Historically no, but Iām of a mind to enforce it.
FWIW I would rather not be arguing at this level. Itās shit and debases the site. That said, Iām also serving an objective for people to speak freely.
I donāt see a better way to resolve those conflicting priorities than this thread. @Goatboy was correct about the old Brexit thread - it was little but insult trading for the past day. Iāll hold my hand up to my part in that but it was clear that my opponent wanted to debate at shall we say, a lower level.
I personally donāt see how the Brexit thread was served by Map repeatedly insulting me, and me flinging back returns, so I asked Map to take whatever abuse he had and bring it here, where a much lower standard of ādebateā is tolerated. I told him quite explicitly that gloves would be off. He knew what he was walking into.
My experience of this thread is that 90% of the time, people donāt even get here. A mere mention of Beef Thread is usually enough for ears to prick up and the message to be heard. Sometimes it gets here, and bereft of the audience a topic people might actually be interested in reading, these things normally burn themselves out quite quickly.
I have every expectation this latest tete-a-tete will do the same.
I am not averse to opinions on changing the universal state of debate, to say that certain things are not on, but thatās going to put all of the mods in a state where we have to determine what is right or wrong and start censoring posts or suspending users.
Iām more than happy to put a giant fucking disclaimer at the start of this thread and rigorously enforce the Beef Thread redirect, as to warn new users.
For right now, freedom of speech prevails, and if we want that, and want to keep other threads beef-free and full of lively discussion, those that want a proper beef can do it here.
I compare the old Brexit thread with the new one and just wish Iād enforced it sooner.