FanPost

Of polarity, workplace ethics, and the internet age

Surrounding the recent events that have unfolded in a very unfortunate manner involving a former employee of the Vikings is a few bigger issues. Now I'm Not writing this opinion piece to state my opinion one way or another on these recent events, the investigation or reaction to them, and I want to be clear to the readers that I do not want to continue that debate here on this thread. In my opinion enough has been said on either side already and much of it has turned people bitter to the whole thing. My intent is to look at why we are so passionate about these issues, and really all polarizing issues, without touching the recent issues at hand. That being said, I think there's other places to be discussing these issues. This is why there's always the "no politics and no religion" disclaimer on every open thread written here. This is an NFL fan site after all. Those sorts of things are often an emotionally charged discussion and because of that they often break down to the basic "I'm right and you're stupid for not agreeing" conversation that really does not put a good light on any of us. It's then that the great writers of this site have to become moderators and babysitters of us all, which is a job they don't want to do and we shouldn't have to put them in that position. I'm writing this to try to provoke deeper thought on why we react this way and why we should leave this out of our football fandom.

Polarity

Much can be said about why we are polarized the way we are. These things run much deeper than we often think they do. Why we feel the way we do about such issues is a product of our upbringing. It stems from life experiences. It comes from things like parenting, religion, other family, schooling, our social groups, media, celebrities, and our overall perspective of our day to day lives. There is so many things that influence us. We are taught from an early age about knowing right from wrong, and we carry this our whole lives. It's when we are taught that tolerance or intolerance of something from one or more of those influences to the point that we relate a certain thing as absolute truth or absolute false that we become polarized on these issues. Take Nazi Germany as the prime example. The people of Germany were taught through their media and their leaders that they were absolutely right in what they were doing to the point that some very horrible things were looked at as a greater good. Much of the rest of the world felt very differently. As a Star Wars fan, I found that the most insightful view of the world was summed up almost perfectly by then Chancellor Palpatine during Episode III when he said something along the lines of "good and evil are just a matter of perspective". I feel that that is one of the most absolute truths of the world. There are about 7 billion people on this earth and each one has an opinion. Some of them feel that their opinion is absolute truth and refuse to even see another perspective. Now the recent events (and I feel no need to bring them up in any substantial manner, or name them at all. We all know what I'm talking about, and if you don't, climb out from under that rock and take a look at the front page of this website) are not as extreme as the views of WWII Germany or many other views. I use that as an extreme example of how various influences affect our day to day perspective. These things polarize us to the point that our emotions trump our reason and hides our civil nature. These things, more often than not, break down into a total pissing contest (see: Yahoo comments section) and our writers are forced to take such extreme measures as the use of the ban hammer or closing comments on the topics altogether to avoid having to be the babysitters . Being the sports fans we are, we are emotional by nature when it comes to our favorite teams. I am one of those fans that often screams at my television whenever there's a huge play or my team lets me down (which as Vikings fans, we all know too well). There is a place for this emotion we feel when it comes to football, and I don't think the outlying politics of these events are one of them. It's okay to be emotional, but for the right reasons.

Workplace Ethics.

Most of us work in places that have varied employees from all walks of life. Most of those employers have measures in place to protect those employees from being targeted, singled out and harassed because they may be different in some way, or have different beliefs and values. Sometimes these measures fail when somebody makes a comment or does something that makes another feel uncomfortable or offended. This becomes a larger issue when a person of authority such as a lead, supervisor , coach, owner or other ranking person breaks The established rules. The NFL locker room seems to be a place that is far behind the current times. They do have many of these same measures in place, but they also have traditions that seem to trump those measures. Things like rookie hazing and off color language and humor are common. Recent issues with the Vikings and Dolphins highlight this culture in a negative light. When average Joes like ourselves get a look into this we are often shocked by what goes on behind closed doors. Often the things that go on behind closed doors in locker rooms is done in good spirit, and a few extreme cases paint a bad light on the whole thing. The NFL will need to change to avoid bad publicity, because the locker room culture will only become more transparent in the future. It's an unfortunate result of mass media and 24 hour coverage. Nothing is sacred anymore. In a workplace setting, whether it's a factory, an office or a locker room, if it's something you wouldn't say to your mother, you probably shouldn't say it to a co-worker or employee (relationships with mothers may vary). Using discretion is key to say the least.

The Internet Age.

We live in an age where all the information we will ever need is a click away. We receive information at an astounding rate. It is truly a golden age of communication. With this comes unprecedented access to coverage of polarizing news stories, and the ability to chime in on them. This is where things get sort of mucked up. We are able to do these things anonymously. Because of that, we often do not see any sort of real repercussion when we break from our normal civil nature and turn to becoming trolls. Sure, various websites can ban you, but there are often hundreds of websites that we can go to and continue this behavior. Some websites do not have any repercussion for any transgression. It's sites like these that become a haven for those who seem to only want to communicate with degrading insults. These sites often become notorious for the culture (PFT anybody? ) that is allowed. We are lucky to have communities like this one that at least try to weed out individuals who only want to push their agenda by use of insults and trolling. When polarizing issues come into play, It seems to bring out the worst in many of us, and it brings these trolls out of the woodwork. This is another reason why there are several stories that have been blocked from comments recently. Is it really better to avoid these issues? Is it better to let the floodgates open and allow people give their two cents? I don't think avoidance is necessarily the answer, I think that the powers that be on this website did the right thing for the sanity of this website as a whole.

These are just some ramblings of mine. Like I had stated at the beginning, I don't want this to be a continuance of the current debate, but more of a thought provoking reflection of the current climate. I hope that I successfully did just that. I also apologize for any spelling and grammar issues, I think I weeded most of them out, but I did this all from my phone, and auto correct is a cruel mistress.

Thank god training camp starts this week so we can focus on some actual football. SKOL!!!

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.