The BP Politics and Common Purpose Manifesto

[Joshua Dorkin]

2011 has been off to a chaotic start on the BP forums, as there has been a LOT of infighting, bickering, whining, and battling - especially centered around our political forums.

In the 6 years that I've been running the site, I've never seen it as bad as it has been recently.

With that in mind, I've decided that we're officially closing the public political forums for good. Until we can get all posts ported over to the political group, and can officially close the forum for good, any new posts made in the forum will just be transferred.

While I think it is important that we have a place where people can discuss politics (since business and politics go hand in hand), I believe that having the forum has led to rivalries on the site and other issues that have taken away from the most important discussions - the real estate ones.

Beyond politics, I've seen a few other rivalries develop amongst some members because they may not like someone or may disagree with their ideas. This has led to a lot of backhanded and blatant attacks on one another.

This post it my plea to get over it. We're all here for generally the same reasons - to learn something, to make some money, to meet new people.

If you don't like someone, ignore them. Don't respond to their posts. Don't give in to temptation and get into battles. If someone crosses the line, report their post, but don't engage them.

We're all adults here with common purpose.

It kills me that some people have allowed their disdain for one member or another to drive them away from participating here and from making money as a result.

I hope everyone reading this can stop and think about this for a minute. I hope everyone reading this realizes that life is too short to let your dislike for one or several people to cause them to behave in a manner that they wouldn't normally or cause them to stop participating on a community that can be very good for their business.

I hope we can try to move forward in 2011 and better ourselves and our businesses, instead of behaving like a bunch of high-school kids.

Thanks for listening.

[Mike McKinzie]

Wow, what did I miss?

I always thought the political forums were more "tongue in cheek" then actually feelings for one another. But if there were personal attacks, then it needed to be removed. If people cannot separate a person from their political beliefs, then they should not engage in dialogue. And if anyone leaves BP because of political beliefs, then they are members of BP for the wrong reasons.

It is a shame the adults behave in such a way that forces Joshua to close a forum.

I first got on the internet in 1984, using a monochrome screen. One thing that I have noticed, whether it is forum posting, blogs, emails, instant messages, etc... is that many times, a reader will put an entirely different emotion on the written word than the writer intended. Let me give an example:

Look at this sentence:

"I did not say he stole the money." How can this be interpreted?

"I" did not say he stole the money. (It was said by someone else)

I "DID NOT" say he stole the money. (vehement denial)

I did not "SAY" he stole the money. (I implied it but did not say it)

I did not say "HE" stole the money. (someone else did)

I did not say he "STOLE" the money. (he just borrowed it)

I did not say he stole "THE MONEY" (I said he stole the car)

All of a sudden, you have six different ways to read a very simple sentence. Multiply that by many sentences and all of a sudden, mis-communication takes a life of it's own. Assumptions are made, mostly incorrect assumptions, feelings get hurt, and personal attacks, defensiveness and retaliation takes place.

It is better for Joshua to close the political forum and let's get back to investing in Real Estate Information.