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I have, in my short time participating IN (not on) Democratic Underground, gotten sucked into many a knock-down, drag-out argument. Sometimes these arguments were disguised as polite debates; other times, they were neither disguised nor polite. It's more the latter type that I wish to address now.
I must first say, it's nice to have a place where I can go to seek refuge and find people who agree with me on nearly every issue. But it's somehow even more reassuring when I find people who disagree with me on some issue or other, only to meet up with them in another thread where all our past differences are put aside in unity for a common cause. Suddenly we both see the Big Picture. Suddenly we both remember that we did not sign up and go through the 24-hour waiting period to do combat on when 'outing' gays is OK, whether the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right for an individual to carry a firearm, whether Stephen Colbert is "a great satirist or The Greatest satirist?"
Suddenly we remember there are forces at work out there in the world that would not allow us to disagree, not allow dissent, not allow debate, no matter how polite. It is these forces -- the Bush Administration and its ilk in Congress and throughout the country -- that seek to bulldoze those sometimes-petty nuances over which I, admittedly, vehemently wrangle with other DUers.
It is affirming that democracy is alive, and that dissent is well, that so many so diverse in background and belief come together, united in common cause, to nitpick grammar and punctuation on Tangent Z (sub7) of Digression Y (sub3) of Topic X, where X is an unverified opinion of an anonymous poster on an internet website. I know the future is in good hands with so many well-informed, intelligent, dynamic people engaging in passionate discourse against the tsunami of dictatorial power trying to wipe out our right to think, speak, and act for ourselves.
I may sound drunk, or like I got my Xanax prescription filled today, but neither is the case. My feelings of well-being are genuine (and not drug induced). I am no longer afraid of the totalitarian oppression of jackbooted thugs and wannabe (or real!) dictators. It is largely because of this website, the democratic underground dot com, that I feel a sense of strength in opposing the gathering storm(troopers). I know that there are so many of us who will not tolerate the removal of our right to speak our minds on the trivial, the inane, and even the subversive and controversial.
So, it is with honest gratitude, a deep sense of brotherhood and unity, and, indeed, feelings of agape, that I celebrate the diversity of opinion in this web-based community. From adversity comes DUversity. And from DUversity comes strength.
Our time in coming. Then we can fight over the merits of veganism versus fruitarianism in relative peace.
Until then, stay strong.
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