Political Statements on the Forums

[Evan Reiter]

Hi Everyone,

 

The upcoming U.S. Presidential Election in November promises to be another exciting yet divisive chapter in political history. With campaigns effectively underway -- and before anyone here begins a discussion -- I wanted to remind everyone on behalf of the A-Team that our community is not an appropriate venue for public political discussion.

 

It is impossible to segregate people from politics. However, a political discussion is by nature divisive as the intent is to separate the winning ideas from the losing ones. We believe that political discussions, with their inherent divisiveness, are healthy for society. But moderating such discussions to keep them civil, mature, and within our shared expectations is a task that our administrators do not have the time or the desire to undertake. We also do not want to ask a member of the community to be in charge of making decisions on which subjects or posts are and aren’t appropriate.

 

BVA is a community of aviation enthusiasts built around the interactions between pilots and controllers. Through these interactions we learn about, train for, and develop our shared passion and love of flight. Discussion that is not directly related to aviation tends to not to advance this interest. It is welcome because, as social creatures, we like to interact with each other on broader issues. However, the risk of dividing rather than uniting the community makes us believe that political discussion has no place here. Rather than advance our shared interest, making political statements in this community of widely varying ages, maturities, demographics, and nationalities would be unfair. First, not everyone has the tools to respond to such arguments. Second, some members might feel uncomfortable approaching administrators or even talking to controllers if political/ideological lines divide us.

 

Not everyone lives in the United States…so let’s pick conversation topics accessible to everyone! I mean, I’d have made this same post about the Canadian election but outside of the polar bears nobody cares.

 

We’re posting this message to the forums because we are more than happy to discuss whether this position makes sense. Until we agree otherwise, however, the A-Team would ask members to avoid political discussion to the extent possible, and expect posts that cross the line—regardless of their subject matter—to be removed.