No one here will tell you I spoke to them in private badly of any one. Who ever told you that ought to have been scolded and sent backing since you do not care to have such people as confidant.
I do not care for a myres briggs lesson in personality types or to peruse the spectrum of dysfunctional personality types. I am here to say that the level of discourse here is diseased and represents the worse of us. That has little to do what is our political stain. Here is is about individual doing their best to present as the worse. None of these people can act as they do here in real life. They would get killed or jailed or locked away.
As I mentioned to you before, you have earned my respect so I don't even contemplate you speaking badly of someone in private. I stumbled on GNI and post here at my own behest. I can't worry about who others are or how they conduct themselves. Honestly, I am not really concerned with what other posters are doing. Of late, I have been trying to just make statements/comments as opposed to having discourses. I make an exception here for obviously reasons.
I think both of you are taking things too seriously.
This is not a forum for intellectual discourse. It is more a forum for the exchange of people's innermost feelings behind a well protected mask that separates our private and public personna. Most people here would not express the views they exchange here in public.
To that end, its useful to remember what Iguana once said about this forum...it is a sandbox...where some people come to play. And it is true that some of the "players" get off with some of the vile comments they promote on this site.
Regarding the issue of how Guyanese are portrayed here...and it was Tola...who pointed out that others are reading the posted information on this site...we have to assume that these viewers, if they are academics and intellectuals, must have realize that this is not a site where one would come seeking to learn about Guyana. One has to wonder what kind of intellectuals are these people? They need to visit Guyana if they are looking to get a real taste of Guyana.
why is it not a forum for intellectual discourse? I have seen many of the people you see on the Guyanese news come here to test their views. Everyone from Hinds to Randy to TK to Batoram to Gampat, to Ruel to Dhanpaul etc. Many of these people left because the low life contingency usually begin a cussing spree. I know one very good scholar, from San Diego who contributed a lot here at one time. I was introduced to many Muslim philosopher through him. I would never even care to discuss them had he not come here. The PPP even deployed an army of paid personnel to post their position daily. Elections is coming and this is the place where many will come to air their views If people needs to express their inner conflicts or reveal t heir inner demons the admin has a avenues for that. There is the social forum, religious forum etc. where
I am the one who created the sand box metaphor some 20 years ago. I used it to illustrate playfulness not rude, insulting, vituperative banalities. I said one may throw the occasional sand in the face of another to illicit a response but in the end it should be in jest not purely to insult for insult sake. And do not get me wrong. It is not only the low IQ folks who made this place a viper pit. Samaroo, Prince's cousin was here and he is one of the smartest people around and he was a "cuss burd". And one cannot forget the rev who, if he was Mr Alli, now sits as an ambassador in Kuwait. The point is we should all encourage information on this side or why come here? Where else can the ordinary man get to speak to people who's life work is actually engaged in an are of study we as dilettantes can only peruse on the borders. I have seen mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists etc here over the years.
Again, even if you are not serious or peek in here occasionally that is no excuse to be discourteous. There are a couple of fellows here who would appear to have some sense but they simply disgorge only abject nonsense here day in day out. Be it a playground or a place to waste time between doing work one has a responsibility to act with some modicum of decorum.
I was not here when those events you described above. However, this forum may have started out as a forum for intellectual discourse initially because, I am guessing, it happen to be one of a few sites that offered that type of expression for things Guyanese. It is certainly not now such a forum because of the nonsense being peddled here on this site.
From a personal standpoint, I happen to stumble on this site by accident because of a desire to learn more about the land of my parents and grandparents. Since I have been here I would say that I have not gotten much out of the discussions but it has been a source of information for me. AND, even then, one has to be careful with the information that is being provided. I have had useful information from Mars before visiting Guyana some months ago and Django has provided some reliable sources for me to look at.
Its difficult to reorganize the site to recapture those moments largely because the so-called cuss birds seem to dominate the site, and when they are not cussin, they are throwing insults and invectives, often guided by their own perception of who the โenemyโ is. Guyanaโs racial politics has infiltrated this site. Reorganizing this site, and restructuring the site with greater control by the Admins may help some, but it is not going to deter those who want to pollute and infiltrate the threads.
But, there is a more fundamental issue at hand when people seek to make contributions. You may be right about the intellectuals who may have visited this site in the past. Carib has pointed out this numerous times. But those people left, and I suppose they would have left eventually once they realize that the site is populated by folks who are seeking a few minutes of fame. The players in the sandbox will continue to wreak havoc here.
To make this an intellectual forum for discussion, I would argue that the posters have to abide by two fundamental truths. One, they have to reveal their professional identity. Two , admin should include their professional affiliations so that the posters are aware of the personโs intellectual affiliation and professional affiliation. A case in point: TK has openly done so in the past, but the responders, who continue to remain anonymous, can pollute and infiltrate the threads with nonsensical responses for a variety of reasons (party affiliation, impending elections, etc.). This is the only way that sanity can be brought to this place and it is the only way you can encourage reliable and dependable discourse. There is no other wayโฆ.regardless of the historical evidence you cited above. Furthermore, if I am going to debate an issue, I want to know about the personโs professional background. If I am asking TK a question about economics I know I can get a reliable response, rather than asking a similar question to someone else. This will also week out some of the more contentious contributions from posters whose intentions are questionable.