Just a brief acknowledgement

[MGK]

I was somewhat thrown by the rule banning all discussion of politics, until I thought about it.

Who's been inhibiting and prohibiting free speech for as long as man can remember? Politics in the form of government.

Vice versa, i find it only just that discussion of politics should not be allowed here, a forum of free speech and open minds. Huzzah!

[Logos]

Where does it say this is a forum of "free speech"?? darnnn, must have missed that page

There's no "true" Freedom of Expression here because it's a benign Dictatorship run by our very own benevolent Dictator and Forum Hero Admin

[DanielBenoit]

Hail Admin!

[soundofmusic]

I was somewhat thrown by the rule banning all discussion of politics, until I thought about it.

Who's been inhibiting and prohibiting free speech for as long as man can remember? Politics in the form of government.

Vice versa, i find it only just that discussion of politics should not be allowed here, a forum of free speech and open minds. Huzzah!

Welcome MGK, you've gotten off to a running start... It seems we have free speech; just not free politics...at the moment: we are into Booze, Human Relationships and sometimes, even literature. Of course, the literature is often controversial...

Where does it say this is a forum of "free speech"?? darnnn, must have missed that page

There's no "true" Freedom of Expression here because it's a benign Dictatorship run by our very own benevolent Dictator and Forum Hero Admin

Brilliant, Logos. I hope the dictator appreciates your wit and gives Christmas bonuses

[DanielBenoit]

at the moment: we are into Booze, Human Relationships and sometimes, even literature. Of course, the literature is often controversial...

Shhhhh, he's not supposed to know! Once he gets to 200 posts then he can join our secret society and discover all of litnets secrets.

[gbrekken]

Speak I must. If I needed to prove that Animal Farm and 1984 were still relevant today, I would need to make reference to current politics. Same goes for Machiavelli. Is it wrong only because it's political, or that intelligent people are incapable of unemotion?

[DanielBenoit]

Speak I must. If I needed to prove that Animal Farm and 1984 were still relevant today, I would need to make reference to current politics. Same goes for Machiavelli. Is it wrong only because it's political, or that intelligent people are incapable of unemotion?

No it's because the Almighty Mods say so. We all love Big Brother.

Besides, it is practically impossible to discuss politics without people getting overly-passionate and angry. That's just human nature. Since current events effect a big part of our lives and so many people have their own opinions on things that we all have in common (paying taxes, voting, etc.), they are going to create conflict and divisions. I'm not saying that nobody here is able to control themselves. It's just better to leave the dittiness of politics outside of a friendly literature forum.

[Admin]

Free speech means you're more than welcome to create your own forum and have people discuss politics there, and it means I'm more than welcome to say no such rules on my forum, here.

The reason is simple, as stated above, people get really angry. We don't need that kind of atmosphere.

[NickAdams]

Mod knows best. <--- humor not intended; I'm being ernest. Political discussions can quickly get out of hand and lead to personal attacks (spend a day in the Religion disscussion board and you can see it in action). The ban keeps the peace and the members friendly. I'm all for free speech, but being a member of lit-net is like being a guest in someone else's home and it's courteous to remove your shoes when you enter.

[hoope]

I personally hate politics... and as Nick said

Political discussions can quickly get out of hand and lead to personal attacks

It's literature network for God sake .. so lets stick to that .. coz i guess it all about learning from other , networking with ppl overseas how they think , discuss books & Literature.

Greetings for all

[Emil Miller]

This point has been raised before and will, no doubt, be raised again. There can be no place for discussion, political or otherwise, on any website unless the owner(s) allow it.
There are websites that are exclusively devoted to politics that anyone can join if so inclined. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to avoid touching on the subject when discussing books such as 1984, Brave New World etc etc., but the extent to which it is allowed will be determined by the moderators.
For those of you who want to indulge in political discussion, I can recommend the MSN news forum which is a no holds barred site that is both amusing and insightful to those who are interested in human psychology.

[Lokasenna]

The frightening thing is that, if political discussions were suddenly allowed, we'd have Lit-Net civil war in days. I love a good political debate as much as the next chap, but experience tells me that it can often get heated, particularly over the net.

All hail the good and glorious dictatorship!