Patrick.net is a mostly-unmoderated anonymous private forum where the fundamental human right to offend is protected. Freedom of speech is nothing but the freedom to offend. Speech which offends no one needs no protection because it will not be censored. Controversial ideas are inevitably offensive to someone and therefore need protection from censorship.
As MisterLearnToCode says:
We can't ban offensive speech because then we'd be at the mercy of the most easily offended; the lowest common denominator, and wouldn't be able to discuss jack shit.
I especially want to people to have a place to say things they cannot say in person because of family or work or school pressure to conform to the politically correct opinions in their area.
If you are expressing a sincerely held point of view with good will, your comments and posts are very welcome here. If your point of view is "offensive" to others, that is no problem here. Enjoy your freedom on this site, just please try to keep it about ideas and not about people. I love this Texas Congressman's philosophy about political debate:
https://patrick.net/post/1326765/2019-08-23-perfect-description-of-how-public-debate-should-be
The primary moderation rule is to not attack other users or the site itself. Personal attacks solve nothing, and in fact get us further away from solving anything. Examine what is said, not who speaks, and try to acknowledge whatever truth there is in what the other person is saying before attacking the flaws in their argument.
If you don't like this site, go somewhere else. This site cost you nothing, was a lot of work for me, and doesn't even have advertising.
I often get requests to block "bad" people from the site, but don't believe that anyone is entirely bad or entirely good, only that the amount of each fluctuates over time.
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
Flag personal attacks with the "flag" link by each comment so that they will go into moderation where they will be reviewed by a moderator. Please do not flag comments just because you don't like them.
If you're wondering why your comment was flagged, please click the "edit" link on it. It should be pretty obvious when you read your own words again. If you think there was a mistake about the content's being flagged, please write p@patrick.net
If you don't have the "flag" link, please report personal comments to p@patrick.net by email.
Here are the original articles that made this site famous:
https://patrick.net/post/1282720/2015-07-11-ten-reasons-it-s-a-terrible-time-to-buy-an-expensive-house
https://patrick.net/post/1282721/2015-07-11-eight-groups-who-lie-about-the-housing-market
https://patrick.net/post/1282722/2015-07-11-37-bogus-arguments-about-housing
If you ignore another user, you will not see his posts or comments. There is a user ignore link is on each comment. To see who you're ignoring and to unignore, look on your edit profile page.
To get another user's attention, mention him in a comment with an @ character prepended to his username ( for example @Patrick ) and then he will get an email of that comment.
If you include an image URL ending in .jpg, .png, or .gif it will be converted into the visible image in a post or comment.
You may not post copyrighted material unless you have explicit permission from the copyright owner. If in doubt, please don't post it.
If you include a youTube or Vimeo URL, the post or comment will display the video.
These basic html tags work in posts and comments: a b blockquote br code del font hr i iframe img li ol ol p strike sub sup u ul video vsmall
Surround a word or phrase with the * character to make it bold or the _ character to make it italic.
You can edit any post or comment you entered within a week of creating it. After a week, content is permanent and will not be deleted.
Please write p@patrick.net with questions or suggestions.
patrick.net has never received a national security letter.
Terms of Use
If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you are not authorized to use patrick.net. We may modify the Terms of Use at any time in our sole discretion. You are responsible for periodically checking for changes and are bound by them if you continue to use patrick.net.
No robots allowed. By registering and using this site you agree to pay $10,000 in damages for each use of robots to scrape the site. The sole exception is the un-logged-in home page, which anyone can scrape and copy.
You agree not to copy/collect patrick.net content via robots, spiders, scripts, scrapers, crawlers, or any automated or manual equivalent (e.g., by hand).
If you reasonably believe content infringes your IP rights, send a signed letter following all the requirements of the DMCA to:
patrick.net
c/o Brunetti Rougeau LLP
235 Montgomery Street
Suite 410
San Francisco, CA. 94104
patrick.net
Freedom to Offend
854,381 comments by 11,742 users astronut97, richwicks and 8 lurkers online now