Contemporary Logical Form

I love craigslist. I check them almost daily, mainly for secondhand furniture and books, but I'll occasionally read the "Rants and Raves" column, too. I had some extra time at work today, so I figured I'd venture away from Augusta's page and read some in North Carolina, as I'm applying for a graduate program there soon, and, well, I guess I was curious as to what kind of discussions are going on in my potential future home. Greensboro was in a heated battle between Atheists and Christians, and in the background, people were berating an IHOP waitress for being of Spanish descent and not speaking perfect English. It was scary there, in the Rants and Raves board in Greensboro, NC, so I went to a few other cities. In Charleston, SC, the discussion is lewd, and it somehow has been linked to a "black" verses "white" issue. In Athens, GA, people are calling the Jena 6 "thugs" and "hood-rat niggers" who will be judged by God. In Detroit, MI, it's the classic Republican vs. Democrat debate, with a healthy amount of "suck it up, public educators" thrown in the mix. Springfield, IL's page has been consumed with a blend of politics, war, and religion, while Los Angeles' threads were just so haphazard I'm not sure what they're discussing.

What bothers me isn't what's being discussed--racism, violence, politics, religion, and sexuality are things that need to be talked about--but the frustration comes from the way people are talking. It's completely illogical. I've yet to see any kind of normal discussion going on, and it's rare that a post isn't belittling or intentionally insulting the poster they're responding to. Insults, slurs, and curses are thrown out at every chance, and everyone assumes that their opinion is right, and everyone else should, quote, "fuck 0ff," or "suck my dick," or "go kill yourself."

I only searched a fraction of these boards, and only on one website, but I've seen it everywhere. Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, YouTube--I doubt there's a venue that hasn't been marred by inappropriate arguing.

Do I think that public forums should be censored? No way. I do think, however, that people should censor themselves in consideration of other people. Isn't it our social responsibility, our responsibility as people to manage the way we speak to each other? It seems like we would have so much more constructive conversation if we weren't so insistent on forcing everyone to agree with our perspective.

I'm content to know that I won't agree with the way other people see the world; on the same hand, though, I've accepted and embraced the fact that people don't agree with me. I'm not saying we should shy away from dialogue, or even make it nice or surface-level, but I do think that we should be more willing to lead our discussions with rationality and humility, and the general understanding that people, by definition, are diverse and impossible to understand. If we can't handle even our conversations with maturity and logic, what can we handle?