BladeForums has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy towards threats of violence & extremism. Be warned.

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lieferung said:
I'm fairly certain the PA forum is in fact hidden, you need a membership to even see the link to it I believe. That aside everything you said about it is true, it's not even really a political forum so much as it is an echo chamber with incredibly biased mod. I am one more for scrubbing it.
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Interesting how many basic members who have no skin in the game ($30 membership) are ready to dump PA.
What next, grind our blades dull so as not to offend the Brits and Canucks?

Free expression within the bounds of decorum should be encouraged. Nobody here is calling for trouble.
 
I don't even listen to the news anywhere any more because politics are bad for my blood pressure, bladeforums is the only social media I use. I'm here for knives, not politics. Thanks Spark, and everyone on the mod staff for keeping things focused on the hobby.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
The political subform has become a little bit of an alt-right echo chamber. Level-headed rational folks are branded "lefties" there and derided as "libtards", whatever that is. It's not a very moderate sub and I think it stinks up the place. While I wouldn't suggest removing it, I do think that it should be hidden from our front page in much the same manner as whine and cheese. And it might benefit from a little bit more even moderation.

I recently lost a customer because I do almost all of my business on Bladeforums and he told me he did not want to support the site because of that sub. I don't agree with that mindset, but that did just happen and it does affect me. In my opinion that sub is a little bit embarrassing and should be hidden.
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I've been asking on and off for the PA and WC subforums to be hidden from the "New Post" search.
 
The PA forum has GREAT moderators who keep the folks in line and there is some very intelligent content and discussion in there , just don't let your feelings get hurt .

Stick and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me .

Thank you Sparks for not scrubbing it and standing tall .
 
batonbuck said:
Interesting how many basic members who have no skin in the game ($30 membership) are ready to dump PA.
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I didn't realize $20 more was the price of a voice?

batonbuck said:
Free expression within the bounds of decorum should be encouraged. Nobody here is calling for trouble.
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The highlighted is the part that is sorely lacking in that forum. And I'd be hard pressed to say nobody is calling for trouble after the threads from the last few days.
 
sabre cat said:
Sorry that you lost a customer over something that you did not post or have control over.

However, I find your comment about “level-headed rational folks” being branded leftists insulting. It implies that anyone that is conservative is not “level-headed.” This just is not the case. There are rational people on both sides of the political fence.
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Huh? No, I think there's a misunderstanding here. I'm not saying "that anyone that is conservative is not “level-headed”" at all. I'm not implying it either. I am a relatively conservative leaning independent and I think that, overall, conservatives tend to be pretty level headed (historically). What I'm saying is that people that I know (The Virginian, for example) who are intelligent, rational, thoughtful and right leaning have been derided as being insufficiently right, here on our political sub. He has "accused" of being liberal. He isn't. And just the idea of "being liberal" applied as some kind of an insult here demonstrates that the discourse on this site is not particularly centrist. And perhaps it shouldn't be centrist? I don't know. I don't care. But I do know that I see some pretty ridiculous nonsense posted that isn't far removed from the Qanon cult insanity that makes that sub, and our entire forum by association, look a little out of whack. Which is why I think it would be better if new posts from the PA sub didn't show on our front page.
 
Like others, I'm here to share my enjoyment of the knife hobby with like-minded individuals. I also find this place to be an oasis from all the crap going on in the world and didn't even know where the PA was--I had to do a search to find it. It's a sad commentary on the state of things in this country that we have to worry about both those who cannot self-moderate their expressions to remain civil and non-threatening while at the same time worrying about having our rights to free speech curtailed by powers greater than ourselves.

Thanks to Spark for reaching out to the community and for having the gumption not to scrub the PA in the face of oppression. It'll be a lotta work for the mods to keep things in line over there and their efforts are also greatly appreciated.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yes. Don't go in there. You're liable catch something. :D
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True. You're likely to catch an idea or two you disagree with and can't easily respond to, and I don't mean "you" specifically but everyone generally.
We want more diversity of opinion in PA, and we want better debate and more respect for members, and we are actively working on that and, believe it or not, we're making progress. The impediments are not just those evil right wingers. Some folks go there to bait and troll. Some can't take the heat.
Nature of the beast, I'm afraid.
Anyway, whether you want a PA or simply want to ban political talk everywhere on the forum and police it, is not my decision. I think it would be a shame to be bullied into silence, but this is a commercial site and a commercial decision. I have enormous respect for ownership/ management either way because, detractors notwithstanding, I think many enjoyed and benefitted and some of the debate was quite interesting
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Huh? No, I think there's a misunderstanding here. I'm not saying "that anyone that is conservative is not “level-headed”" at all. I'm not implying it either. I am a relatively conservative leaning independent and I think that, overall, conservatives tend to be pretty level headed (historically). What I'm saying is that people that I know (The Virginian, for example) who are intelligent, rational, thoughtful and right leaning have been derided as being insufficiently right, here on our political sub. He has "accused" of being liberal. He isn't. And just the idea of "being liberal" applied as some kind of an insult here demonstrates that the discourse on this site is not particularly centrist. And perhaps it shouldn't be centrist? I don't know. I don't care. But I do know that I see some pretty ridiculous nonsense posted that isn't far removed from the Qanon cult insanity that makes that sub, and our entire forum by association, look a little out of whack. Which is why I think it would be better if new posts from the PA sub didn't show on our front page.
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It is getting harder to stay middle of the road politically. IMO, it is only going to get worse as time goes on.

I must say thank-you for posting where you stand in response to my comments. I feel better about my plans for future knife purchases. Especially from you. Now if I can just get my timing right to afford one of your fixed blades...

An EDC ll. :)
 
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There is zero reason to discuss politics on a knife site outside of knife laws...and I've been on plenty of hobby forums that did not have a politics sub-forum and ran just fine. Politics was not allowed, period...people abided or were banned...it's not rocket science.
 
HJK said:
We want more diversity of opinion in PA, and we want better debate and more respect for members, and we are actively working on that and, believe it or not, we're making progress.
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Install some liberal mods to counter balance what you have now and maybe that is possible. Right now, anybody that has spent any time looking over the PA knows that right wing commenters can get away with saying just about anything while a leftish voice gets shut down and given warnings and has a ban hanging over their heads for just about anything they say.
 
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