I love this community but these topics are pure poison. Lock it.

Was gonna post, but…. Tired.

You're right Bill there is absolutely no need to debate you further as you are not bound by the chains of Attitude like the rest of us are. To call me transphobic is something I take offense to, when all I did was state a fact that the Nashville police said live on air. I won't get into it with you about guns, as I don't think of the Nexus as a place to debate political issues, not that I foresee a constructive conversation with you anyways.

All I was doing was pointing out how a group of people were being blamed and I defended them. I don't appreciate the bashing of any group I don't care what group it is. (Unless you're a pedophile or violent criminal) I don't even know why I'm attempting to defend myself as you've made up your mind already and that's fine. I really don't care, as the Nexus seems to be deteriorating lately anyways in terms of how and where certain mods choose to spend their energy, the chat has turned to complete mush with quality members leaving left and right. I'm fairly new, so that's a bad sign, as I absolutely love this place.

This thread is like bad acid being passed around at a festival. Void, I know it wasn't your intentions, but the underlying tones in the OP seemed to point to the obvious, but it was Pandoras rant that got me riled up and I apologize for that, as I have apologized for being harsh on Pandora's comment.

Bill you can think of of me as a gun toting police loving transphobic white supremacist if you want, but the people who know we well here know that's not true, as I love everyone, well almost everyone.

I'm also way smarter than you. So there is that as well.

But look, man... you said yourself that this place is 99% men, and you went out of your way to chastise one of the very few women who exist here - for expressing a woman's point of view and raising absolutely legitimate complaints about institutionalized misogyny.

And you did so very condescendingly - as if on behalf of all men she had somehow bullied you personally.

That's just weak. Super weak.

Then you followed this up with a dumb retort that can only be interpreted as Transphobic, and THEN went on to call out the tragedy in Nashville as "an obvious hate crime" - as if you alone are somehow privy to this week's shooter's motives, and not just parroting some talking point you came across today in conservative media.

So, I can't say what's in your heart; but I can confidently tell you this:

You have a predilection for putting your foot in your mouth and saying some really dumb shit.

Let's just leave it at that.

Yeah let's leave it at that. Can we let the thread die the death it deserves then?

I will throw in a small two cents. This got derailed when a woman assumed she knew who she was talking to, and said they didn’t know anger. I don’t know anything else about the person other than that they identify themselves as a woman, and it turned out, she was speaking to someone who subsequently identified themselves as a black man. I think we can generally agree both demographics have a lot to be angry about. We’re anonymous people online, folks. We don’t know who we are. There was a good point in retaliating against Pandora’s final comment, in light of the fact that she basically unwittingly told a black man that he didn’t know what social injustice felt like. But, on the other hand, the derailment past that in my estimate has gone way too far.

Widderic and Bill: all I’m going to say is I think both of you made good points about each other, which is horrible for both of you.

From where I’m standing some apologies are in order.
Pandora, to Void, for a not too egregious mistake - just a toe out out of bounds, which might not even have been out of bounds but for the fact that it turned out she was speaking to a black man.
Bill, to Widderic, for being a bit too abrasive. It is satisfying to see in some scenarios, but.
Widderic, to Pandora, for borderline invalidating her anger against some demographics that are very much overwhelmingly the problem in some very real social dynamics.

I think the thread could be salvaged if that happened…

Hi wonderful people

Stay pissed is probably my new slogan.
But it is true. It is always good to sort out problems, but sometimes you have to call out
people or society for their bs.

Most people that take psycedelic substances have a very good outlook on life and the planet we live
on. But alot of us become too nice and instead of telling people to go eat their shorts, we try
to be understanding.
I would have skipped alot of bs in my life if i would have stayed pissed.

I still want to say: One love and have a gud one and all that

I was going to bow out (never thought I'd do so in one of my own threads...)

However, the last thing I'd like to add is while I understand sentiments like the ones shared above, and while I may be too understanding (if that's a thing), I feel that people not understanding each other is why we have many of these issues... evidenced by this thread...

I guess, be understanding and stay pissed. I don't know. I'm broken

One love

You have been very consistent in your heartfelt attitude for others. Lots of love, Void, in this very sad situation. ❤️

This is exactly why casually throwing around propagandistic talking points is so damaging - not only to the national discourse, but to scores of living human beings:

https://www.nbcnews.com/...-disinformatio-rcna77424

Disinformation spreads through undue oxygen supplied by the conflict avoidant. Same goes for misogyny, racism, transphobia, anti-Semitism, etc. - all of which metastasize when they're allowed to remain unchallenged. Civility at the expense of human lives is a cowardly goal, and see nothing/say nothing as community credo is nothing I'll ever align with.

This is all my way of saying "sorry, not sorry". Respect is not a given. If you say something dumb which is meant to denigrate already marginalized people, I'm most likely going to push back on it - here, on Twitter, or at the grocery store.

Ah the NBC link right on.

Anyways.

I just want to apologize to those I disappointed with my rambling yesterday, and although it is in no way an excuse, I was simply not myself.

When things were beginning to become so polarized, I spoke up about my opinions and in the process (as Bill so eloquently put) tend to "put my own foot in my mouth" and as a result had some 20yr long friendships come to an end. Where some were quick to disband me, others stuck with me. It certainly goes both ways, but I'm man enough to admit my own shortcomings as a fallible human being, and also as an intermittent "a-hole".

This was the first time in 3-4 years that I decided to open my mouth and blurt out a sort of verbal diarrhea because I was mostly frustrating that this was a topic I found on the Nexus. That's no one's fault but my own, and in the future will do my utmost to refrain from adding to the conversation. Because in the end, my mission here at the Nexus is to build bridges, not burn them.

To Pandora, shame on me. I should have had a private discussion with you and in the process most certainly would have learned something from you instead of having a hissy fit and being crass. I hope that instead you can forgive me and our friendship can grow stronger, as I respect you and find value in knowing you.

To Void, you've been there for me since day 1 and I completely disrespected your thread. It was meant for you to vent, not for me to vent. You KNOW I love you. Maybe that's why it was easier for me to feel like it was ok to blast away on here.

To Bill? I don't know man. It is what it is. It's kind of hard to have a constructive conversation about any topic with you on here because you come in wielding a Lvl 99 Ban Hammer and all I have is a Lvl 1 Rusty Sword. But I'll tell you one thing, I WANT to be your friend regardless of our differences if that means anything.

I promise from here on out if I see a thread that rubs me the wrong way, I'm just gonna stay out of it, because in the end, I'm here to meet good people and further my knowledge with extractions and entheogens. If I want to vent my opinions about controversial topics, I'll write in a diary...

Peace.

I was where you were at at one point in my life Bill. Maybe I just got too tired. I still come out guns blazing now and again, but I get more hesitant to do it with time, and I think it’s been for the better in my own dealings with people. I hope it has not been empowering to things I’d want to see disempowered. But language like “I’m also way smarter than you” seems like a failure to the very spirit that motivates you. It just doesn’t win. It also is very far from true that intelligence means a darn thing ethically. Heidegger was a brilliant philosopher and an unrepentant Nazi. And I know that you and any person with an ounce of reflection knows this basic fact, which is why it isn’t a winning statement. If you choose to be aggressive, own up to the statement and do it intelligently.

Everyone's comments are noted.

Much like the OP, I'm tired.

I feel you.

If speaking words out loud is as powerful as some have said, then I've cursed the world for that (or at least for whatever, with me, resonates with I feel like you mean). Cursed it with Voodoo even. And when I curse the world with Voodoo, it's a blessing as far as Mother Earth is concerned. No child would ever forget Nature's agency according to the way my voodoo curse works. Eventually Heaven with Earth.

That's basically what my spiritual ethos is, when I become emotionally charged about whatever is is that I dislike about the hunan world.

Of course thats when nobody is around. Plus I think words are over rated in such situations.

The part where you say “I’m over feeling bad for thinking people are stupid.”

I don’t know if you actually mean it (it is a bit touching to think that you would feel guilty for such a sentiment!), but, I do admit that I tend to look at most adult humans as predominantly childish. Not in order to rage against them, but to try and contemplate what it would mean to be a mahasattva, a “big being”, an adult. Doesn’t make me one, but the recognition of what it’s not presumes some intuition of what it is, and anger against what it’s not presumes that there is an intuition that we should be what it is. What does it mean to be one of the real adults in the room?

I believe in the 80/20 rule.
80% of the people in the world are basically decent and try to do the right thing.
20% - not so much. I'll go so far as to say they are assholes.

It helps your attitude to remember that the majority of people are good people.
It helps your well being to remember that one in five can be flat out evil.
So, don't lose faith, but also never lose awareness and caution.

That might be correct. I’d put in the caveat that that 80% decent figure still consists of people who are mosaics with much childishness within them. Indeed, the problem is that people define themselves in terms relative to one another, rather than measuring relative to something better.

True

Check out Bill Plotkin and his book "Nature and the Human Soul." I consider it one of the most important books that I have read. And it was the doorway that lead me to master teacher plants.

He has come up with a psychospiritual development model consisting of 8 phases. He claims in modern industrial society, the majority of people get stuck in the third, which is the adolescence phase. He calls our modern societies as patho-adolescent societies.

I thought that he made quite a good attempt at an apology. What more do you want? Public self flagellation? Sack cloth and ashes?

I agree with the 80/20 ratio, although i have to admit there are some days where the ratios change for me. Usually towards the stupid figure being higher. It's just that the 20 per cent are just so goddamned loud and they are magnified by the internet. Normal people don't get likes, reactions or attention.