Something odd just happened
50SOME People are afraid of hearing contrary opinions
Something odd just happened. I wrote a comment to a hub where the writer falsely accuses your U.S. president Obama of being a communist. I countered and said he is not and that the information given to back up this claim was garbage. I noticed that instead of replying to my comment the author just deleted it.
I guess I don't understand why someone would delete my comment. I don't delete other peoples' comments even if I totally and completely disagree with them. Is this a sign of myopia on the part of some hub writers? Fear that someone might actually challenge your intellectually flawed and senseless writing?
Maybe I was too brusque and offended. Well, I always thought right-wing people hated political correctness and were anxious to tell us on the left how stupid we are for appying that to our daily speech?
I don't observe political correctness. Here in Spain it dosen't exist. I guess it must be an American phenomenon. So I speak my mind and I guess every once is a while I run into some intellectual moron who can't stand being contracdicted.
OK, and so what? Nothing actually, it just reinforces my belief that people on the political right believe like Archie Bunker used to: I've made up my mind, so don't confuse me with the facts. And to the person(s) who deleted my comment, you lost all credibility.
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I don't delete there comments either some just choose to draw in the positive comments making others believe they are wonderful, that happened to me with someone in the last several weeks and I was a bit offended. I wasn't brash or rude but apparently they thought so. Don't let it bother you as you are a great writer !!!:)
Willful ignorance is a condition that is almost always irreversible. A library full of facts, confirmed and verified by ten million experts would be completely meaningless. Waste as little time as possible on those who have found that bliss.
ColdwarBaby, how right you are, I was going to say that willful ignorance would not be bliss, but on second thoughts I now appreciate the meaning of "blissfull ignorance".
I grew up thinking that everyone wanted to learn new things and stay "aware" , but now I am sure that the majority of people take the "blissfully ignorant" approach.
It should be clear by now agvulpes, that labels such as conservative, liberal, socialist and the like are handy wedges to be used by the elite to keep us "common" people at each others throats. While we may not see eye to eye, we share a common enemy.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Hey Richard, and how about the label "capitalist"? You seem to hate capitalists passionately. Isn't this yet another wedge, that was succesfull in your case? ;)
Misha, can you explain to me what the term capitalist means to you? I know you have had experience in other systems, so I am curious to know how you would define that word. It can mean different things to different people, and honestly I am no fan of unbridled capitalism. In Spain we have a mixture of socialism and capitalism. Any person can start their own business and many people do own small businesses and farms and some own huge businesses. But government keeps a close eye to make sure no worker is treated badly, and robber baron capitalism as practiced here in the U.S. seems to mistreat, or at least undervalue, a lot of workers.
Oh, absolutely Misha.
I'm just a hard core, communist, left wing extremist, anti-american terrorist out to destroy the most wonderful country on Earth just because I hate their freedom.
Oh, wait a minute.
I don't have to destroy the country. The capitalists have done it for me.
Richard, you are funny. You clearly see others being blindfolded with isms, and you fail to see yourself is blindfolded too, just with another ism. Did not you vote for Obama because you hoped he was against capitalists? LOL
Ivan, I don't think I want to go into any definitions of isms, sorry - exactly for the reason Richard outlined: they all are designed to muddy our understanding and divide us.
I do have a hub on the topic though, I think I clearly stated my position there, so take a look if you are interested :)
Ivan, to be totally honest hubpages belong to the author. If they choose to allow comments or to cencor comments, well that tells you something about them then, doesn't it. You're never going to convince close-minded people about their fallicies, so why bother? I could go on and on about how you're wrong about Obama, but it would be futile. You have to discoer that on your own or you'll have to hide from the truth, your choice.
Thanks Misha. From you that's high praise. You always cease to amaze me.
Somehow patriotism has become a religion and people who criticize their country are considered infidels. Balances left unchecked, though, create cauous and the unbridled greed of the top 2% (for the most part there are a few exceptions here and there) has created the cauous we see today so, in fact, it may be even more patriotic to express your views about your country (or former country in this case) because it potentially prevents an economic and moral decline of the country itself.
Hey, ledefencetech, thansk for the reply. Since I live in Spain I have no vested interest in Obama, other than he seems to be more open minded than Bush. I dount any American president will ever be completely accepted by other countries, and maybe that's a good thing. However, your American Republican party sure did not impress anyone outside the Republican party with their most recent choices for president. McCain was weak and Palin was a joke. that doesn't mean Obama is any better because he has his own issues to own up to.
thanks for the comment!
LOL Ivan, despite of our seemingly many disagreements, we are in a complete agreement on this one :)
It happens a lot. I've had a number of my facts and statistics deleted off of hubs that state all Pit Bulls are baby killers and born dangerous. Give them facts that go against what they think, and many people will just delete the comments. What's funny is when the hubber leaves their comments and it's just one sided conversation with themself, and then they deny ever deleting your comments, saying they never saw them.. Yet they responded to them on the hub, hence the remaining comment.. But yea anyway.. It happens a lot.
HI Ivan
I never delete comments (well, not so far!) but I've been on plenty of hubs where they apparently have deleted any opposing views. There's nothing like religion and politics for getting people at each other's throats, but that's all part of the fun of it.
Write Rider, patriotism and religion seem to be linked in America today, and in other countries as well, such as North Korea where they actually worship their "Dear Leader" and also praise militaristic values. Now America is a far cry from North Korea in many respects, but as a veteran of Viet Nam, I found that in the late 60's it was the opposite. People despised us as baby killers or praised us for killing "commies". and all the while I had to ask, why was I sent to kill NVA and Viet Cong? I love history and I likened the entire situation to Great Britain in America in the 1700's. We were the British quashing a new nation from coming into being during our Viet Nam years. I know many people see it differently, but the history of our involvement there went back to world war two, when we basically sold the Vietnamese people down the tubes in favor of the French. Many people do not know that the first constitution of Viet Nam was literally our constitution with a few proper nouns changed to make it fir that country. After we shoved aside the growing nationa movement there Ho went to whatever allies he could find, and those were the Chinese and Russians.
Misha, we'll probably disagree on lots of things, but many of my cafe friends here in Madrid also disagree with me and we remain good friends. Our terulias, gab sessions, are usually rife with intrigue, politics and discussions about religion, as well as other things of a topical nature.
Sometimes a tourist interrupts us because we often speak in English, and identifies him or herself as an American. The person may be scandalized that I am talking about politics in America in such a negative way and they usually are astounded when I tell them I am no longer a U.S. citizen. I tell them what I believe and they either accept that or start to argue, and we all join in. Other times they just curse me to hell and move on. Either way, it's an intellectual exercize I enjoy.
thanks for replying!
Whitney05 & Amanda, thanks for the comments. I have determined never to delete any comment even for bad words or angry answers. I believe that all comments are worthy of adding to the discussion, and even when people are being completely one-sided, I can only say that sometimes I am one-sided as well. After all, I am right, no!?!? Ha-ha!
I wouldn't dare to disagree with Ivan the Terrible!... Would I? (Yes I would... but don't go tell it on the mountain!)
I have deleted comments before - but only comments that are extremely vulgar and that I feel are unfit for hubpages readers (expletives, swearing, nonsensical wording - happens most on my 'horror movie' hubs for some reason) - not because the message conflicts with my hub or personal opinion.
I think we all have a right to express ourselves reasonably (nine cusswords in a row with "you know?" is not legitimate communication or commenting), and I am sorry your comments were deleted, Ivan The Terrible!
What kind of world are we going to have if we all agree on everything? How utterly boring life would be.
Keep expressing your opinions, Ivan The Terrible - thx for sharing
P.S. If you don't agree with me or like what I said...you know what to do!
(Argue with me and show me a new perspective!)
Thanks, Mythbuster, I guess I hadn't thought about explitives, etc. My comment was free of them but I did post a very strong argument against the writer's basic premise and I stand by that comment. He had just simply said a bunch of things without any proof that a certain politician was a communist and was out to take over America for his Islamic allies. I even asked if there was any proof of this beyond his accusations and I guess that was too much for him to accept.
Willful ignorance cannot be swayed by reason, fact or logic. It's sad but true.
As an aside Ivan, I've been puzzling for some time about the fact that you have chosen Boris Badenov as your avatar and Ivan the Terrible as your moniker. There are tons of pics of the actual Ivan to be found online. I've kept my silence as long as I can. My curiosity has simply got the better of me!
I like this hub. You are correct to say that people do not like to hear the truth. I would much rather someone tell me the truth, no matter how blunt it may be, rather than to lift me up with false praises.
I think that a part of becoming better at whatever you are doing, is to accept some critism. Then, you take that and work on your flaws. If you are always told that you have no flaws, what is there to work on?
ColdWarBaby, I just picked the first one I saw. I have a Rockie & Bullwinkle collection I watch from time to time. I also liked their "hidden" political agenda, making fun of government. Later I found some very somber Ivan teh Terrible pictures so I decided to stick with Badenov, who's name I guess was based on Boris Gudenov, another Czar of Russia.
Useful Knowledge, I agree. I get better when I have fervent, passionate discussions with people. It hones my skills to think on the spot, to get into depth on why I believe what I do, and I participate in discussions like this with people in my favorite cafes here in Madrid. Our sessions are called Tertulias and that means roughly a round-table discussion of current events, politics, religion, and any other topic we feel like discussing. Sometimes the talk gets heated but we respect each other and remain friends even though we ofen hold very different opinions.
I can only say that I am usually right, but my friends might disagree with that! Ha-ha!
agvulpes says:
7 months ago
Truth , you can't handle the Truth ! LOL
Hey I've always wanted to fit that great line into a comment.
Sorry Ivan I hope I didn't offend you, but I thought it an appropriate line to use. The other one was "why stuff up a good story with the facts"
You have have found that here on hubpages some Hubbers believe that there is only one opinion to have. It's their Hub so it's their opinion. Fortunately we are not all like that and most Hubbers will publish conflicting opinions as long as it is relevant and non abusive.