I like the opportunity to be able to talk about politics on the boards. It gives me a way to organize the information I come across. I tend to read more than participate outside of the boards.
What I try to remind myself when I write a post about politics in this fraught climate is to acknowledge my position and try to leave space for other claims outside my worldview (for instance, by presenting where the facts I find important come from and strictly defining my terms as much as I can). I tend to focus on the arguments (rhetoric, how something is presented/said) more than deep beliefs, since disputing people's beliefs tends not to lead to good places. I think looking at arguments and realizing when we reach a common ground and which are places of fundamental disjunction (where terms take a different meaning depending on your position) is a really good exercise.
alcyone
