Love this site - big supporter, but the politics!

Hi to all,

As i have said, I am a HUGE fan of this site, and have even been baffled that it has not grown much more quickly even when Max is functioning perfectly. But even more so with all the Max madness. I'm not only speaking of the slowdowns of the website, but just the mean people that are often posting there & have to make themselves fell better by putting others down. Vicious.

However, i feel that it has been a BIG mistake to have a political forum on here.

Yes, i am free to simply ignore it, but when i looked at the recent posts yesterday, politics were the bulk of the posts!! I come here for the info and the camaraderie, not to see/listen to "you're a Trump duffus, or you're a liberal idiot!" And back and forth ad nauseum.

Still glad the site is here, but have enough politics in my everyday life, and have no need (unless it is BDSM related) for it here!! This site is an escape from all the hate and vitriol, wish it could remain that way. My $0.02

While I never have the time to check out politics on either site, I guess there are people interested in it. Should we deprive them of that because we might be tempted to look? Cachez ce sein que je ne saurais voire?

I am grateful for the kindness of the domina.ms people in providing us with a "home" to come to, so much like The Hang, but better.

I agree with you that it was a mistake to allow political posts here and have a politics board.

It has a learning curve,but there is a browser extension called Ublock Origin that will let you remove particular sections of web sites you don't want. Its like an Ad Block for power users. It does take some practice to learn how to use. If you mess up, you just look up the filter you just made and delete it. You can use it to make the politics section look like it is not even here.

I don't enjoy FTT. It grosses me out and being grossed out is not one of my kinks. Sometimes I read those posts with a morbid curiosity. Sometimes a description or link there will gross me out. I would never propose that the FTT section be removed simply because I'm grossed out. Different strokes for different folks. I'm an adult and can recognize that something might have positive value for others even though it does not to me. I realize that the world is a better place because of its diversity of interests and recognize that my interests are not the only valid interests for people to have.

I've occasionally posted to the politics forum on MF and now here. Yes, sometimes posts there make me angry. It's hard to connect with someone who is diametrically opposed to your own views. But, having the BDSM connection means that we have a thread that connects us and perhaps we will spend a little more time hearing about their point of view. Some times I post there with the (thin) hope that this underlying connection will allow for some mutual understanding in this era of the widening gulf between left and right.


IMHO, this thread belongs in the politics section. A post about political discussion being bad is a political discussion. So you may not like it but your participating in it.

I haven't clicked on the politics page even once, I don't see the harm in it existing though.

I have fun kicking the political can down the road with longtime MF buddies. They are conversations that you can't or, at least shouldn't, have in every day life. Most of us are careful of such discussions as not to alienate or, offend our real time neighbors. If the political forum accounts for most of the posts, I guess it is because that is what people want to talk about. Removing the forum would not increase posting activity in the lobby. It would simply remove an environment that a handful of weirdos, like myself, enjoy. The full toilet creeps me out. Does that mean I should suggest it be taken down? Of course, not. Live and, let live.

You certainly enjoyed the political forum on MF....at least, you were quite active on it. Why would you say it was a mistake to have one here? People seem to enjoy it. Those who don't, aren't forced to read it.

I don’t see anything wrong with having the politics forum. Problem is that people tend to carry peoples political beliefs into not liking someone.

In 2019 it is not a matter of academic disagreements anymore.

I see nothing wrong with political discussion on Off Topic. However, the discussions must absolutely be respectful to differing points of view. I am confident that that Mistress Cheyenne has the same attitude and will keep the conversations civil, and this will be such a huge improvement over "the other site."

What do you mean by that, Soapy? I am starting to agree that this discussion would be better off moved to the political area. I am sort of blown away by your comment and, truly want to understand what you meant by it.

I am OK with the Administrator deciding to create a Politics section. I have even posted there myself twice. I will probably to continue to do so but very sparingly as the atmosphere is very fractious.

Two posters have made an apropos analogy to the FTT section. I don't think I will ever post there but when I am in a special mood will read some of the posts there. And when I am not I don't.

It is interesting (and perhaps a bit disturbing) that Politics is getting more posts than the rest of the Buzz combined. Was that the case over at Max Fisch?

I don't know since I looked only once and was a little upset that a guy who was otherwise balanced was having to my mind some pretty nasty attacks on Lady Cheyenne.

I agree with Soapy that the toxic climate is not from us but from the society at large, and I cannot talk to some people in my own family on these subjects. This never happened before and I think it starts from the top.

Still I find it somewhat ironic when we start insisting for political correctness.

The BDSM version of PC was the PC guy, who was the opposite of PC.

Yes that was the case on Max. The politics section was getting way more posts then the bdsm section. There weren’t that many different individual posters but there was a core group over there who were very active.

I see no problem at all with a politics section. No one has to read or take part unless you want to. I actually think it’s a good thing because otherwise political discussions will inevitably bleed over into the bdsm discussions. I can’t understand why anyone would be upset about having a political section. It’s like tv. If you don’t like a show don’t watch.

Thanks to all for responses. I find good/interesting input from all, especially like buffalo's point about having the political forum and maybe that will help politics from bleeding over into the BDSM forums - great point!

A lot of my original post did point out that i come here for the BDSM dialogue. And when the political forum overtakes the BDSM forum in posts, it is kinda sad. There are about 9 billion other sites where one can rant & rave "discuss - He he!" over politics, so this was my "safe place."

The other point/s i didn't mention was that i do hate that this country (USA) has become so divided that people can't tolerate another person having a different option - heaven forbid! I may think they're crazy, but they have every right to their opinion & not have me yell at them & tell them they are "Stupid" for having a differing opinion.

Secondly, how often has anyone on the left or right had any success in bringing them over to the other side? 0.00001% of the time - maybe?! So what is the point of the back & forth over "you're stupid, or no you're stupid?!"

Thanks again for the feedback. So now it's my $0.04! And i'll guess i'll just ignore the politics section unless it relates to BDSM. BTW it seems like Cheyenne is doing fine in moderating.

Thanks for the information, buffalo. Can't say it is much of a surprise though.

You are correct about both sides just going back and forth calling each other stupid. I just can’t read a lot of it. For a number of reasons I won’t bother to go into here on the bdsm forum this is a very polarising time in our country. I will say that imho Cheyenne is about the only one taking part in the political discussions who is open minded and objective about things and is the right choice to be the moderator.