Less abuse of the bandwidth with double and triple posting. How hard is it to do a few keyword searches before posting.
Fewer vanities. I lurked for YEARS before I posted a news article. Am I wrong in that NEWS ARTICLES are what we used to be about? Not a dating service or soft porn snicker session?
There is still a lot of value here, but it used to be better. Quality people with inspired minds, discussing events and learning from each other. Now you find 200 post threads with nothing but one liner insults. Sure, that's a steam release vent but is that worth 20 grand a month?
I came here and got involved, responded to calls for action. Where are they? Where is the activism? Lost amongst the flood of light weight dribble and vanities...
This is not something that Jim or the monitors should address. This is a matter for we, the people. In times passed, an idiotic vanity would be shredded within minutes by other posters. Now they live, to eat bandwidth and inspire others to do likewise. To pick a recent thread, how about the "Who are the single FR men?" thread. Is this the caliber of discussion that Jim and John are devoting their lives to support?
The people did this to FR. The people can turn it around. Stop acting like fluff minded liberals with a laissez faire attitude. Demand and offer more intelligent discourse and less pop culture. If we raise the bar, we will find others who aspire to reach the level we set, rather than allow the good time charlie attitude to drag us down to the lowest common denominator.
Your post #808 echoed my sentiments exactly and in particular the above quote.
What, exactly, constitutes "intelligent discourse?" Libertarian threads? Religion? Guns and ammo? Y3K? Buchanan? Vince Foster?
From my Day One, the complaint has been "it ain't what it used to be . . quality is gone . . vanity, vanity, all is vanity . . "
Apart from activism, this site IS a chat room; your comment is chat, as is my response. So what? Essentially, if you've read one long Libertarian (etc.) thread, you've read them all; the only interest lies in the chat aspect. On every basic issue, the same ideas are expressed, pro and con, often burdened with the same quotations and passages from the same intelligent icons, pro and con. Over and over and over.
What makes FR unique is nuance and atmosphere, a zone which allows someone like Ferret to be appreciated without recourse to some idealized "level of discourse" or FRPC.
The hard news posted here is sourced, and is a convenience but not a necessity; the FR spin created and sustains FR's success, and that spin should be free-wheeling.
We are putting together the activism portion of Free Republic right now. It is called Free Republic Network. There should be a chapter near you. If there isn't, we can help you get one started.
This is not something that Jim or the monitors should address. This is a matter for we, the people. In times passed, an idiotic vanity would be shredded within minutes by other posters. Now they live, to eat bandwidth and inspire others to do likewise. To pick a recent thread, how about the "Who are the single FR men?" thread. Is this the caliber of discussion that Jim and John are devoting their lives to support?
The people did this to FR. The people can turn it around. Stop acting like fluff minded liberals with a laissez faire attitude. Demand and offer more intelligent discourse and less pop culture. If we raise the bar, we will find others who aspire to reach the level we set, rather than allow the good time charlie attitude to drag us down to the lowest common denominator.
That's the kind of "ownership" I love to see on this forum. If every conscientious member pounced on these stupid vanities like a duck on a Junebug, we'd soon discourage that crap. Then we could return to a day when the conversation sizzled, the topics were pertinent and as fresh as the morning coffee, and the exchanges generated light as well as heat. Jim can't do it. The moderators can't do it. It's up to us.
Are we willing to surrender this last bastion of hope to the armies of darkness? Because if we are, then we've proven unworthy of its promise. "A Free Republic, sir. If you can keep it." Can we keep it?
Cheers, CC :)