As we appear to be on the verge of eating ourselves (again), I'd like to talk about why I love DU.

WilliamPitt

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Fri Jul-08-11 04:18 PM
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As we appear to be on the verge of eating ourselves (again), I'd like to talk about why I love DU.

In the last several days, I've seen more than a few threads pop up - and I'm not calling anyone out, merely pointing out a fact - lamenting and/or expecting and/or denouncing a coming apocalypse on DemocraticUnderground. To wit: Social Security and Medicare seem to be up for grabs, a Democratic President most of us voted for (however joyfully or reluctantly) appears to be on the verge of putting that which many consider to be part of our core principles on the chopping block, and the uncertainty that now lies between what we fear and what we will eventually come to know sits like a stone in our throat. Many here defend him, many here denounce him, and many more are simply waiting to see how this particular cookie will crumble.

Any of you who have been here a while - and I count myself a 10+ year man, which kinda blows my mind if I think about it - know what's on the agenda in the meantime: mayhem, madness, backbiting, recriminations, attacks, more attacks, AND A LOT OF CAPITAL-LETTERED POSTS written in haste and rage. I'm not stupid enough to try and stop it from happening; once upon a time I used to make such attempts, as have many others even to this day, and we all wound up exactly as effective as King Canute shouting orders to the tide. Death, taxes and a good old-fashioned DU meltdown: it is going to happen, and that's the name of that tune.

But.

I don't have the words to adequately express how much this place has meant to me, and means to me now. I have not always been the best member of this community - a kind euphemism if ever there was one - and I am equally incapable of expressing my regret for that. I have made great and lasting friends here. I have shared joys and sorrows here. I have written three books and God only knows how many articles on the back of the wisdom, information and insight I have found here. I work from home, in total solitude (except for the cat and the TV) for a dozen hours of the day, and have done so for many years now. I would have probably run mad and screaming through the streets by now, except for the fact that, with a simple alt/tab keystroke, I can leave whatever I was looking at or working on, and DU is there on my screen. A community - granted, a fractious, contentious one to be sure - that I have come to know and love.

And that's the rub, for me, anyway.

I could talk about the people I've come to know here, or the things I have learned, or the work I have been able to do thanks to this place. But that doesn't sum it up.

It's simple: DU is always here when I need it. I come here every day, and sure, sometimes I go away with a headache...but there is always a kind word, a sane thought, a good idea to slip into my hip pocket that keeps me warm. You can say this or that has changed around here, and maybe it has, but change is as much a part of life as breathing. The fact of it, however, remains as immutable today as it has for almost eleven years: DU is here for you, and that is a good thing. A great thing. A thing to remember.

I'm not asking anyone here to refrain from anything, any angry words, any heated arguments, any eruptions. That's going to happen no matter what, I fear, especially if the issues before us go undecided for an exaggerated length of time...or if they go the way many of us fear they will. But that is a discussion for another thread.

I'm just asking you to remember to be grateful for this little space. Remember that it's always here for you, as it has been for almost eleven years now.

Don't take that for granted.

Just a thought.

Thank you, DU. Thank you so much for being here every single time I've needed you.

:hug: