This might surprise you:
Although I have to agree with carnivorousplant that the pile on is (mostly) undeserved, you do really need to have tighter arguments if you want to debate on these boards from a minority position. Especially on the topics you seem to dwell on.
I certainly can, but this thread has veered far enough from ATMB territory already that I won’t.
I think you have the mistaken belief that America is a homogeneous culture. We do not. We never have. While there are a number of over-riding themes that resonate across the country, America is not so much a melting pot as it’s a salad bowl. You can taste the regional and cultural differences from all over the country, yet somehow the nationwide “taste” is all that most “outsiders” ever experience. Add to it the media lost (if it ever had) it’s somewhat “objective” view of the world; every news outlet has a bias these days. I daily read online news from across the political spectrum even though my views tend to support part of that spectrum.
While this Board has a historic left lean, it does not turn away those who do not support that view. I think the Board makes a determined (but unconscious) effort to appeal across the spectrum. We play hard here so if you lack the fortitude, are afraid of getting bruised, for examples, you might find this place not so friendly.
Yes, the Board has changed. It’s life. What really matters is whether you want to pull down your pants and slide on the ice as Major Sidney Freeman suggests.
Say what?
Must be one of those regional American things. 
I don’t understand this idea that there is a “pile on” here. The OP asked why people respond to her posts the way they do, and people are telling her. The fact that many people agree on certain reasons is not a “pile on”-- it’s telling the OP something she probably needs to hear.
I concur, and I’m pretty sensitive to pile ons.
I also have no opinion on Pjen’s posting habits as I don’t read those thread subjects, and my opinion of the Dope is that it’s gotten nicer since I started. For instance, the current Pit is puppies and kittens compared to the 2009 one. (And, yes, I mean even after the “incident.”) There’s even a recent thread where the Pittee was trading jokes with the Pitters.
My last “comment” was a line from a Chuck Berry song.
You need to know about Chuck Berry if you wish to understand the culture of the U.S. 
Likewise, you seem to have an lack of understanding of U.S. culture, tending to lump everyone into one big group, or stereotype. For example:
Not everyone in the U.S. thinks this way and assuming that everyone does is insulting. It’s a big and very diverse nation.
And finally, perhaps people tend to get defensive, not because we live in “God’s Own Country”, but we don’t like big told our that our home is basically a shithole? I mean, you’ve pretty much implied that we’re basically a bunch of racist, uneducated, sadistic barbarians.
No, maybe Americans don’t travel outside their country as much. You know why? It’s fucking expensive. There are only two other continents here: Canada and Mexico. Europe, on the other hand, is much denser, and has many more countries packed together. Many of us would love to go overseas and tour Europe, but it’s simply not feasible.
I don’t think my country’s perfect – far from it. But I don’t like it when people come in and tell me that somehow, they know better than me, and I’m so unenlightened, because of where I live, blah blah blah. It’s very condescending and people tend to get very defensive. And many of your so-called observations are simply incorrect. I don’t know which parts you visited, but trust me, you came away with a very narrow view of this country.
(However, the next time you visit the U.S., I do urge you to stop by Pittsburgh. We’re very friendly folks, we were voted “Most Livable City” in the U.S., and the city itself is very diverse and quite beautiful.)
Well, yes, I can, and I do deny it, actually, when ascribed to the country as a whole as you do.
Sure, there are some Americans who have that view: but ascribing it to American culture as a whole, and to all Americans, is simply a caricature, meant to establish your debating position by assumption, rather than by evidence.
I thought that with the departure of Aldebaran, we’d moved past “My post is my cite.”
Hell, some Northern Dopers tell me that about the South a couple of times a week.
I disagree with the “pile on” description but I do agree this is getting further and further out from ATMB territory.
Think what has happened is that people have tried to answer to the issue posted here and then it’s gone on to defend positions … that’s not how it’s supposed to be here but it’s natural that the argument would go there. Still, not appropriate.
If you got a problem with Pjen (or any other poster), take it to The Pit.
Continue in this vein and this thread will be closed.
I’ve been here just a little over a decade, and don’t think it’s changed all that much. The snark and amity here ebb and flow, day by day. In ten years on the SDMB I’ve made good friends, discussed things I would never have thought about otherwise, had questions answered that otherwise would have remained mysteries, and been, by turns, delighted, aggravated, amused, pissed off, entertained, intrigued and sustained. For me, fighting ignorance was never such fun.
This is a great place. Individual Dopers come and go, of course, but the Dope abides. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Love you Guin, but…
(bolding mine)
Really? 
Imp, do you go to the zoo and poke at the bears with a stick?
:dubious:
Fuck. :smack:
[sub]Yes, I knew that[/sub] :o
I knew you knew that. And unlike *some *others, I’d never call you a bear 
Yeah, try and wriggle out.
:dubious:
You appear to be mistaking me for a Sept14’er. You are mistaken.
If you have anything further to say about me, I’d suggest you take it to the Pit.