I'm going to repost a recent post I made in the Off Topic Forum because I think it fits with the OP of this particular thread. In reply to beastie as follows:
beastie,
In your post above, you focus on what I think is the reality of the situation. While a person who has been/felt harrassed wishes for his/her attackers/harrassers/abusers to admit they have wronged another person, time and experience tells me that it's not likely to happen.
People whose psychological make up allows them to habitually attack/harrass/abuse or perhaps even objectify other human beings, typically do not see their part in a situation as being potentially destructive to others. They are there perhaps for the adrenalin rush that comes from engaging/confronting another in that way and little else. That is to say they are self focused and likely socially dysfunctional to the point of lacking true conscience in such a matter.
Therefore, attempting to exact an admission or apology from them is of little use for if even an ambiguous public admission or apology should be forthcoming, predictably it will be as superficial as they themselves are internally.
On boards like these, we know and can expect to know very little about the person on the other side of the screen except their words. What we know about ourselves is our best strength in the face of cruel treatment by strangers we interact with online.
My best and only advice to Moniker (and others who feel attacked, misused, mischaracterized, used, harrassed) is to take what you know to be true about yourself....and live it when confronted with those who would "despitefully use you".
Following up with beasties current remark on this thread:
beastie wrote:I have no interest in continuing to participate on this board for various reasons, but the endless back and forth with people like Bob is exhibit A.
The endless back and forth that beastie identifies is not my personal "exhibit A" so much as is this entire thread. The OP here that was apparently intended to facilitate thoughtful discussion, devolved into personalized attack on or around page 4.
This is a glaring example of why I have lost interest in this board.
The front page of this board claims "free discussion". Just prior to my decision to discontinue participation here, whenever I opened a thread I saw post after post of personalized attack, innuendo, libelous remarks, gossip and sexualized remarks directed at both male and female posters.
While admin certainly has the right to administer this board in whatever way he/they see fit, I see little or no reason to invest time in it for while the board is intended to "look professional", when I open the pages, what I see is a combination of comic book and National Enquirer.
Is this "free discussion" or is it "discussion-free"?
I am no stranger to insult (both giving and receiving--a little well placed sarcasm is good for the soul now and then ;-) but when insult, gossip, innuendo, libel and sexualized comments become pervasive, I am left to believe that a number of persons (except for an ever-shrinking group of good and thoughtful posters, you know who you are-- I sent goodbye's to you :-) in this community are socially dysfunctional to the point where personalized attack becomes the
social norm and at that point, I've lost interest.
I value what I do with my mind and I see no reason to fill it with the remarks of people who repeatedly fail to value other human beings. I'm not certain what benefit there is to free speech, absent standards. Surely,
topical discussion could have been the one standard that was consistently enforced and what I had hoped to see happen on this board when it was first "birthed".
Watch what harmony is doing and learn from her. She's doing
just exactly what should have been done two years ago and wasn't.
I do wish you all well.
Jersey Girl