Cynicism is the new "cool"

[Fenster]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.

Context is without doubt the biggest factor but it's not necessarily culture (that could be an excuse?), some people here don't just struggle with context but also have no understanding of self-deprecation and humility.

So an innocent comment like - "I have no problem with that lifestyle" is taken as an "insult," because the particular individual believes they are not just 100% correct, but to be challenged by an opposing view is an insult. They're not posting for opinions, they want back slappers so anyone not on-board is the enemy, which leads to whoever the particular individual dislikes on a personal level becomes the target, regardless of their view.

Except it's rarely an "innocent comment" is it. It's not simply "I have no problem with that lifestyle", but rather "I have no problem with that lifestyle and you're a moron for having a problem with it."

"Wanting back slappers" is an all-too-convenient go-to excuse, simply because there are people who differ, but do so respectfully and with maturity.You're welcome.

This is where we're so different, I totally ignore insults as they're utterly meaningless to me, if someone says "you're a moron for thinking that" i'm only interested in why my view is moronic? If someone wants to call me stupid go-ahead. No problem.

There's nothing more nauseatingly pathetic on this forum than people thanking others for being "civil and nice" whilst disagreeing. It is a blatant sign of a weak argument and weak mind. As long as you don't call my views stupid i'm cool, thanks for letting me be stupid/ignorant/naive/arrogant/wrong. Pathetic.

Calling bad ideas stupid is not an insult. People who deflect to focus on the trivial "insult" are just showing how incredibly thin-skinned and immature they are.

There's plenty of people on here who believe moronic things, nasty, horrible, terrible things, they are not morons or disgusting humans just people with a bad idea in their cranium. There's a huge difference.