't seem to see a link for entering a signature, in my profile. Thanks.
Thanks, but I don't see anything remotely like the screen shot you gave me, even if I click on my name. Maybe my account being new, it doesn't have all the permissions yet and I can't post a signature yet.
You don't have to hesitate about the verbosity at all. While I'm a Nationalist(which I viewed as centrist-leaning, but since they want to dub it 'far right wing' I shrug and have gone along with it), I haven't really had any complaints like "AN, your post is too long." So for my own experience for what it's worth, I think people either tolerate it, enjoy it or they skim it. One of those three but I'm not sure which one. The coronavirus is a very scary pathogen, I've been inside my home really for the past almost five months now(I moved back to PA due to a family tragedy). Due to asymptomatics, it's impossible to know for sure but I think I've been in the clear, I wear masks whenever I do go out(which isn't often at all. Kind of rare actually.) I do hope to entertain you in non-coronavirus discussions. Hoping to get the NFL back soon, what team do you root for?
Well, in other forums people have berated me for my posts being too long, and some have answered with the infamous TLDR. Anyway, I like to think that my posts are both quantity AND quality, haha. Yes, I'm behaving pretty much like you regarding the coronavirus. I root for the Carolina Panthers. There are some other teams I kind of like for various reasons and I may support if the Panthers are no longer in contention. These would be, in this order, the New York Jets (I know, they've been very bad for far too long), the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Kansas City Chiefs (so I was actually pretty happy with the result of last season, minus the fact that the Panthers did poorly as it's been the case for the last few years). Lately I've adopted the Buffalo Bills too and they're probably #3 for me now, behind the Panthers and the Jets, because some people I like very much are big Bills fans and I enjoy watching games with them and having a common rooting interest (as long as they are not playing against the Panthers or the Jets or directly competing with the Jets for a playoff spot). But of course, if any of these secondary interests gets in the Panthers' way (including the Jets), I'll drop them and root for the Panthers. Oh, and there is another NFL team I root for: whoever is playing against the New England Patriots, LOL. Which brings me an interesting conundrum. I always liked Cam Newton, obviously (minus getting a bit irritated with him in a few occasions), and I don't like the fact that he is now one of the Patriots' quarterbacks. I would like Newton to find success again... but I don't want that success to translate into another title for the Patriots.
Me too. I get accused for having positions I don't have, on a daily basis. Oh, you believe this is true, so you must agree with that team about absolutely everything else. It seems to me that a lot of work is involved in having to defend absolutely everything your "team," does, lest one be disloyal. It sounds exhausting, really. It's fun to watch, though. Welcome!
