"[Immigrants] breed like rabbits"

It seems to me that not having a hive approved opinion that is expressed with precisely the approved level of vigor is equivalent in some entitled eyes to ‘hate speech’, trolling, or some other goofy label. Well, that’s a decision for the real mods to make not for vitriolic, manipulative, extortionate wannabes.

This “hive” crap is tiresome.

It’s vastly overstated as presented here, but there’s a germ of truth in Ock’s plaint.

To point out that people agree with each other on a topic, and then to claim that the fact that they agree with each other is itself a “problem” that needs to be solved is tiresome-“I have a minority opinion that must be right just because it is a minority opinion”.

No one, and you know this, is making the claim that a so-called minority opinion is right. The claim is minority opinions are quite often met with a very nasty, dishonest brigade of attackers. It’s not enough to disagree with an opinion. The goal is to silence dissent and the well honed tactic of labeling the poster as troll, or ‘bigot’ is frequently employed.

Not for the fact that they just have a minority opinion. This website likes good, healthy debate-when people get labeled “trolls” it is usually because troll-like behavior is detected, and when they are called “bigots” it is usually because bigoted opinions have been displayed for all to see. There is usually no “dishonest brigade” to bravely fight against.

It’s not hive mind to reject bigotry and there is no value in arguing with overt bigots.

Yeah. Y’know what that germ of truth boils down to?

“I think this forum is better without the nazis and the trolls.”

That’s basically the “hivemind” he’s complaining about.

Now, maybe some people are a little quick to deem others trolls. Maybe I’m too quick to assume bad faith from someone when they post something really stupid and I’ve only ever seen stupid bad faith arguments in defense of the indefensible from them. Maybe I’m too quick to assume someone is a troll after the third or fourth thread they intentionally needle with irrelevant bullshit until someone responds and it completely derails.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

:smack: Holy strawman, Batman!

Unlike the earlier comment with only a “germ of truth”, this is not overstated at all.

Which minority opinions?

There’s a reason that when people complain that their “opinion” is met with fierce backlash, they often don’t tell you what that opinion is. That reason is that that “opinion” is fucking grotesque, and that any reasonable person would respond to it with, “Fuck, dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”.

Seriously, “minority opinions” is doing some real heavy lifting here; which opinions are quite often met with a very nasty, dishonest brigade of attackers? Is it the opinion that, to go back to the OP, “immigrants breed like rabbits”? Because I fucking hope that that opinion will be met with a nasty brigade of attackers, because that opinion belongs in public the way cyanide belongs in dog food, and people willing to espouse that opinion are typically dangerous fascists.

This is a way of demanding an unreasonable amount of respect for opinions and positions that absolutely do not deserve any respect. Stop falling for it.

Racism is just a form of “dissent”. Got it!

I thought racism is just “politics”?

I really think that the reason bigots throw around terms like hive mind is that they truly believe that deep down, everyone is as bigoted as they are and the only reason someone would call out their bigotry is because we are ‘hive mind’ or virtue signaling. It’s why they expect us to debate with them when they drop something like immigrants breed like rabbits in a thread. Like I said before, they may truly believe their crap, but operationally, they are trolling.

Here’s the sort of thing we are talking about, or at least what I am talking about. A quote like this would be treated by the shoutdown brigade as though it came right out of David Duke’s mouth:

Well, it is a phenomenally outdated take that I disagree with published in a rag most famous for being the smart racist’s Breitbart News…

[spoiler]This is a stupid off-topic digression, but…

Like, here’s the context for the quote:

Those people she claims exist may exist, but they generally aren’t on this forum, and they generally aren’t numerous enough to make up any substantial demographic. There is no broad wave of pro-Islam, non-Muslim feminists - if I had to guess their numbers, it’d be about on par with the “QAnon” people.

Reactionaries have been trying to use the left’s caution about Islamophobia to make it look like the left is unwilling or unable to criticize Islam for a long time, and it remains a very wrong talking point. There’s a reason this quote was published in Quillette, most recently famous for publishing an article in defense of… checks notes… Craniometry. Yeah. Those guys. [/spoiler]

…but I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion given that this is the first time anyone has posted that quote on this forum. Got any examples that are, y’know, actually real?

What about the quote from the OP? You know, the actual example we have.

If someone wrote “The Amish breed like rabbits,” not one liberal would likely raise an eyebrow although the Amish are known for large families.

Much of what liberals think is social justice is patronizing and condescending attitudes toward people of color as if they cannot defend themselves or withstand any type of criticisms.

Go ahead, try it! Start that thread. See how that goes for you.

Your whole ouvre rests on the idea that one party and perhaps its members are evil. With that as a foundation, it’s not surprising that ideas that don’t align with yours are seen as trolling.

This isn’t unheard of on the boards either. For some, the idea that people hold various views is unfathomable and as a result the only explanation that makes sense to them is that the other person must be trolling.

If you want to have actual discussion sans animosity and personal insults, then you’ll have to suppress the need to call folks who disagree with you trolls. Or you can stick to the Pit and go nuts.

TBH, anyone who thinks Quillette is “The smart racist’s Breitbart news” simply isn’t capable of deciding whether or not anyone is a “Nazi or a troll”.