# Women's March On Washington -- are you going? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885 "2017-01-11T18:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/121 "2017-01-23T00:51:52Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I’m not on Facebook. Most of my news comes from the BBC or the ABC. > > I’ve studied enough history to know why isolationism isn’t great, but my point is - I do not understand getting worked up over things that don’t demonstrably and materially affect you. America is not Australia, so the US president changing healthcare/abortion/gay rights laws there has _nothing_ to do with us. Maybe not those three. But if you don’t see how having a sociopathic kleptocrat with a hair-trigger temper, the inability to concentrate on anything, and a pathological need to insult everyone he meets run the most powerful country in the world might affect the whole planet, all I can say is that you appear to have a profoundly limited imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/122 "2017-01-23T01:28:14Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I’m not on Facebook. Most of my news comes from the BBC or the ABC. > > I’ve studied enough history to know why isolationism isn’t great, but my point is - I do not understand getting worked up over things that don’t demonstrably and materially affect you. America is not Australia, so the US president changing healthcare/abortion/gay rights laws there has _nothing_ to do with us. Can you not believe that a person can be right even if you don’t understand why they’re right? Do you have so little faith in the brains of others? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/123 "2017-01-23T01:34:58Z")
Also, Martin Enfield, the belief that there is no reason to bother addressing any horror that will only happen to someone else, not you, has a name, and it’s not the prettiest name. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/124 "2017-01-23T03:26:34Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Maybe not those three. But if you don’t see how having a sociopathic kleptocrat with a hair-trigger temper, the inability to concentrate on anything, and a pathological need to insult everyone he meets run the most powerful country in the world might affect the whole planet, all I can say is that you appear to have a profoundly limited imagination. I haven’t said his election is a great thing and I can totally get people outside the US being _concerned_. But there’s a difference between being concerned and going to a protest rally which will just end up being a total waste of the attendee’s time, and that of anyone it inconveniences. > [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Can you not believe that a person can be right even if you don’t understand why they’re right? Do you have so little faith in the brains of others? “Right” is a relative concept, though. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > Also, Martin Enfield, the belief that there is no reason to bother addressing any horror that will only happen to someone else, not you, has a name, and it’s not the prettiest name. And that name would be? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/125 "2017-01-23T03:52:36Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > “Right” is a relative concept, though. It’s related to whether you think it’s right? And if you don’t already think it is then no amount of explanation will convince you. So far you are a waste of my time and inconvenient to boot, but I’m still bothering to try to resolve the thing you say confuses you. I wish I could see your face to tell if you’re having a go and seeing how long we’ll try to address your selfish and isolationist rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/126 "2017-01-23T03:57:57Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I haven’t said his election is a great thing and I can totally get people outside the US being _concerned_. But there’s a difference between being concerned and going to a protest rally which will just end up being a total waste of the attendee’s time, and that of anyone it inconveniences. /snip/ > > And that name would be? I was wrong, there’s more than one name. "Selfishness, self-seeking, self-absorbtion, self-interestedness, narcissism, self-centeredness, ungenerousness, meanness, niggardliness, egotism, illiberality, smallness … " just covering the main headings in Rogets here. And then there’s that old [Martin Neimoller](https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392) quotation. Perhaps that was in their minds. Or, I dunno . . . sisterhood. It’s a thing, you know. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/127 "2017-01-23T04:48:07Z")
Martini Enfield - as an American, the pictures of people around the world marching in solidarity give me hope and optimism and help me remember we’re all in this together. There were quite a few signs at the D.C. Protest related to climate change and environmental concerns, which is my biggest fear about the trump administration. I can see how people in Australia would be rationally concerned about American plans to burn all the fossil fuels. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/128 "2017-01-23T05:59:05Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > It’s related to whether you think it’s right? And if you don’t already think it is then no amount of explanation will convince you. Basically, although I am open to being convinced on some issues. That I should care enough about who the president of America is enough to protest that person in public with other malcontents is not one of those issues, at least until said president actually does something which affects us - like nuking Elbonia or deciding the US Dollar is worth 1000 ForeignDollars or something like that. > [@](#): > > So far you are a waste of my time and inconvenient to boot, but I’m still bothering to try to resolve the thing you say confuses you. I wish I could see your face to tell if you’re having a go and seeing how long we’ll try to address your selfish and isolationist rhetoric. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t do trolling. Years ago, I used to get all worked up about all the horrible things going on in the world and it wasn’t a fun way to spend my time. Once I realised most of the things I was getting worked up about didn’t matter and I couldn’t change them anyway, my stress levels went down quite markedly and I was able to channel my energies into things which did make me happy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/129 "2017-01-23T12:52:17Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Once I realised most of the things I was getting worked up about didn’t matter and I couldn’t change them anyway, my stress levels went down quite markedly and I was able to channel my energies into things which did make me happy. So you don’t give a shit about what’s going on around you-you just give a shit about people that give a shit about what’s going around them? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/130 "2017-01-23T13:48:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So you don’t give a shit about what’s going on around you-you just give a shit about people that give a shit about what’s going around them? It really depends on whether or not there’s anything I can do about it. If it doesn’t affect me or anyone I know personally and I couldn’t do anything about it anyway, then no, I generally don’t care about it too much. However, I do care when social media has become almost unusable for me because it’s wall-to-wall people carrying on about your new president. That’s fine if they’re from the US - it affects them and they can do something about things happening there. It’s not fine when it’s people on the other side of the planet (ie here in Australia) jumping on the bandwagon. FWIW, I’d think it was extremely odd if people in the US were carrying on about our Prime Minister - and bear in mind our government locks people up in prison camps on tropical islands for daring to come here and ask for asylum. If people here want something to be outraged about, I’d prefer it if they found something closer to home and more generally useful to be worked up about. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/131 "2017-01-23T20:26:49Z")
Crowd estimates are always dicey things, but some are saying that even with the low end of the scale one out of every 100 Americans may have gone to a march on Saturday. That’s mind boggling. I am pretty sure every single one of them was on my Metro car. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/132 "2017-01-23T22:28:58Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > If people here want something to be outraged about, I’d prefer it if they found something closer to home and more generally useful to be worked up about. Following your sterling example, why would we care to do what you prefer? Your ridiculous and contradictory replies sure look like trolling behavior, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/133 "2017-01-23T23:25:50Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Following your sterling example, why would we care to do what you prefer? Your ridiculous and contradictory replies sure look like trolling behavior, don’t you think? No, not really. I’ve been around the boards a long time - I’m frankly surprised we’ve never interacted before - and I think it’s a matter of public record I’m not a troll. Given to Devil’s Advocacy on occasion, but definitely not a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/134 "2017-01-23T23:49:00Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > No, not really. I’ve been around the boards a long time - I’m frankly surprised we’ve never interacted before - and I think it’s a matter of public record I’m not a troll. Given to Devil’s Advocacy on occasion, but definitely not a troll. We may well have interacted, I’m not going back over my thousands of posts and 15 years to find out. A poster can turn into a troll in one post, as far as I’m concerned and if you weren’t trolling before it doesn’t mean you aren’t or won’t. Troll/Devil’s Advocate depends on one’s perspective and yours is clear in that it honors you and your views alone. You didn’t answer, should we care what you prefer to read about on here enough to tailor our posts? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/135 "2017-01-24T00:30:34Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Following your sterling example, why would we care to do what you prefer? Your ridiculous and contradictory replies sure look like trolling behavior, don’t you think? Don’t accuse other posters of trolling outside of the BBQ Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/136 "2017-01-24T00:34:57Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Don’t accuse other posters of trolling outside of the BBQ Pit. OK, instead you can consider it a ‘Reported for trolling’ post, moderator friend. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/137 "2017-01-24T00:45:03Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > You didn’t answer, should we care what you prefer to read about on here enough to tailor our posts? Not anymore than usual and I don’t recall saying you should. I’m mystified by the continued trolling accusations, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/138 "2017-01-24T01:25:50Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Not anymore than usual and I don’t recall saying you should. > > I’m mystified by the continued trolling accusations, incidentally. ‘If people here want something to be outraged about, **I’d prefer it** if they found something closer to home and more generally useful to be worked up about.’ Sound familiar? I imagine anything that runs counter what you already believe for yourself would mystify you, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/139 "2017-01-24T04:25:43Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > ‘If people here want something to be outraged about, **I’d prefer it** if they found something closer to home and more generally useful to be worked up about.’ Sound familiar? “Here” in this case referring to Australia - a point I believe I’ve made abundantly clear in my posts in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885/140 "2017-01-24T15:26:31Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > OK, instead you can consider it a ‘Reported for trolling’ post, moderator friend. Let’s not. Just report it. “Reported for trolling” is an accusation of trolling. Just report and let us handle it. Or in many cases decide to take no action. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-march-on-washington-are-you-going/776885.md?page=6)