Does anyone else get ready to post something and say: "Why Bother..."

:-( these days. From the trivial and trite to the latest breaking news story from a respected newspaper or internet site...do you pause...think again...and then say to yourself...why bother....

Is it because you are tired, or because you think it doesn't matter because it will be picked up by someone else and posted? Or is it because you think...no one will care?

:shrug:

To reply to some of these posts!!! ha

but then I most often do it anyway. Sometimes I will spend close to an hour putting a post together, searching for links etc.

I hate it when Freeper's asinine remarks etc. get far more attention.
Sometimes I think I'm just a glutton for disappointment.
I've said it before, Coulter is far more 'popular' here than Sibel Edmonds or Medea Benjamin. :eyes:

Yes! to all questions.

it gets.

Post with all the rough edges left in, and folks fly outta the woodwork to have their say.

And then think why did I do that. It sucks.

Plus I'm just exhausted and am 1 inch from a nervous breakdown.

Go do something to restore your spunky. Yeah, we all feel like that sometimes. Don't let it become your M.O. though. I always get things from your posts, even if it is just the peace of mind knowing you are still with us and still swinging. ;)

:grouphug:

SLACKERS... :-)'s and :hug:

You've been around here for forever and I'm sure most of us feel as you do many times. Walk away and come back later, fighting this corruption is tough, no one ever said it was going to be easy, we all have let "them" get away with way too much for far too long.

Love Ya!

Various reasons. Sometimes cause I don't have enough time to put significant thought into what I want to say. Sometimes because the thought escapes me halfway through the post. Sometimes because I realize I don't want to bother jumping into an already heated post. Sometimes because nobody responds anyway, so why bother. Depends on my mood.

and sometimes I read an article and think "why bother replying?"...because nothing ever seems to change...yeah, surface changes and band-aids out the ying yang....but real change? pfffft.

...it's not a question "why bother," or is it?

For me it is lack of an assertive political energy. I'm suffering a serious burnout. Its as if I get half way into the debate and collapse from exhaustion. It is not for lack of facts, evidence, or need of discourse. Its...

I know when I am down you will pick me up. And I will do the same for you. If we give up, then there truly us no more hope.

:(

VERY easily and some of my opinions run against the grain here. Add to that, politics is a little boring right now, and its hard to care about many of the topics currently gripping DU.

... and if I do post, then I ask myself, "Why did I bother?"
:shrug:

as "pissing in a stream".

an apt metaphor i think. personally i like feeling that my posts mean nothing in the big scheme of things because DU has some of the smartest and funniest people I've ever read - and I can't really compete in either category.

i'm dumb as all fuck and not funny.

informed could inform the "uninformed" the innocent and those who had a "Clue" but didn't know how to express themselves. So many of us learned so much and yet could still give our viewpoint... (Not always...this has been always been a place where one had to pick their way through the "minefields" but one could "learn the ropes."

Keep posting.

"i'm dumb as all fuck and not at all funny" was just another lame attempt at a laugh. I came across as somebody who was getting ready to commit suicide over my inadequacy at posting relative to our smarter, funnier DU'ers.

thanks for your encouragement though, it's that kind-heartedness that makes me like DU so much. i suppose you could say that DU has charitable folks like yourself to blame for me posting such horrible drivel.

;)

one sincere poster who really cares is better than a boatload of clever distractions.
Seriously, DU is a sum of it's molecules. It is a matter of critical mass me thinks.

reading what i posted it sounded like it - it was really another lame attempt at humor.

"i'm dumb as all fuck". see for me that passes as humor.

;)

They've been silenced one by one...I too have missed the voices of the longtime posters.

and generally, only post on "safe" sites like the captionthis photo or the bash Bush sites etc.

I am not a member of any group , do not communicate with any via PM,and am not inclined to join a groupee site praising any one member for their accomplishments by cheerleading them on with fawning praise for the sake of being in with the group. I love the feature that allows me to eliminate those threads from my view and do so regularly.

I think I am out of the age range for latching on to that, being of an independant mind not needing the support of my peers for forming my opinions.

I post to the ideas presented in the OP, and not for a perceived support from anyone else.

I've started replies and erased them. I only post once in awhile anyway and they never catch much attention. My replies sometimes get attention but they ever increasingly get negative replies; not usually from DU old timers thankfully but.... *sigh*

I have ADORED DU since I joined. I've learned sooooooo much. It's changed me in profound ways. I was reawakened to the old activist me. Lately though, with so much talk and not enough results, I'm drooping.

I don't even watch the news anymore. I just started dropping back in here in the last few days after a number of weeks avoiding the place. I had a total burn out with politics in general. Nothing seems to change. A centimeter here or there but not much in any significant way.

The hatred and flaming and vitriol is unbearable after awhile. I love to have a good laugh. I like passing along or reading about some interesting data but the most important thing to me is RESULTS/CHANGE.

Each of us has a focus that is near and dear to their heart; maybe a couple points even. Points of interest that are different from their fellow dem. My feeling is that I'd like to see us team together and support one another in their interests/concerns by petitioning, faxing, writing, phoning whatever to help make waves/changes to whatever the issue is.
I'd like to see less ridicule of the rightwing and more left wing support/action of our causes. While it was pretty funny and I enjoyed it a lot at first, it seems like we've spent too much time name calling of the other side ( not that they don't sometimes deserve it),it's not funny anymore. IT'S BORING and gets NOTHING DONE.

The Feds have nothing to worry about with this board because all we do is bitch. There is little organizing going on. SOME folk in here DO get it on, but not many.

Thomas Frank wrote another book along the lines of What's the Matter with Kansas. What's the matter with liberals I'll go look up the link and return to post it here.

*Yikes, I always write more than I intend to. Apologies* :blush:

Edit to add:http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17982
What's the Matter with Liberals?
By Thomas Frank

I may not copy any of the article here without permission. You will have to use the link to see the article

but I want you to know that I appreciate your posts. I learned a lot about East San Jose in the old days from you in one thread. I wish I was in a better mood for a pep talk, though. The truth is, you're not alone in your feelings. Many of us are burned out.

I'm tickled all under by your response. It's good to be remembered. It's good that we've made friends in here over the years too.

I just keep hoping that things will pick up or turn around sometime soon so we can all get excited again.

I hope you are well otherwise. Very best wishes :hug: SB

Don't let them get you down, SB!! :pals: Keep posting, and keep fighting.

moved to the 9/11 forum and whatever nominations it may have gotten, expunged. So, indeed. why bother?

:patriot:

admonishments for me to "learn my history," or some such.

I usually stay away from talking about history as I am not a big fan of studying it, but sometimes I'll ask a simple question or say something and be jumped all over because, apparently, I have had different life experiences and learned different things. Or it was misinterpreted wildly as you said. Or...god forbid... my opinion differs ever so slightly.

:)

I got involved with DU during the last Presidential election - and you wouldn't believe the ignorant and misinformed stuff that was flung at me, because I don't live in the US any more, though I am still a US citizen. I was supposed to "get involved with politics in the country where you live" instead of being concerned with the American Presidential election - apparently despite my duty to vote and be an informed voter. There were DUers who apparently don't understand that being a US citizen goes beyond living within certain borders, and that a citizen's rights and responsibilities are not negated when they aren't resident in the USA. They didn't seem to realize that US citizens living overseas can and do get involved in US politics, that they can and do campaign and do what they can to get the candidates they support into office. And they didn't seem to care to know when I and several other offshore Americans posted to this effect, multiple times. This information did not seem to affect the "if you live in another country you can't be in our club" faction at DU.

It ended up making me so sick that I gave up on DU, figuring it was going the way of most Internet message boards - the way of infighting and exhibitionism via posts written solely to show the cleverness of the person writing them. I came back a couple of weeks ago, wanting to give it another try.

Forget it. Same old story. Same routine of believing that a "high post count" somehow makes people part of the "in" group. Same showing off by being "clever". Same nitpicking over semantics, or people deriding others for typos and incorrectly spelled words. Same lack of reasonable discussion should anyone differ from the general consensus of opinion. Same silly posts about having a revolution and resorting to violence, from people sitting in front of a computer in a comfy chair.

Not going to bother any more. Got shoes to make today, for one thing. Actually DOING something and coming up with a real result.

I didn't know there was that sentiment here as I go through phases where I visit DU often, then phases where I don't for weeks at a time.

I understand what you mean about the "high post count" club and the stigma against those with lower counts or non-donors. I have been a member for 1.5 years and only have 2,000+ posts. I think the "troll" accusations are thrown around a little too easily and drive people away.

I'm not trying to put down DU, but I do understand about your other points. Some people will tell you "grow a thick skin" but I won't tell you that. I tend to ignore replies to me that are purposely hurtful or the poster finds them "clever" while I just roll my eyes and think "immature". But I'm sure I've acted immature here at times also. I hope you will give it another chance, or just stick to reading certain forums (try Late Breaking News or some of the non-political ones) if you start getting sick of the ugliness elsewhere.

:)

flying at us from all directions. IT'S OVERWHELMING!! Like shovelling snow in a snowstorm.

But we can't give up.... :patriot:

All of my posts are pretty much off-the-cuff. I don't respond to the stuff I like best, generally. I know it would be good but how much "great post" can you post without feeling like some sort of bot?

Just because your posts are unanswered doesn't mean they go unread. I posted a thread once with a link to a friend's blog--0 replies but he got traffic out of DU all day long.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

That sounds like a cool story-the kid yelling at Humphrey.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

,...from posting. Sometimes, it's 'cause I just can't seem to fully express what I want in an impactful way. Sometimes, I'm in too much of a hurry with too little time to create a meaningful post. Sometimes, I'm way too involved in other's posts. Sometimes, I do feel like I'll get the honor of "tank queen", again,...but, that's okay. Sometimes, I'm scattered as all get out. Sometimes, I get stuck.

But, you know what,...I'm just glad to a part of and participate in this fabulous group of talented, passionate, caring human beings. :hug:

"Never give up
no matter what is going on.
Never give up.
Develop the heart.
Too much energy in your country is spent developing the mind instead of the heart.
Develop the heart.
Be compassionate.
Not just to your friends, but to everyone.
Be compassionate.
Work for peace in your heart and in the world.
Work for peace, and I say again,
Never give up, no matter what is happening.
No matter what is going on around you.
Never give up!"

The Dalai Lama