Last edited Wed Jun 4, 2014, 06:19 AM - Edit history (1)
Once you leave GD you'll find a number of groups where issues are discussed in more depth. For instance, we've had some interesting discussions on everything from poverty, educational programs for poor mothers, the American class/caste system, etc in Applachian Group, the small forum that I host. Of course, since our group is small, new and doesn't draw the crowds of a GD, neither do we get the recs that would propel these kinds of threads to greater visibility. I'm sure it's the same story with many other groups.
Any discussion of poverty is hard to sustain on the main groups. I used to post rather frequently to GD on the issues related to poverty but found they are damn difficult to maintain and scroll off the page as fast as you can blink. (Too often this is also the case with any threads on "women's issues", such as reproductive rights.) Some of those poverty threads I've saved to the older archives of my journal, though they are as relevant today as they were years ago.
I do agree that GD seems to be personality/headline driven. And because the main fora draw the biggest crowds, not only do their threads scroll by rather quickly but they also accrue lots of recs, which again keeps those threads on the home page because threads are promoted and ranked by the number of recs. It's a vicious cycle. To find some of the best DU discussions on the tough issues, look to some of the many small groups with a specific focus.
That is not to denigrate many dedicated DUers who regularly post great threads here. It's just an observation about how some in-depth discourse about really important issues can get lost before some folks even notice they were here.
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