A Brief Comment on Comments

By Paul Elam
For some time I have been considering the comment policy on this site. Actually, I have been rather proud of the fact that we have not really needed one. The regulars here are by and large an educated, intelligent group of what I think are very sophisticated thinkers. Consequently, there has been only a handful of people banned, and the one major flame war was a spillover from another site.
But those events, and some that my be currently developing, have caused me to consider the future of AVfM, both with this site and the upcoming radio show. I think the time has come to consider the shape in which this place will be molded.
So I am amending the largely non existent comment policy based on that consideration. I will say from the beginning, in case anyone has concerns, that our “palatability” for the MSM, or our appeal to mainstream sensibilities, is not in consideration. Indeed, the MSM and mainstream sensibilities are a large part of the enemy we are fighting. To both entities I easily say – Fuck Off and Die.
And the idea that we are trying to find any type of common ground with feminists is similarly inapplicable. I don’t want to share ground with people who are up to their nostrils in their own bullshit.
My concerns are more internal to the MM, and more specifically to AVfM.
This is an activist oriented website with the mission to confront feminism, manginism, white knightism and any other mentality that serves as a breeding ground for misandry or that promotes a utilitarian, disposable view of men and boys.
We are a collection of very diverse international voices; male and female, straight and gay. And we cross, even transcend, all traditional political lines.
It is exactly what I had hoped for when we started, and then some.
But we are not like most other “forums.” We have a comment section here, and one that is well used, but it is not the free for all that is so common to many places on the internet.
And there is a good reason for that. We, and I know I am speaking for more than just myself when I say this, are on a mission here. This is not a place for mental masturbation or pissing in the wind. And our comments, while often containing the understandably vented frustrations of modern men in a misandric zeitgeist, is not a place for target practice against anyone who contributes here, by fulminating malcontents.
I say this after just having read a comment in the admin from someone who listed their url as a relatively well known MRA type forum, but who came here for the first time to make a statement that was nothing more than a derisive personal attack on one of our writers.
I flicked the comment into the spam folder like it was a booger going out the car window. I never even slowed down.
The people who have dedicated their time, energy and talent to contribute to this site are the one and only reason we are enjoying such success.
They are not above criticism, but they will be treated with respect. And the same goes for the readers who post all these thoughtful comments. Disagree with them all you want, and give it your best shot to debunk their ideas. Most of us love that sort of thing.
But pull a shame trip or just try to stir trouble and you run afoul of the mission.
And I value that mission more than anything else.
I know there will some that cry censorship. And they are right. This is not a free speech zone in the truest sense of the word. There is a great deal of latitude about what is posted, but I am also lacking the interest and time to educate grown men and women about what is helpful to this mission and what is not.
So far, we are talking about a tiny minority. But as time passes the challenge to stay mission specific and constructive will be increased.
It is not going to be a problem I have to address after the damage is done.