Just so you know, the webmaster has shut down conversations on "both sides of the aisle."
It can be hard to draw a dividing line between local, national, and global issues. I would love to discuss the climate crisis, because it has very large local impacts and those are going to increase dramatically, but apparently my comments about this were judged unrelated to our area or the purpose of this forum. Maybe there's an assumption that things related to the Winnipesaukee area should be positive? And yet we know that that's not realistic.
Some have stated that there are other places to discuss these things. I've actually looked for other places to have fruitful exchanges with thoughtful people. I haven't found any.
The main point though is that in our current society we have two diametrically opposed ways of being and thinking about society, and that division has grown so wide that it's practically impossible to have a discussion that leads to any kind of understanding, meeting of the minds, or solutions. Thus such discussions may only deepen the divide and the acrimony. What's the point if I say all gun manufacturers should be shut down and you say all citizens should be armed? That's not going anywhere.
However, I believe recent studies have found that when people meet in person and get to know each other, there's a much greater chance that they will come to understand each other's views. That doesn't happen in an online forum, where people's self-censorship and listening skills are low.
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