The Advocate: Lincoln Laughingstock: Is This Really the End? OP-ED

[Pericles]

I guess the moral of the story is be the change you wish to see in the world.

[Pericles]

The negativity thing is an important point, and I think it is a real shame when things get unnecessarily personal and toxic in the game. This is probably a turnoff to people, I'll be quite frank and say sometimes I have considered deregistering myself. My first real experience of this was in the February 2018 presidential campaign, perhaps I should have been more active previously and gotten myself into national politics at a slower pace(then again, it was a good opportunity to make a positive difference that nearly turned out very well and could have if I had been smarter and better in my campaign, but that's a side point anyway). Now, I don't want to overstate this, it's certainly important to contrast policies and visions with other candidates, and you shouldn't expect politics to be an easy ride. And it is sometimes appropriate and necessary to call out other candidates on their personal issues(though can go too far if you hold stuff against them that they have already apologized for and addressed, it's really a fine line), like with 1184AZ I personally was concerned by issues he had as a candidate that I thought needed to be addressed publicly. However politics has gotten too heated and at times toxic. At times I have been provoked by this negativity and insults from others and have reacted and made comments that were inappropriate and perhaps caused offense, which I apologize for. This is also an example of how when we allow negativity and toxicity to exist, it feeds on itself and proliferates, and I think most, if not all, people playing the game are good people at heart who want to be kind to others, and unfortunately this can't always be the case. People want the best for each other and the game, I believe. So hopefully we can together be more mindful of this. Now hopefully people can refrain from launching personal attacks against me based on this. Perhaps having a flawed and somewhat toxic culture in the game is inevitable, but if people are at least aware of this being an issue and try to refrain from adding fuel to the fire(as I want to do, but haven't always managed to, and will try more now upon further reflection with this issue), then maybe the game can be better and more active and attractive for all players, especially newcomers.