Monday's Most Active Threads

The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Why isn't the aftermath of Helene bigger news?" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. This thread was actually created on Sunday but was particularly active yesterday. The original poster asks why the aftermath of Hurricane Helene is not getting more media attention. The original poster admits that both the Washington Post and the New York Times have covered the disaster, but he complains that the coverage is below that of the Middle East and the election. The supposed lack of media coverage was a common complaint among the MAGA crowd following the hurricane. While there are stories that the mainstream media miss, more frequently when posters complain that something is not getting coverage they are really complaining that the media sources on which they rely are not providing such coverage. Often, as in this case, mainstream outlets are covering the event. Moreover, as posters in the thread note, the destruction wrought by Helene presented a number of challenges to reporters. The media had been prepared for the hurricane to land in Florida and were positioned to cover events there. However, the deluge of rain dumped on Tennessee and North Carolina was, for the most part, a surprise. With roads closed, electricity out, and both land lines and cell phones unavailable, getting news out was difficult. Moreover, as in many parts of the country, private equity investors have purchased several local news outlets and purged many of the reporters. As a result, there was a scramble to get coverage in many areas. Nevertheless, there was significant reporting on events. Despite this, many posters insisted that due to specific agendas, the media was ignoring the situation. A common complaint was that the disaster was being ignored because it impacted conservative areas. As was again pointed out in the thread, this ignores that one of the worst hit cities, Asheville, NC, is one of the most liberal parts of the state. After it became clear that media coverage was not in short supply, the focus of the thread shifted to relief efforts. Again, conservative posters made unfounded accusations. They accused the Biden/Harris administration of not doing enough and not providing assistance because the victims were conservatives. In fact, the Republican governors of Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia all praised President Joe Biden for the performance of FEMA and other federal agencies. There was also considerable debate about whether residents of the affected areas were properly warned about the potential destruction. Somewhat ironically, the MAGA posters most responsible for such complaints had little interest in former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump's history of cutting funds from the agencies tasked with providing such warnings or the Project 2025 plan to get break up NOAA and commercialize the National Weather Service. Left-leaning posters also noticed that the Republican-led House of Representatives left town rather than staying in session to consider supplemental expenditures that may be needed to fund the recovery.

The next most active thread was also posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Why are many conservatives fixated on vaccine mandates?", the original poster suggests that conservatives are primarily opposed to vaccine mandates because they perceive scientists as being liberal and, therefore, oppose mandates because they are believed to be liberal positions. Conservative posters respond that this is an issue of individual rights and that they are opposed to the "tyranny of the state". Liberal posters seize on this to ask whether these conservatives are arguing that individuals should have the right to make their own medical decisions and control their own bodies, obviously alluding to abortion rights. A conservative poster then responded to say that abortion is not an issue of individual rights because "it also involves killing your offspring". This poster's point ignores the fact that there is disagreement over whether a fetus can really be considered "offspring". The question of when life begins is defined inconsistently legally from state to state and subject to different interpretations by religions. As an ethical matter, there are probably as many standards as their are individuals. There is no question, however, that there are live humans who have been killed or become severely ill due to COVID. Therefore, an infected person could cause the death of another — indisputably alive — person by spreading the COVID virus. This is the basis of the government's interest in vaccines. Most vacines rely on herd immunity. Not every member of society is expected to be vaccinated, but a critical mass of them must be. When a significant number of members of a group refuse to cooperate, everyone is put at danger. However, this concept of putting the interests of the community above that of the individual is not particularly common within American culture and certainly not among most conservatives. In addition, many posters argued that the COVID vaccines are not effective or are actually harmful. The conservative stance with regard to the COVID vaccine is particularly strained. Former President, current cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump likes to take credit for the development of the vaccines due to Operation Warp Speed that Trump initiated. Therefore, by rejecting the vaccines, conservatives are rejecting one of Trump's most prized accomplishments. Trump himself has continued to support the vaccines while rejecting mandates. This thread rehashes many of the previous arguments about COVID and the COVID vaccines. Liberals consider MAGA posters to be misinformed on the topic and blame their news sources which have spread considerable misinformation. While it is acknowledged by some of the conservative posters in the thread that red areas have been hit harder by COVID than blue areas, they don't attribute that to vaccine resistance but rather to other factors.

Next was a thread titled, "No teacher yet for my child’s class…" and posted in the "Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)" forum. The original poster says that her daughter is in 1st grade at a Montgomery County Public Schools elementary school and still does not have a permanent teacher. The school is in the process of hiring a long-term substitute teacher but that the substitute does not have prior classroom experience. The school will continue looking for a permanent teacher, but the original poster want to know whether this is a common occurrence and whether it is possible that her daughter could go the entire year without a permanent teacher. This thread again highlights the contradictory position that many forum posters hold towards teachers. On the one hand, posters demand a lot from teachers but, on the other hand, have little respect for them. This has become a sort of vicious cycle as teachers feel the lack of respect from both parents and school administrators and either get demoralized or leave the profession. This results in either less effective teachers or, in cases like the original poster's, no teachers. Parents then complain about that, causing further demoralization and increased departures. Early in this thread, a poster identifying herself as a middle school teacher describes a situation in which her school suffers from severe understaffing and many disenchanted teachers. The poster says that if she finds a better opportunity, she would have no problem leaving immediately with no concern for the impact on the school or the students. This attitude is extremely upsetting to many of the other posters, resulting in considerable criticism of the teacher. There is disagreement about whether or not the situation described by the original poster is common in MCPS. Regardless of how common posters to believe it is now, they are almost in complete agreement that it will become more common in the future due to teacher departures. The thread quickly became a discussion about the plight of teachers with some posters expressing an understanding for the challenges they face. More common, however, was posters suggesting that teachers don't deserve much sympathy and actually have it pretty good. A number of posters described their own work situations and compared them to teaching, suggesting that teachers receive all sorts of benefits that are not available in most jobs. Teachers, in turn, argue that their jobs are harder than they may appear and involve considerably more work than commonly believed. In threads such as this I always notice that those most convinced that teachers have easy jobs with great benefits are never eager to become teachers. It it is such a great job, I would think that these posters would be eager to fill some of the strong demand that exists.

The final thread that I will discuss today was posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. Titled, "Agree or disagree: University of Michigan OOS is ridiculously overrated", the original poster says that, from an out-of-state perspective, the University of Michigan seems like a "giant public school for private school prices". She has observed considerable interest in the university among out-of-state students and doesn't understand it. While many posters suggest that the original poster is simply a "hater" she later clarified that she and her husband are both UM alums, but were in-state students. She has no issues with the school at in-state prices. Many of those responding agree that the school is good but not necessarily great. Some posters attribute the interest to the school's football program or the reputation of its law school. Several posters point to the dedication of the school's alumni. As a graduate of another Big Ten school, I have also observed that UM alumns tend to be almost fanatical in comparison to graduates of other Big Ten universities. In fact, the original posters' lack of such enthusiasm for Michigan is, in my experience, unusual. Some posters suggest that Michigan is popular among out-of-state students simply because it is welcoming to them. One poster claims that UM is one of the only top public universities that take a large percentage of out-of-state students. Posters debate the University's quality with some arguing that Michigan deserves its reputation and is a step above other Big Ten schools. In contrast, other posters suggest that Michigan is overrated. This leads to battles of the various university rankings with posters citing whichever ranking best supports their argument. They also drag out a number of statistics regarding selectivity and test scores. Some posters suggest that it is simply a matter of brand recognition. For whatever reason, a lot of people are familiar with and have a generally good opinion of the University of Michigan. This brand recognition naturally leads to greater interest. Posters disagree about the original poster's opinion that the out-of-state tuition is not necessarily justified. Some agree that the school is too expensive for out-of-state students but others suggest that it is not out of line with other schools. There is also an argument made by some posters that out-of-state students raise the quality of the school because the university can be more selective when admitting them and, therefore, only accepts the best. In contrast, these posters contend, the school must accept a high percentage of in-state students and many of them are not as strong academically.