Forum Post: This is why America doesn't work

When I found this site I thought to myself that it was something far different than what it has turned out to be. I thought it was a place where intelligent people could finally exchange ideas and perspectives on what we as a nation are experiencing.

While there are those here who are intelligent and who are looking for intelligent interaction, I'm afraid that there are far too many who are here to be childish, who wish to argue rather than debate, and, most disappointingly of all, who, when confronted with ideas that are outside of their scope, descend into insults, profanity and senseless threats.

There is no one more staunch advocate of free speech and the right of everyone to believe as they see best than myself. But the idea of what constitutes free speech, as envisioned by some here, has nothing to do with freedom – it is merely an excuse for them to vent their dissatisfaction and spew their venom on others.

If this is the true face of the Occupy Movement, how, then, is it any different than what we observe in Washington, or on the evening news, or in reality television. And what hope do we have of creating anything else? If this is the true face of the Occupy Movement, it is nothing different than what we already have in Washington and in many state and city governments across the country.

In the future, I will not respond to anyone who feels the need or desire to hurl insults, try to provoke anger or humiliation, engage in hateful, intolerant language or accusations, or who otherwise behave like spoiled, bratty children bickering on a playground at recess. As frankly as I can put it, you are not worth my time or energy. I ask anyone who feel the same way to view such posts in the light of ignorance and bitterness, and to give them no weight, nor justify them by issuing a response.

I came here for an intelligent exchange of ideas and that is what I will limit myself to doing. If you post anything different or if you reply to any post of mine in any other way, it will be ignored and reported. If you respond to a reply I have made to another post or one of yours, I ask you do so in the same spirit of intellectual conversation. Anything else will , as I said, be ignored and/or reported to the site administrator.

I hope that everyone else who comes here for the same purpose will consider doing the same and will be intolerant of intolerance.