I’m sharing this only because I care about the long term survival of this board even if I will no longer take part.

Thank you. Not only I, but most other readers here, are grateful for your openness.

Not that I was ever particularly active or that anyone will care, but I’m leaving this board, and I’m sharing this only because I feel compelled to issue a warning and because I care about the long term survival of this board even if I will no longer take part.

You have a 6-Shrewdness level which is very high, showing that the audience value your posts, and with that rating here is admirable. Keep posting, people love you here.

This board is becoming a political echo chamber. Whether you realize it or not, it’s creating an environment that favors those who share a single political narrative. Opposing views are suppressed or marginalized. I already know of at least three other posters I enjoyed reading who have left because of what I would describe as “political bullying.” Sometimes it’s direct, but more often it’s subtle. It’s not every post of course. Maybe one in 20 or one in 50?

For Dagdom and others when irritated:

For authors that are offending you, please don't pay any attention. This is not only your self-protection, but also your secret weapon. The crucial thing to remember is that you have no obligation to defend yourself when insulted (unwittingly or deliberately - and it is amazing how often it is unwittingly even when we take personally). When insulted by what seems a petty insinuation, all other readers paying attention will anyway see through it as well as you do, and it will have absolutely no change in their respect towards you. If your "blood is boiling", it is hard but you can learn to self-regulate and not care - this will be an incredibly useful tool that can be developed here and then taken into other aspects of life. (I'll refer to my personal experience: I used to get really irritated 15 years or so ago with certain posters at TMF, especially when they 'stick' to you and keep pressing on something, but eventually realized how to self-regulate and not care. This took a new level of maturity, and what is great that it was incredibly useful to bring out of (what is now Shrewd'm) into other aspects of my life where I have public relations, occasional false articles, etc. These forums actually helped me develop in this way, which saved a lot of - what would have been - wasted energy.) So one interpretation of being irratated by someone at Shrewed'm is to use it as a training technique to not care, given you are anonymous here, and being able to use that new skill developed here, for 'real life' situations later on. Shrewd'm psychological toughness training.

Place them on ignore by clicking the unhappy face against their post. If we think about it, people with views contrary to oneself are all around us, and we don't walk through streets in fear, as we don't hear their views, and if a random person even insults us but we are pretty certain it is without merit, we can just laugh.

For those who can't help adding in political references:

Please keep politics off this board, and if politics are mentioned at all in some context then make extremely sure that there is no ego or bullying psychology involved at all. For non-political ideas, attack ideas but not people. For political ideas, don't post here full stop. You value the posters you are accidentally offend with political insinuations, they will disappear, and even at a personal level you'll be losing out.

Any subject relating to Democrats or Republicans or their policies at Shrewd'm should only be at the US Policy board. The culture on that board will over time develop also in a positive way such that authors with opposite views can learn to respect each other (with opposite political alignments) and have normal engaged pleasant discussions. This is how the US public behaved as recently as the 1980s and more so certainly earlier.

- Manlobbi