(no subject)

[serene]

Tell me true -- I should just walk away, right? I mean, my blood pressure is normal, and I want it to stay that way, right?

Comments

[redbird]

You and me both, I think. Especially since I've known and liked Arthur for a quarter of a century.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Oh man.

I've had way too many encounters over this past weekend that have made my pressure rise, so yeah, I understand.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

"Walk" implies an unhealthy lack of celerity. I'd run away post haste.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Heh. *smooch*

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

*smooch* (:

incidentally, i do appreciate (on behalf of everyone who just rolls their eyes and moves on) that you took the time to at least try to point out the error of his ways. not your fault you hit the point of diminishing returns so soon.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

yes, walk away!

zie is not worth the effort of typing out a response.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I think there's an overlooked possibility for hilarity here, given that the people who would have to write and enforce such laws in the US are, well, the Republicans. I wonder how that would work out?

[checks]

He's a libertarian, calling out for state-mandated sterilization. That's a punchline right there.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Have I ever mentioned that I like your twisted viewpoint on the world? I'm sure I'm not even the thousandth person to tell you that.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I am cheating, a bit, because I've seen stuff like this before. I got to watch Canada craft new porn laws with input from some well-meaning feminist groups, then hand those laws over to one of the most conservative organizations in Canada to enforce. Guess how that turned out?

Is there no coercion so despicable or repulsive that some libertarian somewhere cannot see his or her way to supporting it?

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

He's a libertarian, calling out for state-mandated sterilization. That's a punchline right there.


Bingo.

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

a) You are 110% correct
b) Walk away.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Ew.

What is it with libertarians? Not too long ago I got into it with a man who thought that it would be just fine if the courts gave fathers the right to terminate the parental rights of mothers who lie about their fertility status by forcing them to terminate the pregnancy.

A shitstorm ensued, and I only, finally, walked away well after it was clear this person could not see that there is no "fair" way, nothing for men that would level the playing field and give men and women "equal" status with regard to an unwanted pregnancy. As far as I know, he still believes that there should be a law allowing a man to force a woman to have an abortion if he felt she had lied to him. Oy.

Walk away swiftly and surely and without looking back.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was involved in that one myself, and so this one definitely gave me a "holy shit, here we go again" feeling.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I'm fiercely ZPG, fiercely pro-contraception, fiercely pro-takecareofthekidsyoumake, fiercely pro-kid, I think that all the global warming kerfluffle and save-the-starving-children and peak-oil and all that attention is beside the point if we continue to increase population at all. When I see countries like Japan and Australia encouraging people to have more babies, I want to slap their decision-makers.

I'm also fiercely in favor of folks to make their own reproductive choices and not have it imposed on them.

And should you walk away? I don't know. Can you convince anyone in that thread? Make anything better? Is it worth being upset over? (Not, "Is your argument valid" but "Will this argument make anything better?")

[ailbhe]

Dear god. Yikes.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

I really should stop being so surprised that some people think that Father's Day is the perfect time of the year to focus on the worst of fatherhood.

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

Assuming this person is not in power nor has the ear of anyone in power, unless you think you could change his mind, why bother?

Unless it amuses you, then go right on ahead.

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Yes love, walk away. Art is being an idiot.

[leback.livejournal.com]

I think you've already expressed yourself very eloquently, and it's hit a brick wall. Even if your blood pressure could take it, I don't think you could do a lot more good there, so yeah, I'd say it's time to walk away. If you're inspired to speak out any more on the topic, I think doing it to a general audience in your own journal (or elsewhere) would have more of an impact than getting any deeper into that particular discussion.

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

Yeah, walking away is a good idea.

I fear Arthur is either speaking with zealotry of the converted --I had a vasectomy and it made my life better! Thus it is the cure for our nations ills!-- or decided to be quite the attention whore Discordian and play the troll in his own journal.

Either way, with holzman in the fray the need for anyone else to point out that Arthur is behaving like an ass is unnecessary (this observation is from years of watching Danny on Usenet; the mean time to outright flamewar is fast approaching zero).

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Either he's bullshitting, or he's not.

If he's bullshitting, he's not worth dealing with because you can't trust that it's all bullshit.

If he's not, you're(probably) not going to change his mind, and it's better to walk away.

All IMHO, of course.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

arthur may be a libertarian, but he's by no means a moron; i think this is just short-sighted zealotry. you did the right thing by saying what you said, i think. sooner or later he'll think about it.

some of the other people in that thread are however unmitigated twits. what a great chance to flame; i get so few these days. ah. *satisfied*.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Ooh. pleonastic is having fun. I *lurve* it when pleonastic has fun!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

and all without a single reference to hitler!

[surelars.livejournal.com]

Oh, goody. Have fun.

[surelars.livejournal.com]

It's the kind of thing I should walk away from, at least. Whacking the guy with a "my body, my choice" line might give me 15 seconds of satisfaction and might even make a few people who already agree nod their collective head. But the anger would linger in me far beyond that. Going into stuff like that will eventually make me feel bad, and worse, I'll feel bad in a way that will make me post even more to threads like that.

USENET death spiral, you know.

So. I liked what you posted, and I think it's good that there's a voice of reason in a thread like that. But that said, my advice it still to walk away.