We all live in a weird world today, full of awareness but also censorship. This post was meant to alleviate some blatant and obviously lazy attempts at censoring and dictating discussion, but this isn't gonna happen here.
Speak your mind, no harm no foul. The goal is to bring people together and foster dialogue... Not to try to squash certain people's opinions or thoughts. But any opinions that disagree with this concept are welcome as well, so long as they don't violate Rule #1 here! Love!
How do you handle things that shouldn't be political, but people make them political by being assholes?
For example: when insulin became far more affordable in the US. That's about as objective as you can get when it comes to good news. But on every post about it I've ever seen, there are assholes who are talking about how big government is intruding on the rights of private corporations, and how it's going to stifle innovation, etc., etc.
Would a post about insulin prices being capped then be removed because it's "political?"
That's a terrific question. Because we all KNOW that there's a meaningful profit incentive there and there is without a doubt a meaningful incentive to influence public opinion about a topic like that. But that's not what this is about. That post would stand on it's own merits with whatever botnets trying to manipulate public opinion.
>*praises you for the question/‘I understand your concerns’*
>
>*parrots question back to you*
>
>*gives ambiguous non-answer answer*
Ironically, they gave *such* a political answer lmao
^(edit: and oh wow, just noticed your username :D)
^(and a former-egg too! are you my evil twin? :3)
Wow that's a great conspiracy theory because it definitely happens, but there's likely no way to measure it.
Half the power accounts on the site could be moderator's alts for all we know.
How do you handle topics like the LGBTQ+? How do you handle topics like abortion? How do you handle topics like climate change? How do you handle topics like women's issues? How do you handle topics like race issues? All of those things are "obviously political". How can you possibly create a safe space when all the issues I brought up are divisive? Like it or not, this sub IS political, and it must have a political bias if it cares about all the human issues I brought up.
Edit: u /ToHallowMySleep, what the actual fuck? I never said I wanted to make certain people second class citizens. What the fuck gave you that impression and why were you so quick to block me?
Another thing, politics is about the complex relations between humans in society. So yes, human rights are indeed political.
Look, just admit that progressive ideas are uplifting because they're designed and implemented to lift people up.
That's the simple observation people are dancing around and trying to not say explicitly.
Progress is uplifting.
Ding ding ding. “This person overcame their identity being politicized and is thriving anyway” or “this country/state/other just voted to give rights to people who didn’t have them before” is both political and uplifting.
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Politics is not an annoying team sport that can be safely avoided and ignored to preserve everyone’s nice time. Everything is political, from the air we breathe, to the clean water we do or do not have access to, to the sex we have and the people we love and whether or not either is legal.
The fact is: **Progress** is uplifting; stagnation, or the small-minded desire to claw back some imagined version of a previous status quo is a stifling, ghoulish, irritating bummer.
Exactly. Just like the progress this mod isn’t making on answering all of the straight forward questions about this distinction in the thread. Trying to be *apolitical* is itself a political choice. A garbage one.
Give them time. They're probably discussing these questions with the other mods. If they don't respond to any of our concerns within 12-24 hours, then it will be safe to conclude that a) the mods can't agree about what topic counts as political, or b) the mods are acting in bad faith.
Maybe someone already responded and if so I apologize. But insisting on a subreddit’s apolitical posture is itself political. Trying to evade political discussion/content is political.
This gesture is either foolish or not to be trusted.
Which sucks, cause the concept of uplifting news is great.
Completely right. The mods of this sub are shooting themselves in the heads by thinking they can ban "political" content, when life and joy in itself is so intrinsically political. "Politics" literally means "The People"
Alright, nobody mention anything about a store owner keeping their prices low to help the poor because that involves inflation which is political!
Also, nobody dare even think about posting anything to do with someone who was laid off getting a job because that has to do with unemployment due to these high interest rates!
And I swear, if anyone presumes to post anything about a poor family winning the lottery better back off because of the tax implications and education funding that comes from that industry, this sub will censor the hell out of you!
Just to be clear, absolutely no Uplifting News of any kind in this sub, you hear? Political posts are absolutely not allowed!
…jackass
>Because we all KNOW that there's a meaningful profit incentive there and there is without a doubt a meaningful incentive to influence public opinion about a topic like that
I'm super confused. There's a meaningful profit incentive where? In what OP said about a medicine being more widely available?
Wanting to be non-divisive is valid but either:
A. You do extreme enforcement and the only thing allowed becomes stories about dogs getting wheelchairs.
B. You try to enforce based on some subjective line and get accused of the censorship itself having a political agenda... which it inevitably will. This just becomes "political posts are allowed unless they're contentious around the moderators' politics".
That's just the reality of trying to be apolitical.
It’s just braindead. You’d be hard pressed to find ANY TOPIC UNDER THE SUN that isn’t either inherently political or can’t be instantly made political through discourse about the topic.
Yeah, I appreciate what the mods are trying to do, but it is by definition impossible to do. Some topics that are non political to some will be political to others. They will have to draw an arbitrary line somewhere that will be controversial wherever that line is.
The reality is apolitics is kind of a myth. Politics influences and affects every single thing on this planet.
Politics is not just about talking heads screaming at each other on tv. Its the decisions we make as people.
Government gives more funds to schools: political. People giving food and shelter to the homeless: political. Armed conflict ends: political. Community gets together to help someone pay for their necessary medical procedure: super political.
Yeah, I'm not sure how it's uplifting news that a "safe space" is now being commandeered by the holders of opinions that made them necessary in the first place.
People want to be uplifted by the most political news because politics is the foundation of every aspect of our lives. I suppose we're suppose to crawl into holes so out basic rights don't distress the assholes of the world.
My fucking existence is not a political act.
Signed. A gay person.
EDIT: I am not a political expression because if I were, then I would be expected to behave like the model minority. I am not, nor will I ever willingly be a model minority.
I thought that was just ghosts. But of course there are a lot of LGBTQ+ ghosts given how often they've historically been lynched by intolerant cowards.
Are the following example headlines political?
* Federal government announces new regulation that landlords can't discriminate against LGBT tenants
* Taiwan legalizes gay marriage
* Pay gap between white and black earners reaches historical low in the US
* Ukraine regains territory in South
* US Energy transitioning to renewables faster than originally estimated
I mean kinda, but arguably war is a total breakdown of politics and diplomacy in favour of mass organised murder.
There's not a lot of policy making going on in war as governments tend to suspend most political action in favour of fighting the war.
The most meaningful good news will always intersect with politics.
When laws, politics, or the lack thereof infringe on the rights, health, and safety of people, animals, and the planet — the most meaningful good news will come from people working to right those wrongs.
I hope you'll reconsider this rule.
There are a lot of uplifting topics that could be considered political. Unless what is off limits is clearly defined, this sub will just have dog videos.
This will be difficult to both communicate and implement.
Examples:
- Mark Cuban offers free prescription drugs: incredibly political because of extremely high drug prices in the US
- ex-felon exonerated: political bc of US criminal justice system
- country X legalizes gay marriage
Etc etc.
I’m guessing war, US presidential election, and other highly controversial subjects may be easy targets for removal
An ex felon being exonerated or Mark Cuban offering free drugs are only tangentially political but more importantly are not highly controversial
> ex felon being exonerated ... not highly controversial
You are gravely mistaken. Lots of people throw hissy fits when a convicted person gets exonerated.
Because people have a hard time changing their mind when they come to a conclusion, particularly given the fact that the justice system is designed to prefer finality. Add unconscious biases, sprinkle a little racism, and a whole bunch of classism, and people really dig in. I also think that people want to believe that these things don't happen because if they could happen to Joe Schmo, what could prevent it from happening to you.
I took a whole seminar on wrongful convictions in law school, and hearing directly from those who spent years of their lives in prison before their innocence was proven was one of the most horrifying things I've encountered in my legal career. If people truly understood the prevalence of innocent people being convicted (and the problematic things that can lead to a wrongful conviction e.g. junk science, prosecutoral misconduct, and the sheer power and resources of the state), criminal justice reform would not be controversial and no state would allow the death penalty.
Yeah - those would be lines that could be drawn.
“Taylor Swift encourages 100M young people to register to vote” - something I support but something that is both apolitical and political at the same time.
The challenge is that the absence of politics is an incredibly political stance to take. It can descend into a sort of corporatist, libertarian arena - like a shopping mall or Coca-Cola ad.
Politics is really just people doing things together. You can’t separate people from politics.
But whatever, the Mods have a built a big community and can run it how they want. It seems like they’re fighting off a ton of spam and wanted to draw a line somewhere.
The desire to go down the front page flagging everything is high.
- Coral reef restoration? I dunno, seems like that's infringing on the safe space for the oil tycoons, who are protected under their political affiliation and creed.
- An Arizona governor did what to a foreign owned farm? Anything a governor does is political.
- A man spent 44 years in prison after a wrongful conviction? Uh oh, people might ask why that could occur, or who's responsible, or if there was injustice in the appeals. Better scrub it.
- The US economy got more jobs? That's an instaban. Super political.
- Sweden joined NATO? I thought this was an apolitical space. Putin says this is WRONG and NOT UPLIFTING.
So what happens when politics actually wind up being uplifting like LGBTQIA+ folks getting rights
We just going to label that as a no go because it's too "diversive"
I get where y'all are coming from, but feels like this is going to backfire on yall
I mean don't get me wrong something needed to be done because there were a ton of bots and low effort accounts posting weird news articles
But like let's use the Ukrainian war as an example, war ending is good, it's to be celebrated, is it just going to get removed because it political, or does it get to stay because war ending is uplifting
I dunno, I feel this is going to turn into a mess at some point
And as a fellow mod, I do not envy the job of this subs moderation team
> And as a fellow mod, I do not envy the job of this subs moderation team
Nor do I, but I think this kind of post is *kind* of going about it the wrong way.
This post has devolved
After the mod started getting critiqued they stopped responding to questions
At one point they called someone asking a genuine quest an AI developer
It's also full of contradiction, sometimes they said no changes were happening and this was just a statement
Then later on they described what was changing
It's a mess
Also their Pin did nothing for clarity
I want to give benefit of the doubt but for the mod to go missing for like 8 months and return with this, is kind of concerning
Just ban fucking botposting. Of course, it'll kill their precious subreddit, but stop letting botnets speak to your community instead of censoring your community.
I think this would be a good call
Personally in there shoes ide axe bots and make a list of topics thatnare disallowed like "x side won this state"
And that alone would probably be enough
But given how many defenders I've seen, I think this sub might have some rough waters ahead
Objectively speaking, a government's policy is by definition political. So objectively, we can start with assuming that all News regarding any changes in government policy are by definition political, and therefore to be banned.
Its very concerning yes, I've given a few examples and the mod hasn't really responded to them, and spoke more on the topic generally
Their new pin doesn't give much confidence either tbh
This is my biggest fear. My life as a lgbtq minority has unfortunately been *so* politicized, that:
1) A lot of uplifting news is due to political advances in equality.
2) Because my rights are such a hot button issue, many people consider my *existence* as political itself.
If you ban political posts, that directly impacts the visibility of positive news for minorities.
Please do better, mods.
I don't feel the mods are trying to be gross honestly
This is probably aimed more towards the red won this, blue won that style posts
But the wording is concerning and can be interpreted as a vast array
Like I don't consider LGBT topics to be political in nature
But in reality basically every civil rights issue is
And without a defined policy it just takes one chud to ruin stuff for everyone
I don’t think they’re being intentionally gross either, but this decision and how it’s framed seems myopic at best.
I don’t think I agree with your last bit - it’s harder for lgbtq posts to be banned if there’s no explicit rule against political posts. All it takes is someone in power with the interpretation that queer news is political and viola, no more LGBTQ news on this subreddit.
Yeah, according to the mod themselves, this is more a reclassification of rules already in place, and hopefully that is the case, I just feel making clearer definitions of what is and isn't political for this sub needs to happen to avoid abuse
Also no we totally agree, I just messed up the wording, I was trying to say basically the same thing you just did
When LGBT people lose rights, or die, that's a win for red. When they're given the right to exist, that's a win for blue.
Look at that; it's political!
I meant more so I don't think civil rights should be seen as political ammunition
We as a culture should positively look at and push towards fixing civil rights problems
But yes that was my point it's easy to see basically anything as a political issue which is why the vague nature of the rule is problematic
There are people who consider "Social Justice Warrior" as one of the gravest insults possible. Social justice is bad. Social injustice is good.
To you and me, that seems obviously wrong. To them, that's obviously correct.
And now it's "political."
Exactly. What this is actually doing is maintaining complicity in the politicization of us existing. If a marginalized group gaining more rights or representation isn't considered uplifting, I feel like this sub is going to get completely neutered and milquetoast. LGBTQ+ folks can be of any political side or affiliation or none at all, we're not a monolith and we're not pawns.
What actually exists here is an opportunity to depoliticize us in this sub by taking a firm stance that LGBTQ+ people deserve to be treated equally and our lives are not something to be voted on. There's nothing political about that because the vast majority of people who actually hate us are basing their bigotry in religion, not politics. So this policy sends an extremely mixed message.
I encourage the mods to try it a different way. For each post, ask who this news is helping and who it is harming. That's what I base my life decisions on, and it's a good metric for what will be uplifting to *most* people. It's impossible to please everyone. This is the internet and any asshole can complain to the mods that a kid surviving cancer actually somehow offends them, but we can't worry about accounting for those fringe cases (usually trolls anyway). We do need to draw a line somewhere.
Some people saw Roe vs Wade being overturned as being uplifting. I can see why the moderators simply want to avoid that and just focus on more non partisan stuff that's uplifting.
There's no such thing as mon partisan. Not really.
Everything is political.
People constantly post "uplifting" stories here about a bunch of poor kids managing to raise enough money so their classmate / teacher / etc. can afford one more surgery / cancer treatment/ etc. That's absolutely political, because America's healthcare system is broken by design.
The issue there is it removed representation and make folks feel unwelcome
Plus this is a news sub, news by its nature is political, and even then what folks see as a political topic varies
Like what if trans rights advancements happened
That's super uplifting
But some folks find that a political topic
That same logic can be applied to just about any topic you can think of, and it's shocking how easy folks come to those conclusions
I think it's because it attracts influencers, marketers and so on so even if it's a cause that you believe in or it's a good cause in general. Allowing things that have so much influencer potential just makes it a subject ripe for abuse. There are plenty of other places to discuss such things. The number of influencer accounts on here is truly maddening
I'm just saying it's got a whole lot of potential to backfire
Like if say trans rights advancements happen, the mods axe that as being political, then there's grounds to file a complaint against the sub for being anti-trans
I sorta get the spirit of this choice, but it's too vague, and it leaves a lot of room for abuse
I mod a couple subs myself, and I just imagine this policy is going to cause a lot of pain and frustration to both users and staff
Seems like just banning links from a scummy site or anything self promoting would have worked a lot better
On the flip side a conservative might consider a headline like "Texas bans abortion" to be uplifting news, which it's obviously not. I think banning political content and deciding if something is actually political case by case is the only way to do it unfortunately
Which is fine assuming we don't get mods who remove content they don't like
Like imagine a mod who's secretly a terf and removed all trans content for being political
Like that's the kind of problem we could run into
That would suck but not too much can actually be done about that. If both "Kentucky signs law outlawing pregnant women from leaving the state" and "New York signs bill allowing all undocumented immigrants in the state to stay permanently" (both of these are fake things I made up in 2 seconds) are considered "uplifting news" this sub will devolve into r/politics. Carve outs for specific issues (Eg. LGBT people and POC getting more rights are always considered uplifting or a similar policy) is the only way to sanely have political content on this sub.
But that's my point right none of that definition is made clear with the rule
And without it, it is just too easy to be abused
If they want a rule restricting topics it needs to be made clear exactly what topics aren't allowed and why, or else we risk potential discrimination issues
Instead of having interesting, thought provoking conversations, let’s sweep things under the rug in order to be a “safe space”. We can all have an opinion around here as long as it’s the same one. Been on Reddit a long time…it’s sad to see what it’s become.
Genuine question, who makes the distinction if something is political?
Right now in the US the idea of gay marriage is very political. Celebrating a gay person getting married is political to many people whether they are for or against it.
I do agree with the premise though, there are plenty of "my side won which is uplifting to me" posts, I just have no idea how it can be enforced
Except to some people stuff like that IS political. Almost anything news worthy can be considered “political” whether it’s cleaning up beaches, saving a forest from being chopped down, or a city installing a new rail line or homeless shelter.
You’re correct- and the last part of your comment is exactly where my mind went. There was a post the other day about selling off Aquaphor water to another country from Arizona and to some people that’s just fine and should be done and it all was coming from some politically motivated stuff but I think that was up lifting news.
I would hope that humans, animals, and the Earth having rights and protections and fairness would be considered uplifting news and is not something that should be politicized even though it definitely completely is.
Yeah this is my issue as well
Like look at the Ukrainian War, when that ends, does that get axed for being political or does it stay because war ending is uplifting
Some folks find gender and sexual identity stuff political, does that get axed or does gay rights achievements pass as uplifting
I feel I get where the mods are trying to come from, but the rule is too vague, and all it's going to take is one power hungry or pissed off mod or user and thai whole can of worms is getting opened
Gay marriage is literally political. I agree that it is beneficial and uplifting but you are admitting that you will only be allowkng certain political posts approved by the mod team
How is a statement about what the law permits not political? It's as inherently political as anything can be. What the hell does "nothing political" mean if some blatantly political things are allowed?
Y'all are making a rule you definitely will not enforce. That only goes bad places.
Weird how you're ok with gay people getting married (so a post about gay marriage becoming legalized should be uplifting) but you're saying 'politics' are bad?
The line is not clear and you are probably adding issues to the subreddit. Do you really want everything to be flagged as "WOKE"? The right wing will do it, and you will have to listen to them according to your post here.
My question would be, does this include anything that just has to do with government in general?
Like if a government makes an environmental law would that be considered political?
Inherently yes. It's a law introduced by a certain political party, and as uplifting as it might be it probably has some opponents, and supporters of the opposite party are but gonna be happy. It is political and divisive
That can be said about literally everything. Like, seriously. Try coming up with some uplifting news topic and see if your comment can apply to that too.
I know, I understand that. One prof in my uni used to say that to be apolitical you need to live in a bunker completely off the grid. And even then your decision to eject yourself from political life of a society is a political stance too. It's impossible to fully apolitical in a society.
Fully depolitisized uplifting news means news about cats and puppies and nice weather. But even those can be considered divisive because some people like dogs, some cats, and some hamsters and suffering.
Yeah, this is a really poor response from a sub that quite frankly has been floundering for some time.
Wasn’t my favorite anyway, so I’m glad to leave before it becomes a conservative hellscape.
So, this sub is about to devolve into kitten memes? Because literally everything else is political. Happy [insert group here gets rights]? Political. Happy that money is spent on [insert project here]? Political. Science stuff? Political. Religious stuff? Political.
How about this headline: [Texas Court Unable To Find Jurors To Uphold $500 Fine For Feeding The Homeless](https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/5335/Texas-Court-Unable-To-Find-Jurors-To-Uphold-500-Fine-For-Feeding-The-Homeless)
I found that story incredibly uplifiting, but to say it wasn't political is absurd.
It just seems like the mods are now the arbiters of what is uplifting. Sure hope their worldview comports with mine.
Yeah people who are happy about this and don't want to see anything "political" are incredibly ignorant. I'm not saying that to just be insulting. I mean they're literally, willfully ignorant of the world and of how society functions. As you said, nearly everything is "political" because politics shapes everything.
If you don't want to see who's winning whatever political race, I get it. Overt horse race stuff I get not wanting to see. But wanting to never see anything to do with "politics" is akin to burying your head in the sand because just about everything is shaped by the decisions of lawmakers and voters.
Avoiding *anything* political is incredibly broad and vague. It's open to the interpretation of whoever is making the statement.
Ultimately I've found that when people say that they don't like politics or don't want to see anything political, it really just boils down to: "things I like are not political, things I'm uncomfortable with or don't care about are political." It's also just an incredibly intellectually lazy way of looking at the world (or more accurately, not looking at it).
This isn't going to work. Almost everything can be seen through a political lense. Folks are going to find where you draw the line and then be manipulative so they can still push their agenda. You'll be left with only the most skilled manipulators. This sub is battleground for political ideology. That's just an inherent thing. This decision is just a choosing of sides.
It has technically been a loosely enforced unofficial policy for a while tied to Rule #1, but today it became more of an "OFFICIAL" loosely enforced policy and has been clearly stated as such so there is no confusion or backlash from nefarious parties desperately trying to control the dialogue at the town square.
The very distinction between what is and isn't considered "political" is itself a political statement and a product of one's own political opinions. How will you enforce the rule fairly with this entirely unavoidable and inevitable paradox in play?
This is a perfectly legitimate question, elaborated on in reply to mod's reply to you by u/The_Taco_Bandito.
Discoveries of renewable energy?
Politics where both sides, in that rare instance, agree on something?
News on studies about cleaning up of misinformation?
This is a fair question, mods.
Thanks for asking this question. Sorry that the mod is not able to answer questions.
It doesn't seem like they care that there is a paradox in their posting. They will eventually find an arbitrary line, and say "well, trans people are political". When trans people say "i don't think that's true!" the mod can just say "Fuck you, the policy wasn't official till the 10th of march, but it's official that i can tell you to fuck yourself for ANY reason now!"
ngl, this sounds like the sort of policy that's introduced by tired mods who've seen a sudden upsurge in activity and look for a poorly thought out policy to serve as a quick fix. I get it, modding can be exhausting (I've been modding various things on the internet for over a decade now) but this policy will do more harm than good. Anything, pretty much, can be considered political beyond the most natural events with no other human involved (like a person recovering from a serious disease or a lost pet being returned.) There are certainly things I've posted in this sub that haven't led to a flamewar that could be considered political, but which most people seem to agree was uplifting. For me, the posts themselves can be sorted by the voting system organically deciding what ends up being easily visible and the comments could be sorted with a quick mod call. This policy risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I'm sure they have good intentions, as people have been clearly trolling the sub with political posts for ages, but you're right.
All this will come down to is "We will remove posts that we politically disagree with.", same as pretty much every other sub.
I am viciously pro-abortion, but anyone that thinks it's not way more political than "woman reunited with sister 26 years later" or some shit is delusional
I don't think it's helpful or honest to pretend like not caring about gender or sexuality isn't a political position when the existence of LGBTQ people has been politicized by the right.
You're taking a center-left political position and it's okay to just say so.
Doesn't really make a lot of sense. I like human rights, so when human rights get generally enhanced, I call it 'uplifting'.
If I posted about changes in illegality of homosexuality in a random country, is that "politics" and "divisive"?
If i posted about how Florida is having trouble passing anti-trans legislation, is that "politics" and "divisive"?
So does that mean anything uplifting that conservatives have made into a political issue is now going to be removed?
Why is this being downvoted? It's a genuine question, world over the right wing has made human rights political, my very existence is considered political by many, does this rule change mean anything that doesn't pander to that right wing bs is going to be removed? In genuinely curious if I should unsub or not.
I mean, if they do validate the fascists, then the brigading of the sub can start if they reveal that they are willing to take that side.
It is not possible to be apolitical in this environment. People will always be offended. Even if you think you are being clever by saying "Both Sides" all it really does is validate one side's invalid existence.
Can we get clarification on what you mean by political Razorsheldon?
This post in uplifting news for example [FDA to Finally Outlaw Soda Ingredient Prohibited Around The World](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/comments/1bc7me8/fda_to_finally_outlaw_soda_ingredient_prohibited/), is political.
- environmentalism is a political issue
- gender parity is a political issue
- cultural discrimination is a political issue
- war is a political issue
- America's lack of public transit is a political issue
Sounds like there is no coherent filter for what is or isn't political. This sounds like it could be easily abused by current and future moderators and sets a poor standard for the future.
as always, it boils down to the reddit prime directive: thou shalt please the mods.
that's all that ultimately matters. follow the rules or break them, no matter. offend the mods: bye bye.
Yeah, I’m sorry, but this sucks ass. Totally brainless policy.
Being totally apolitical when judging what is and is not uplifting is completely impossible. There are countless great comments here explaining that to you, I would suggest the mod team take these comments to heart.
I guarantee you that literally all posts on this sub are political in some way. I’m fascinated to figure out where exactly you guys thought the divide lies as of this post.
the only way you can conceive of ANYTHING as being not political is by being a part of the dominant culture and censoring everything that doesn't reinforce your perception of normality as a member of the dominant culture.
this is a fundamentally CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL point of view.
I would love to get banned from another subreddit for rejecting a domineering set of moderators' arbitrary framing of reality.
I can understand if you're talking about banning "uplifting" new aboit politicians or parties. However, a lot of topics are inherently uplifting and political. "Women getting the right to vote in X country" is uplifting, but also deeply political. "LGBTQ student celebrated by whole school"'is uplifting but some people will sadly see it as political. "Teacher fired for support to his gay gets rehired after outpouring of love from his class" is also political. What about "Trans student wins painting contest"? The mention of trans could be seen as political.
At this point, the sub might be as well just news about cute dogs and cats.
>I think that people don't understand the tolerance paradox means that some censorship is required or the default outcome is being overrun.
You are right, but what should have been banned is being intolerant, not being "political" (whatever that means).
What is considered political can be applied in incredibly hypocritical ways. Posting a Ukrainian flag in the same context as a Palestinian flag is one example: the first is not considered political by some, whereas the second is considered political by the very same people.
Thanks for letting me know so I can unsubscribe to the sub. I'll leave us all with a quote and reminder of what is considered uplifting vs political:
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." - Helder Camara
>When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
Not anymore. Now, they give you a 500$ fine and threaten you with jail time.
[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-90-arrested-feeding-homeless\_n\_6100738](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-90-arrested-feeding-homeless_n_6100738)
I think we're using the wrong term. From what I've gathered it seems the mods actually want to ban posts on policy, rather than politics. Phrased this way, I think it leaves room for posts about marginalized geoups/persons benefiting from someone, as long as the post itself doesn't emphasize policy and instead is more of a human interests story.
Everything is inherently political. I think the mods understand that. But I think they have phrased their proposed rule poorly; if so then I would exchange 'political' for policy while emphasizing positive human interests posts.
Mods, would you consider updating the Rules in the sidebar? I've always been confused by what "Reposted article" means — and perhaps there are other rules that need to be added as well.
first time here ... and this ... and yet the first article I see is about Israel/Palistinian protests. Isn't THAT polictical and how is it "good news"?
I can't say I'm very active on this sub or familiar with its traditional focus, recent changes, or anything like that, so there's my grain of salt. But as someone who is part of a group that is mistreated around the world and facing organized efforts in my home country to legislate people like me out of existence, it disappoints me to hear that, as far as I can tell, positive news about civil and human rights for people such as myself will be censored in consideration of those who believe I do not deserve those rights.
I really hope this doesnt eliminate all future posts with relevance.
I mean of course, two people reuniting or someone recovering from a terrible disease is great! Though, is it really big and relevant? No, which is ok.
But almost any news is/can be political.
For some people legalizing gay marriage is uplifting. For others immigrants getting kicked out of the country is uplifting - for others it's frightening. It's probably impossible.
I mean even news to combating climate change would'nt be ok anymore, since lots of people see it as a made up crisis, so news about this aren't uplifting to them.
Seems like a VERY hard topic to deal with. I just hope you'll get it done right. Wish you the best!
>Yup, without question! Keep 'em coming!
So you support banning abortion? And posts supporting banning abortion are welcome here? Because that's what "health advancements of unborn babies" \[yes, I know that "unborn baby" is a literal oxymoron, I'm quoting the person you replied to\] means.
Seems like a horrible mistake. Everything is political, women being in the workplace, unions, environmental protections, animal extinction!
Our posts about positive climate change action being taken going to be allowed?
Good. If people want to post happy political news, by all means, there are dozens of political subreddits where they can post it. Too often, the posts are just "this is uplifting because it's a political development that I like."
We all live in a weird world today, full of awareness but also censorship. This post was meant to alleviate some blatant and obviously lazy attempts at censoring and dictating discussion, but this isn't gonna happen here. Speak your mind, no harm no foul. The goal is to bring people together and foster dialogue... Not to try to squash certain people's opinions or thoughts. But any opinions that disagree with this concept are welcome as well, so long as they don't violate Rule #1 here! Love!
How do you handle things that shouldn't be political, but people make them political by being assholes? For example: when insulin became far more affordable in the US. That's about as objective as you can get when it comes to good news. But on every post about it I've ever seen, there are assholes who are talking about how big government is intruding on the rights of private corporations, and how it's going to stifle innovation, etc., etc. Would a post about insulin prices being capped then be removed because it's "political?"
That's a terrific question. Because we all KNOW that there's a meaningful profit incentive there and there is without a doubt a meaningful incentive to influence public opinion about a topic like that. But that's not what this is about. That post would stand on it's own merits with whatever botnets trying to manipulate public opinion.
It doesn't seem like you answered the terrific question? How does any post 'stand on its own merits' when you're planning on banning certain posts?
>*praises you for the question/‘I understand your concerns’* > >*parrots question back to you* > >*gives ambiguous non-answer answer* Ironically, they gave *such* a political answer lmao ^(edit: and oh wow, just noticed your username :D) ^(and a former-egg too! are you my evil twin? :3)
That's the great part - it's completely arbitrary so the mods can decide on a whim what they want to allow.
*what they want to remove and post using their alts
Wow that's a great conspiracy theory because it definitely happens, but there's likely no way to measure it. Half the power accounts on the site could be moderator's alts for all we know.
How do you handle topics like the LGBTQ+? How do you handle topics like abortion? How do you handle topics like climate change? How do you handle topics like women's issues? How do you handle topics like race issues? All of those things are "obviously political". How can you possibly create a safe space when all the issues I brought up are divisive? Like it or not, this sub IS political, and it must have a political bias if it cares about all the human issues I brought up. Edit: u /ToHallowMySleep, what the actual fuck? I never said I wanted to make certain people second class citizens. What the fuck gave you that impression and why were you so quick to block me? Another thing, politics is about the complex relations between humans in society. So yes, human rights are indeed political.
Look, just admit that progressive ideas are uplifting because they're designed and implemented to lift people up. That's the simple observation people are dancing around and trying to not say explicitly. Progress is uplifting.
Ding ding ding. “This person overcame their identity being politicized and is thriving anyway” or “this country/state/other just voted to give rights to people who didn’t have them before” is both political and uplifting.
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Politics is not an annoying team sport that can be safely avoided and ignored to preserve everyone’s nice time. Everything is political, from the air we breathe, to the clean water we do or do not have access to, to the sex we have and the people we love and whether or not either is legal. The fact is: **Progress** is uplifting; stagnation, or the small-minded desire to claw back some imagined version of a previous status quo is a stifling, ghoulish, irritating bummer.
Exactly. Just like the progress this mod isn’t making on answering all of the straight forward questions about this distinction in the thread. Trying to be *apolitical* is itself a political choice. A garbage one.
Maybe someone already responded and if so I apologize. But insisting on a subreddit’s apolitical posture is itself political. Trying to evade political discussion/content is political. This gesture is either foolish or not to be trusted. Which sucks, cause the concept of uplifting news is great.
Completely right. The mods of this sub are shooting themselves in the heads by thinking they can ban "political" content, when life and joy in itself is so intrinsically political. "Politics" literally means "The People"
Thank you. I don’t know why this is so hard for people to comprehend.
Alright, nobody mention anything about a store owner keeping their prices low to help the poor because that involves inflation which is political! Also, nobody dare even think about posting anything to do with someone who was laid off getting a job because that has to do with unemployment due to these high interest rates! And I swear, if anyone presumes to post anything about a poor family winning the lottery better back off because of the tax implications and education funding that comes from that industry, this sub will censor the hell out of you! Just to be clear, absolutely no Uplifting News of any kind in this sub, you hear? Political posts are absolutely not allowed! …jackass
Government capping insulin prices has a profit motive?
Way to dodge the question entirely. That stuff is DIRECTLY TIED TO POLITICS AND REGULATION
>Because we all KNOW that there's a meaningful profit incentive there and there is without a doubt a meaningful incentive to influence public opinion about a topic like that I'm super confused. There's a meaningful profit incentive where? In what OP said about a medicine being more widely available?
Wanting to be non-divisive is valid but either: A. You do extreme enforcement and the only thing allowed becomes stories about dogs getting wheelchairs. B. You try to enforce based on some subjective line and get accused of the censorship itself having a political agenda... which it inevitably will. This just becomes "political posts are allowed unless they're contentious around the moderators' politics". That's just the reality of trying to be apolitical.
Free dog wheelchairs is sozialism! /s
It's the dog's own fault for not working hard enough to pay for themselves.
Just wait for the dogs to unite and overthrow the specie-ist humans
Right. It's always people who say "no politics" who i am instantly suspicious of. It never works out for anyone in that conversation.
It’s just braindead. You’d be hard pressed to find ANY TOPIC UNDER THE SUN that isn’t either inherently political or can’t be instantly made political through discourse about the topic.
Excuse me, but I find it offensive that a dog could get a wheelchair without working for it. That smacks of some sort of political something or other.
But the dog lost its job as a drug sniffer b/c of marijuana legalization! See, mods? Do you see how it’s all political whether you like it or not?
Yeah, I appreciate what the mods are trying to do, but it is by definition impossible to do. Some topics that are non political to some will be political to others. They will have to draw an arbitrary line somewhere that will be controversial wherever that line is.
you can't be a political. even dog posts someone will say the dog is being treated poorly.
The reality is apolitics is kind of a myth. Politics influences and affects every single thing on this planet. Politics is not just about talking heads screaming at each other on tv. Its the decisions we make as people.
Only comfortable white people can afford to be "apolitical"
Could you provide a few examples of posts you would and wouldn't remove? Just curious.
For example no lgbtq+ content because you know, that's political.
Can't talk about the potential good news about diverting climate change. That, too, is political.
Government gives more funds to schools: political. People giving food and shelter to the homeless: political. Armed conflict ends: political. Community gets together to help someone pay for their necessary medical procedure: super political.
Two genders, male and political. Two races, white and political.
Two sexual orientations, straight and political. Two religions, Christian and political. Two economic systems, capitalism and political.
This distillation is ascendant.
Damn.
[удалено]
apolitical hidden gem| politcal :(
There are only 2 sexes. The one I had with your dad last night. And the one I had with your mom last night.
Yeah, I'm not sure how it's uplifting news that a "safe space" is now being commandeered by the holders of opinions that made them necessary in the first place. People want to be uplifted by the most political news because politics is the foundation of every aspect of our lives. I suppose we're suppose to crawl into holes so out basic rights don't distress the assholes of the world.
There's nothing political about a gay man's juicy delicious cock
[My favorite non-political song](https://youtu.be/8jZLYF7WNKs?si=4UuaGhPs26-Sf9ne)
You fucking beat me to it.
My fucking existence is not a political act. Signed. A gay person. EDIT: I am not a political expression because if I were, then I would be expected to behave like the model minority. I am not, nor will I ever willingly be a model minority.
I'm a f@g myself
In the moderators' defense, lgtbq+ people are supposed to be invisible.
I thought that was just ghosts. But of course there are a lot of LGBTQ+ ghosts given how often they've historically been lynched by intolerant cowards.
Maybe just the bot ones like “Biden hugs his family as a show of love and compassion”
Are the following example headlines political? * Federal government announces new regulation that landlords can't discriminate against LGBT tenants * Taiwan legalizes gay marriage * Pay gap between white and black earners reaches historical low in the US * Ukraine regains territory in South * US Energy transitioning to renewables faster than originally estimated
Probably yes to all of this...
Oh nice so we can't talk about actual positive change in the world, sorta diluting and defeating the entire point of the sub. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Idk but that's also what i'm concerned about.
Yes, but also uplifting. This rule is dumb.
I mean the Ukraine one is about 2 nations in active conflict, that’s as political as it gets.
I mean kinda, but arguably war is a total breakdown of politics and diplomacy in favour of mass organised murder. There's not a lot of policy making going on in war as governments tend to suspend most political action in favour of fighting the war.
Yes
That's fucking ridiculous
100% agreed.
The most meaningful good news will always intersect with politics. When laws, politics, or the lack thereof infringe on the rights, health, and safety of people, animals, and the planet — the most meaningful good news will come from people working to right those wrongs. I hope you'll reconsider this rule.
There are a lot of uplifting topics that could be considered political. Unless what is off limits is clearly defined, this sub will just have dog videos.
Paid and bought by Big Canine... When will Feline voices be heard?
This will be difficult to both communicate and implement. Examples: - Mark Cuban offers free prescription drugs: incredibly political because of extremely high drug prices in the US - ex-felon exonerated: political bc of US criminal justice system - country X legalizes gay marriage Etc etc.
I’m guessing war, US presidential election, and other highly controversial subjects may be easy targets for removal An ex felon being exonerated or Mark Cuban offering free drugs are only tangentially political but more importantly are not highly controversial
> ex felon being exonerated ... not highly controversial You are gravely mistaken. Lots of people throw hissy fits when a convicted person gets exonerated.
Even if it's proven they didn't do it? Why?
Because people have a hard time changing their mind when they come to a conclusion, particularly given the fact that the justice system is designed to prefer finality. Add unconscious biases, sprinkle a little racism, and a whole bunch of classism, and people really dig in. I also think that people want to believe that these things don't happen because if they could happen to Joe Schmo, what could prevent it from happening to you. I took a whole seminar on wrongful convictions in law school, and hearing directly from those who spent years of their lives in prison before their innocence was proven was one of the most horrifying things I've encountered in my legal career. If people truly understood the prevalence of innocent people being convicted (and the problematic things that can lead to a wrongful conviction e.g. junk science, prosecutoral misconduct, and the sheer power and resources of the state), criminal justice reform would not be controversial and no state would allow the death penalty.
Yeah - those would be lines that could be drawn. “Taylor Swift encourages 100M young people to register to vote” - something I support but something that is both apolitical and political at the same time. The challenge is that the absence of politics is an incredibly political stance to take. It can descend into a sort of corporatist, libertarian arena - like a shopping mall or Coca-Cola ad. Politics is really just people doing things together. You can’t separate people from politics. But whatever, the Mods have a built a big community and can run it how they want. It seems like they’re fighting off a ton of spam and wanted to draw a line somewhere.
I'm happy that difficult isn't stopping them.
The desire to go down the front page flagging everything is high. - Coral reef restoration? I dunno, seems like that's infringing on the safe space for the oil tycoons, who are protected under their political affiliation and creed. - An Arizona governor did what to a foreign owned farm? Anything a governor does is political. - A man spent 44 years in prison after a wrongful conviction? Uh oh, people might ask why that could occur, or who's responsible, or if there was injustice in the appeals. Better scrub it. - The US economy got more jobs? That's an instaban. Super political. - Sweden joined NATO? I thought this was an apolitical space. Putin says this is WRONG and NOT UPLIFTING.
Everything is political. Get your head out of the sand.
Finally. So, are we supposed to report those posts as a violation of Rule #1 or are you going to add a rule addressing this specific issue?
Like the Supreme Court justice said, we need to make a law to enforce the law that already exist.
So what happens when politics actually wind up being uplifting like LGBTQIA+ folks getting rights We just going to label that as a no go because it's too "diversive" I get where y'all are coming from, but feels like this is going to backfire on yall
I fully agree, people aren’t going to agree on what’s uplifting and what’s divisive always.
I mean don't get me wrong something needed to be done because there were a ton of bots and low effort accounts posting weird news articles But like let's use the Ukrainian war as an example, war ending is good, it's to be celebrated, is it just going to get removed because it political, or does it get to stay because war ending is uplifting I dunno, I feel this is going to turn into a mess at some point And as a fellow mod, I do not envy the job of this subs moderation team
> And as a fellow mod, I do not envy the job of this subs moderation team Nor do I, but I think this kind of post is *kind* of going about it the wrong way.
This post has devolved After the mod started getting critiqued they stopped responding to questions At one point they called someone asking a genuine quest an AI developer It's also full of contradiction, sometimes they said no changes were happening and this was just a statement Then later on they described what was changing It's a mess Also their Pin did nothing for clarity I want to give benefit of the doubt but for the mod to go missing for like 8 months and return with this, is kind of concerning
Just ban fucking botposting. Of course, it'll kill their precious subreddit, but stop letting botnets speak to your community instead of censoring your community.
I think this would be a good call Personally in there shoes ide axe bots and make a list of topics thatnare disallowed like "x side won this state" And that alone would probably be enough But given how many defenders I've seen, I think this sub might have some rough waters ahead
Objectively speaking, a government's policy is by definition political. So objectively, we can start with assuming that all News regarding any changes in government policy are by definition political, and therefore to be banned.
The lack of any response to all of the questions about LGBTQIA+ shows that they will all be banned
Its very concerning yes, I've given a few examples and the mod hasn't really responded to them, and spoke more on the topic generally Their new pin doesn't give much confidence either tbh
This is my biggest fear. My life as a lgbtq minority has unfortunately been *so* politicized, that: 1) A lot of uplifting news is due to political advances in equality. 2) Because my rights are such a hot button issue, many people consider my *existence* as political itself. If you ban political posts, that directly impacts the visibility of positive news for minorities. Please do better, mods.
I don't feel the mods are trying to be gross honestly This is probably aimed more towards the red won this, blue won that style posts But the wording is concerning and can be interpreted as a vast array Like I don't consider LGBT topics to be political in nature But in reality basically every civil rights issue is And without a defined policy it just takes one chud to ruin stuff for everyone
I don’t think they’re being intentionally gross either, but this decision and how it’s framed seems myopic at best. I don’t think I agree with your last bit - it’s harder for lgbtq posts to be banned if there’s no explicit rule against political posts. All it takes is someone in power with the interpretation that queer news is political and viola, no more LGBTQ news on this subreddit.
Yeah, according to the mod themselves, this is more a reclassification of rules already in place, and hopefully that is the case, I just feel making clearer definitions of what is and isn't political for this sub needs to happen to avoid abuse Also no we totally agree, I just messed up the wording, I was trying to say basically the same thing you just did
When LGBT people lose rights, or die, that's a win for red. When they're given the right to exist, that's a win for blue. Look at that; it's political!
I meant more so I don't think civil rights should be seen as political ammunition We as a culture should positively look at and push towards fixing civil rights problems But yes that was my point it's easy to see basically anything as a political issue which is why the vague nature of the rule is problematic
There are people who consider "Social Justice Warrior" as one of the gravest insults possible. Social justice is bad. Social injustice is good. To you and me, that seems obviously wrong. To them, that's obviously correct. And now it's "political."
Yeah you have a point and that's sorta is issue with the mods post, basically everything has a political element
Exactly. What this is actually doing is maintaining complicity in the politicization of us existing. If a marginalized group gaining more rights or representation isn't considered uplifting, I feel like this sub is going to get completely neutered and milquetoast. LGBTQ+ folks can be of any political side or affiliation or none at all, we're not a monolith and we're not pawns. What actually exists here is an opportunity to depoliticize us in this sub by taking a firm stance that LGBTQ+ people deserve to be treated equally and our lives are not something to be voted on. There's nothing political about that because the vast majority of people who actually hate us are basing their bigotry in religion, not politics. So this policy sends an extremely mixed message. I encourage the mods to try it a different way. For each post, ask who this news is helping and who it is harming. That's what I base my life decisions on, and it's a good metric for what will be uplifting to *most* people. It's impossible to please everyone. This is the internet and any asshole can complain to the mods that a kid surviving cancer actually somehow offends them, but we can't worry about accounting for those fringe cases (usually trolls anyway). We do need to draw a line somewhere.
sorry your existance is political so now we will remove you from the public eye to stay apolitical. lmfao.
Excluding politics is a political choice...
Yuhp which means on a technically this post itself breaks the new rule
Some people saw Roe vs Wade being overturned as being uplifting. I can see why the moderators simply want to avoid that and just focus on more non partisan stuff that's uplifting.
There are very few things that are uplifting to all people across party lines.
There's no such thing as mon partisan. Not really. Everything is political. People constantly post "uplifting" stories here about a bunch of poor kids managing to raise enough money so their classmate / teacher / etc. can afford one more surgery / cancer treatment/ etc. That's absolutely political, because America's healthcare system is broken by design.
The issue there is it removed representation and make folks feel unwelcome Plus this is a news sub, news by its nature is political, and even then what folks see as a political topic varies Like what if trans rights advancements happened That's super uplifting But some folks find that a political topic That same logic can be applied to just about any topic you can think of, and it's shocking how easy folks come to those conclusions
I think it's because it attracts influencers, marketers and so on so even if it's a cause that you believe in or it's a good cause in general. Allowing things that have so much influencer potential just makes it a subject ripe for abuse. There are plenty of other places to discuss such things. The number of influencer accounts on here is truly maddening
I'm just saying it's got a whole lot of potential to backfire Like if say trans rights advancements happen, the mods axe that as being political, then there's grounds to file a complaint against the sub for being anti-trans I sorta get the spirit of this choice, but it's too vague, and it leaves a lot of room for abuse I mod a couple subs myself, and I just imagine this policy is going to cause a lot of pain and frustration to both users and staff Seems like just banning links from a scummy site or anything self promoting would have worked a lot better
On the flip side a conservative might consider a headline like "Texas bans abortion" to be uplifting news, which it's obviously not. I think banning political content and deciding if something is actually political case by case is the only way to do it unfortunately
Which is fine assuming we don't get mods who remove content they don't like Like imagine a mod who's secretly a terf and removed all trans content for being political Like that's the kind of problem we could run into
That would suck but not too much can actually be done about that. If both "Kentucky signs law outlawing pregnant women from leaving the state" and "New York signs bill allowing all undocumented immigrants in the state to stay permanently" (both of these are fake things I made up in 2 seconds) are considered "uplifting news" this sub will devolve into r/politics. Carve outs for specific issues (Eg. LGBT people and POC getting more rights are always considered uplifting or a similar policy) is the only way to sanely have political content on this sub.
But that's my point right none of that definition is made clear with the rule And without it, it is just too easy to be abused If they want a rule restricting topics it needs to be made clear exactly what topics aren't allowed and why, or else we risk potential discrimination issues
Dumbest thing I’ve ever seen posted on this sub
Instead of having interesting, thought provoking conversations, let’s sweep things under the rug in order to be a “safe space”. We can all have an opinion around here as long as it’s the same one. Been on Reddit a long time…it’s sad to see what it’s become.
Everything is political that’s how things work
Is my right to be gay married considered “political”? Genuinely asking.
Nope, not at all. Congrats!
Genuine question, who makes the distinction if something is political? Right now in the US the idea of gay marriage is very political. Celebrating a gay person getting married is political to many people whether they are for or against it. I do agree with the premise though, there are plenty of "my side won which is uplifting to me" posts, I just have no idea how it can be enforced
Not just the US, there are plenty of countries in which questions around homosexual couples getting the right to marry are *very* political.
Except to some people stuff like that IS political. Almost anything news worthy can be considered “political” whether it’s cleaning up beaches, saving a forest from being chopped down, or a city installing a new rail line or homeless shelter.
You’re correct- and the last part of your comment is exactly where my mind went. There was a post the other day about selling off Aquaphor water to another country from Arizona and to some people that’s just fine and should be done and it all was coming from some politically motivated stuff but I think that was up lifting news. I would hope that humans, animals, and the Earth having rights and protections and fairness would be considered uplifting news and is not something that should be politicized even though it definitely completely is.
Yeah this is my issue as well Like look at the Ukrainian War, when that ends, does that get axed for being political or does it stay because war ending is uplifting Some folks find gender and sexual identity stuff political, does that get axed or does gay rights achievements pass as uplifting I feel I get where the mods are trying to come from, but the rule is too vague, and all it's going to take is one power hungry or pissed off mod or user and thai whole can of worms is getting opened
and as for trans people gaining rights, having their rights protected and easier access to healthcare?
Gay marriage is literally political. I agree that it is beneficial and uplifting but you are admitting that you will only be allowkng certain political posts approved by the mod team
Okay, what about discrimination protections? Genuinely unsure of how this line will be drawn.
That’s the fun part, it’s going to be arbitrary and at the whim of the mods
How is a statement about what the law permits not political? It's as inherently political as anything can be. What the hell does "nothing political" mean if some blatantly political things are allowed? Y'all are making a rule you definitely will not enforce. That only goes bad places.
Weird how you're ok with gay people getting married (so a post about gay marriage becoming legalized should be uplifting) but you're saying 'politics' are bad? The line is not clear and you are probably adding issues to the subreddit. Do you really want everything to be flagged as "WOKE"? The right wing will do it, and you will have to listen to them according to your post here.
To be completely honest with you guys (mods), this wishy washy stance is going to be impossible to implement with consistent results.
My question would be, does this include anything that just has to do with government in general? Like if a government makes an environmental law would that be considered political?
Inherently yes. It's a law introduced by a certain political party, and as uplifting as it might be it probably has some opponents, and supporters of the opposite party are but gonna be happy. It is political and divisive
That can be said about literally everything. Like, seriously. Try coming up with some uplifting news topic and see if your comment can apply to that too.
I know, I understand that. One prof in my uni used to say that to be apolitical you need to live in a bunker completely off the grid. And even then your decision to eject yourself from political life of a society is a political stance too. It's impossible to fully apolitical in a society. Fully depolitisized uplifting news means news about cats and puppies and nice weather. But even those can be considered divisive because some people like dogs, some cats, and some hamsters and suffering.
Oh, yikes. My existence is considered "political" so I guess I'm outta here.
Yeah, this is a really poor response from a sub that quite frankly has been floundering for some time. Wasn’t my favorite anyway, so I’m glad to leave before it becomes a conservative hellscape.
Lol please give me an example of an apolitical headline
"people eat food" more news at 10. Super uplifting /s
So, this sub is about to devolve into kitten memes? Because literally everything else is political. Happy [insert group here gets rights]? Political. Happy that money is spent on [insert project here]? Political. Science stuff? Political. Religious stuff? Political. How about this headline: [Texas Court Unable To Find Jurors To Uphold $500 Fine For Feeding The Homeless](https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/5335/Texas-Court-Unable-To-Find-Jurors-To-Uphold-500-Fine-For-Feeding-The-Homeless) I found that story incredibly uplifiting, but to say it wasn't political is absurd. It just seems like the mods are now the arbiters of what is uplifting. Sure hope their worldview comports with mine.
Yeah people who are happy about this and don't want to see anything "political" are incredibly ignorant. I'm not saying that to just be insulting. I mean they're literally, willfully ignorant of the world and of how society functions. As you said, nearly everything is "political" because politics shapes everything. If you don't want to see who's winning whatever political race, I get it. Overt horse race stuff I get not wanting to see. But wanting to never see anything to do with "politics" is akin to burying your head in the sand because just about everything is shaped by the decisions of lawmakers and voters. Avoiding *anything* political is incredibly broad and vague. It's open to the interpretation of whoever is making the statement. Ultimately I've found that when people say that they don't like politics or don't want to see anything political, it really just boils down to: "things I like are not political, things I'm uncomfortable with or don't care about are political." It's also just an incredibly intellectually lazy way of looking at the world (or more accurately, not looking at it).
This isn't going to work. Almost everything can be seen through a political lense. Folks are going to find where you draw the line and then be manipulative so they can still push their agenda. You'll be left with only the most skilled manipulators. This sub is battleground for political ideology. That's just an inherent thing. This decision is just a choosing of sides.
Good luck. Genuinely. I don't think it will work but someone has to try.
It has technically been a loosely enforced unofficial policy for a while tied to Rule #1, but today it became more of an "OFFICIAL" loosely enforced policy and has been clearly stated as such so there is no confusion or backlash from nefarious parties desperately trying to control the dialogue at the town square.
The very distinction between what is and isn't considered "political" is itself a political statement and a product of one's own political opinions. How will you enforce the rule fairly with this entirely unavoidable and inevitable paradox in play?
This is a perfectly legitimate question, elaborated on in reply to mod's reply to you by u/The_Taco_Bandito. Discoveries of renewable energy? Politics where both sides, in that rare instance, agree on something? News on studies about cleaning up of misinformation? This is a fair question, mods.
Thanks for asking this question. Sorry that the mod is not able to answer questions. It doesn't seem like they care that there is a paradox in their posting. They will eventually find an arbitrary line, and say "well, trans people are political". When trans people say "i don't think that's true!" the mod can just say "Fuck you, the policy wasn't official till the 10th of march, but it's official that i can tell you to fuck yourself for ANY reason now!"
ngl, this sounds like the sort of policy that's introduced by tired mods who've seen a sudden upsurge in activity and look for a poorly thought out policy to serve as a quick fix. I get it, modding can be exhausting (I've been modding various things on the internet for over a decade now) but this policy will do more harm than good. Anything, pretty much, can be considered political beyond the most natural events with no other human involved (like a person recovering from a serious disease or a lost pet being returned.) There are certainly things I've posted in this sub that haven't led to a flamewar that could be considered political, but which most people seem to agree was uplifting. For me, the posts themselves can be sorted by the voting system organically deciding what ends up being easily visible and the comments could be sorted with a quick mod call. This policy risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Everything is political. By making the policy to remove political posts, it just gives you a blanket excuse to censor anything you disagree with.
I'm sure they have good intentions, as people have been clearly trolling the sub with political posts for ages, but you're right. All this will come down to is "We will remove posts that we politically disagree with.", same as pretty much every other sub.
Is people getting legal rights uplifting? Or is France decriminalizing abortion too "political" for you?
I am viciously pro-abortion, but anyone that thinks it's not way more political than "woman reunited with sister 26 years later" or some shit is delusional
So if there was major political opposition (which there shouldn't be) the answer would be yes and otherwise no.
tl;dr only dog and cat posts allowed from now on
I don't think it's helpful or honest to pretend like not caring about gender or sexuality isn't a political position when the existence of LGBTQ people has been politicized by the right. You're taking a center-left political position and it's okay to just say so.
Doesn't really make a lot of sense. I like human rights, so when human rights get generally enhanced, I call it 'uplifting'. If I posted about changes in illegality of homosexuality in a random country, is that "politics" and "divisive"? If i posted about how Florida is having trouble passing anti-trans legislation, is that "politics" and "divisive"?
So does that mean anything uplifting that conservatives have made into a political issue is now going to be removed? Why is this being downvoted? It's a genuine question, world over the right wing has made human rights political, my very existence is considered political by many, does this rule change mean anything that doesn't pander to that right wing bs is going to be removed? In genuinely curious if I should unsub or not.
I mean, if they do validate the fascists, then the brigading of the sub can start if they reveal that they are willing to take that side. It is not possible to be apolitical in this environment. People will always be offended. Even if you think you are being clever by saying "Both Sides" all it really does is validate one side's invalid existence.
Can we get clarification on what you mean by political Razorsheldon? This post in uplifting news for example [FDA to Finally Outlaw Soda Ingredient Prohibited Around The World](https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/comments/1bc7me8/fda_to_finally_outlaw_soda_ingredient_prohibited/), is political.
- environmentalism is a political issue - gender parity is a political issue - cultural discrimination is a political issue - war is a political issue - America's lack of public transit is a political issue
Sounds like there is no coherent filter for what is or isn't political. This sounds like it could be easily abused by current and future moderators and sets a poor standard for the future.
as always, it boils down to the reddit prime directive: thou shalt please the mods. that's all that ultimately matters. follow the rules or break them, no matter. offend the mods: bye bye.
This ain't it lil bro.
Yeah, I’m sorry, but this sucks ass. Totally brainless policy. Being totally apolitical when judging what is and is not uplifting is completely impossible. There are countless great comments here explaining that to you, I would suggest the mod team take these comments to heart. I guarantee you that literally all posts on this sub are political in some way. I’m fascinated to figure out where exactly you guys thought the divide lies as of this post.
the only way you can conceive of ANYTHING as being not political is by being a part of the dominant culture and censoring everything that doesn't reinforce your perception of normality as a member of the dominant culture. this is a fundamentally CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL point of view. I would love to get banned from another subreddit for rejecting a domineering set of moderators' arbitrary framing of reality.
Interesting, by this definition the very existence of certain groups of people is banned. That’s not fucking uplifting in the slightest.
I have a feeling that this will lead to confusion as the line between political and not political isn't very clear.
Yikes. Humanity is political. And moderators can be subjective on this, not objective
Eventually you'll come to the realization that everything is inherently political
I can understand if you're talking about banning "uplifting" new aboit politicians or parties. However, a lot of topics are inherently uplifting and political. "Women getting the right to vote in X country" is uplifting, but also deeply political. "LGBTQ student celebrated by whole school"'is uplifting but some people will sadly see it as political. "Teacher fired for support to his gay gets rehired after outpouring of love from his class" is also political. What about "Trans student wins painting contest"? The mention of trans could be seen as political. At this point, the sub might be as well just news about cute dogs and cats.
I think that people don't understand the tolerance paradox means that some censorship is required or the default outcome is being overrun.
>I think that people don't understand the tolerance paradox means that some censorship is required or the default outcome is being overrun. You are right, but what should have been banned is being intolerant, not being "political" (whatever that means).
What is considered political can be applied in incredibly hypocritical ways. Posting a Ukrainian flag in the same context as a Palestinian flag is one example: the first is not considered political by some, whereas the second is considered political by the very same people. Thanks for letting me know so I can unsubscribe to the sub. I'll leave us all with a quote and reminder of what is considered uplifting vs political: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." - Helder Camara
>When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. Not anymore. Now, they give you a 500$ fine and threaten you with jail time. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-90-arrested-feeding-homeless\_n\_6100738](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/man-90-arrested-feeding-homeless_n_6100738)
Everything is political so this is stupid tbh
remember there's... white and "political". there's straight and "political". there's male and "political". there's christian and "political".
I think we're using the wrong term. From what I've gathered it seems the mods actually want to ban posts on policy, rather than politics. Phrased this way, I think it leaves room for posts about marginalized geoups/persons benefiting from someone, as long as the post itself doesn't emphasize policy and instead is more of a human interests story. Everything is inherently political. I think the mods understand that. But I think they have phrased their proposed rule poorly; if so then I would exchange 'political' for policy while emphasizing positive human interests posts.
Sound like this Sub became a lot less uplifting...
Mods, would you consider updating the Rules in the sidebar? I've always been confused by what "Reposted article" means — and perhaps there are other rules that need to be added as well.
So basically you can uplift anyone except politi- sorry, I mean marginalized people.
first time here ... and this ... and yet the first article I see is about Israel/Palistinian protests. Isn't THAT polictical and how is it "good news"?
I can't say I'm very active on this sub or familiar with its traditional focus, recent changes, or anything like that, so there's my grain of salt. But as someone who is part of a group that is mistreated around the world and facing organized efforts in my home country to legislate people like me out of existence, it disappoints me to hear that, as far as I can tell, positive news about civil and human rights for people such as myself will be censored in consideration of those who believe I do not deserve those rights.
[удалено]
Some of you take Reddit too serious
I think this needs to be more specific. Everything can be political. Which topics does this sub consider inappropriate to post here?
I really hope this doesnt eliminate all future posts with relevance. I mean of course, two people reuniting or someone recovering from a terrible disease is great! Though, is it really big and relevant? No, which is ok. But almost any news is/can be political. For some people legalizing gay marriage is uplifting. For others immigrants getting kicked out of the country is uplifting - for others it's frightening. It's probably impossible. I mean even news to combating climate change would'nt be ok anymore, since lots of people see it as a made up crisis, so news about this aren't uplifting to them. Seems like a VERY hard topic to deal with. I just hope you'll get it done right. Wish you the best!
Can you define "political"?
“AITA for thinking it’s uplifting when good things happen in politics?”
Health advancements of babies born and unborn okay?
Yup, without question! Keep 'em coming!
>Yup, without question! Keep 'em coming! So you support banning abortion? And posts supporting banning abortion are welcome here? Because that's what "health advancements of unborn babies" \[yes, I know that "unborn baby" is a literal oxymoron, I'm quoting the person you replied to\] means.
Seems like a horrible mistake. Everything is political, women being in the workplace, unions, environmental protections, animal extinction! Our posts about positive climate change action being taken going to be allowed?
Good. If people want to post happy political news, by all means, there are dozens of political subreddits where they can post it. Too often, the posts are just "this is uplifting because it's a political development that I like."
The existence of trans people??? Will that be marked as political?
Everything is political. This just means you’ll be removing things that don’t align with your politics.
This isn’t censorship, *literally* or *figuratively*. It’s just a rule for this sub.
Thankyou
Thank you. Politics is so toxic I can’t even.
Sounds good to me. Looking forward to it.
Wow, this is dumb. Politics is inherent to everything. Seems like a ban on what _you_ consider political.