Sunday, June 25, 2006
Politics.
Mmm, yes, i'd like to talk about a form of politics today. Before i entered secondary school, i always though politics was...I didn't really know what it was, but i thought it was basically something of the form of "military, economy, socially", something along those lines.
Once i entered secondary school, i finally began to unravel what politics was about. And i have made the conclusion that
It is dirty, it is ugly, and it is filthy.
It seems to be a struggle for power, applied to the national context, a power struggle between the opposition and the government. Both sides resort to means in which they try to manipulate the public's opinion, offering false benefits, throwing out vague, sweeping statements such that they can retract the hinted meaning if they are unable to apply what they promise after being in the position of power.
We notice the sudden 'bonus packages" given out near the times of election. We notice the sudden new promises, new stands on controversial topics (read: bush says no homo marriages). They can twist what was intentionally good to be what was intentionally bad. Both sides try their hardest to put down their counterparts, throwing out every flaw, minor or major, serious or light to win the public's support.
But, i'm not really proficient in that area, so let's move on.
The real topic i want to talk about is forum politics. I frequent several online forums, and definitely notice "forum politics". It, however, differs. In spcnet.tv forum, there does not seem to be any hint of a power struggle. People accept their status, people talk about what they like, what they watch, their favourite actress and actor. People aren't overwhelmed or hungry for the power being a moderator gives, and as such, the commonly seen suck-ups are not seen.
There are still the "pew-pew" 1337, twit speakers, as well as the emos (SLIT MY WRISTS PLOXX), and people who are less proficient in terms of the englist language, but on spcnet.tv, no bother despises them. They may treat them with lesser respect as of other forumers, but nobody makes a move to criticize and humiliate/insult them.
I cannot say if they gradually change, but i suspect so. I mean, people are influenced by their surroundings, if they see everyone speaking with at proper grammar, their english will gradually improve. If they see the maturity within others, they too will be influenced. If they see nobody speaking twit like them, they will gradually drop it. I mean, the few reasons twitspeakers speak like that is because of influence or a desire to be special. If they see that nobody thinks of them as unique or special, they will stop their twitspeak.
I have no proof of that, but that's my gut feeling.
So, another forum i frequent is the Dota-Allstars forum. Moderators are assigned and scattered here and there, and there is this notion of a skill difference between "pubs" and "highlevel play", where the former has very little teamwork and is usually filled with newbs, while the latter mostly contains players who are superior in terms of skills and strategy.
With modship, there is power abuse. Moderators have the power to ban/warn users as well as close/move threads. At the same time, since they are moderators, it seems that they are immune to the rule of spam. They gradually start to have a tendency to insult or humiliate people as and when they like, often covering it up with a mix of humour and the notion that they are superior.
On the notion of superiority, we can outright see people who again, insult and dismiss pubbers using "higherlevel play" as a backup. They practice elitism and superiority, dismissing the arguments with people they deem inferior with "play inhouse","stop pubbing", and all sorts of other crap which do not help the person who they flame at all. The person does not learn anything or know what is wrong, but only knows he needs to "stop pubbing" or whatsoever.
What probably has never crossed their minds are that the majority are pubbers. Not everybody has the opportunity nor time to practice day and night and get into "Cal-Standard". Do they admit they are elitist? Proudly, they do. Why do they feel superior? Because they receive attention. This coincides with the Moderators, in the context of national politics, are the government workers, whereas the forum leaders are the prime minister, the president, the people with the real power.
Since they receive attention, they too are in a position of "power", since they have people supporting them. All of a sudden, their inferiors, the non-moderators, all seem to be suck-ups. They seem to be clamouring for attention!
For some reason, i can't really express the meaning i want now, so here's my signature of DotaAllstars
"We realise our own stupidity, how foolish we were in trying to gain attention, fame and the like. How self-centred and arrogant we were, clinging onto the tag of superiority and elite to oneself. Attention is but what everyone needs, attention is but what everyone strives for. To despise attention-seekers is to despise oneself, although, no doubt there are limits and boundaries to where this holds true.
To overly plead, beg, worship, harass for attention is past the boundaries. Maybe you are in a position of fame, of glory, a forum leader, a moderator famous to the few that reside in these forums. Maybe you are unaware of your own pangs and hunger for attention, your craving seems absence in the midst of all the suck-ups swarming to you. But the day you are stripped from it, the day where your eyes catches nobody, your speech is but a flimsy, blaring croak that serves to annoy. On that day will you finally realise your personal folly, perhaps even become the very people you once despised.
Superiority and elitism exists only as far as there are inferiors. To compare yourself to inferiors seems to be an insult by itself, yet the sole basis of superiority stems from it. To assume that the playing field is level, that opportunities are equal, that everyone is given a chance to reach the top is a pitiful fallacy. As one despises whom they call "pubbers", their speech reeks of smug elitism. Friends in high places can give them leeway, and thus their continuity in existence. Once the roles are reversed, one can imagine how the people might change, but the roles remain constant. The people representing factions Superiority and Inferiority can change, but the arrogance, the smug hint of a snigger remains the same."
Suck-ups are common in DotaAllstars because some humans wish to associate with people in power. I say "some" because, although i would rather have a friend in power than one who is not, I don't find it necessary to suck-up and go all out to do so. A moderator who often peppers his posts with humour is Piemonger. From thereon, some suck-ups include "wow, it must be fun being you pie!", "rofl, pie that was hilarious!" being the more obvious ones, and "i agree with pie" (when it is utterly unnecessary, for example a thread on how items are useless and contributing to the thread with opinions, and not "i agree with you pie" would be much more helpful), "listen to pie".
Seriously, do people need to know you agree with that person? Do people need you to repeat another person's points? No shit. They don't. Only conclusion i can draw out is >suck-ups.
From here, the moderators and "elitists" band together. They start a trend of despising pub-play. It seems necessary for one to constantly participate in "high level play" for their comments to deserver any respect, which is basically shit because as i've said, opportunities are not equal.
Within them, disagreements occur. Outside of their "superiorioty band", disagreements occur too. People stop respecting one another. Hate starts to seep within, people start disliking one another, their friends jump on the hate-wagon and therein comes the power struggle.
Actuallly, i am not a moderator, nor a member of TDA, the clan which dominates the forums. I cannot say for sure this is what happens, but that is the feeling i get.
Since i find my above post unsatisfactory, i shall now rampage mindlessly on other details of the forums.
Grammar Nazis- Seriously, do not expect everyone to have the same mastery of english. It's pathetic to attack people because of minor errors in spelling or otherwise. Sometimes, it gets too bad such that the post itself is incoherent, but i can safely say that 90% of the time when people start their grammar attacks, the victim has posted something that a normal human can easily decipher with ease. I find the grammar-nazi extremely pathetic.
One-line Dismisses- People in the "elitist" band often dismiss the arguments of others with cruel humiliation and mockery. They do not show any respect to others, so Fuck them.
K, i'm done.
silverletal [Simple and Clean] 6:54 AM
