Saturday, May 17, 2014
300,000 thousand visits for TonbridgeBlog....
Just noticed that TonbridgeBlog has gone past 300,000 hits. (In fact it's far more than that because the blog was on a different platform for about two years before its present Google one.) Not sure how many that works out per day or even month or how many unique visitors and all that kind of stuff. All I know is that it does feel as though the site has, over the years, become reasonably popular locally. I can't really ask for much more can I even though Justin Bieber has about 30 zillion followers on twitter for coming out with a load of spillage!... Keep the site going by being an active reader. The odd comment wouldn't go a miss either. You can comment anonymously at the moment but it's much better to have a user name or "handle" as I like to call it. Say anything you like about the Tonbridge, the surrounding area or pretty much anything else. So long as it's legal, moral and decent of course....
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6 comments:
Here's something that is upsetting a few in North Tonbridge; KCC are planning to move and expand a special needs school for about 200 pupils by building a new school on Green Belt land in Higham Lane. Government legislation allows green belt to be used for schools.
Its a difficult one but most of the schools built in Tonbridge in the last 50 odd years have been built on farm land. I cant think of any brown fields site away from the flood plain that could be used as an alternative.
So I am with KCC on this one.
Congratulations on your 300,000 visits, Tonbridge Blog. I've got a bit of catching up to do, as my blog has only just passed the 173,000 mark.
At the moment I can't think of anything legal, moral or decent to say about Tonbridge, so I'll keep quiet.
Freedom of speech has definitely died a death in this country, buried under an avalanche of politically correct, looney-left nonsense, and laws designed to silence the citizens of this once proud land. Just ask Jeremy Clarkson if you don't believe me!
Good idea, Paul. Get rid of all this ridiculous political correctness so the Little Englanders can be as racist, sexist and homophobic as they like!
Grats on the 300k. Anon^, rather missing the point that words don't actually do anything, opinions don't actually hurt anyone, no matter how much you disagree or dislike them, so the only point in censorship is control over making yourself feel better about things you don't like in the world. Besides which, what's "moral" or "decent" is entirely subjective. I'm not defending any of the things you mentioned, but it's important not to undervalue freedom of speech when one is more comfortable with "freedom to agree with me."
I would have to disagree that words don't actually do anything and opinions don't actually hurt anyone: a lot of bullying, whether through social media or in person, is verbal, and can have terrible, or even fatal, consequences for the victim. Of course people should have the right to express opinions, and I don't think the 'loony left' has ever tried to stop them, so long as they are not damaging or insulting to others.
I see what you're saying, and I understand that it's easy for negative opinions towards others to end up in harm, but I think that's because the recipient is often unable to see it in context: not the "truth", but an opinion from someone who's intolerant and very often insecure. We are taught to overvalue the opinions of others and often taught we should "change" or at least feel bad about whatever-it-was that was disapproved of. That's not a healthy mindset for anybody to live with. It really is the problem of the intolerant person, and by seeing that for what it is, it doesn't have to cause emotional harm. I'm not saying people with a bullying problem who are trying their best to put others down should be left alone, I think every effort should be made to educate and help that person to see themselves in context to others and to overcome the reason they're bullying in the first place, I think it's just a matter of not seeing things as so black and white. Censorship doesn't solve anything. The problem is still there, just you can't see it in your own garden, so you get the idea it's gone. Painting people as "good" and "bad" doesn't help, either - there has to be understanding and willingness to genuinely help, instead of judge and shun.
See the key this revolves around is, as you put it, "so long as they are not damaging or insulting to others" - that's completely subjective. Anyone can be insulted by anything, if they allow themselves to be. Tell a fat person he's fat and he may become very upset, or he may laugh and say "yes, it's true". It's an impossible war to win, to make content non-offensive, and if it's possible to get most of the way there, how much freedom of expression and individuality must one sacrifice? Think about it: how many "sticky topics" are there that you're worried about discussing with people who you don't know inside out? Most people actively suppress large parts of themselves in order not to "offend". To me, that is a steep price to pay for something that doesn't even solve the problem. The only way to succeed at tolerance and acceptance is to tackle our insecurities with ourselves, and extend help and acceptance to those who struggle with that, too. If one condemns some aspect of himself, he will often project that condemnation onto others. Yet mostly the intolerant person is reacted to with more hatred and intolerance, or silenced so nobody has to "deal with" him. I don't think that makes us better people than the intolerant one himself whatsoever.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
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