Comments and Democratic Debate

I had a comment to this post that illustrates some of the peculiarities of comments on blogs.  The (as usual) anonymous has a typically aggressive and uncompromising tone.

Firstly, it complains that I am blogging at all.  Well no one forces you to read what I write. If you don't want to that is fine.  I was interested in local government and politics long before I became a councillor, so it would be odd if that interest were suddenly cease once I cease to be a councillor.

I think what the commentator really finds difficult is knowing some one else disagrees with him.  This is not confined to the Library debate. A still more striking example can be found in the comment trail to my post on the Willesden Town Green proposal.  Some of the comments seem to regard any disagreement with their own views as an "insult".  If you are really never able to disagree with someone because of a supposed insult, it is hard to see how anyone can debate the merits of an issue.

A related problem is a tendency to ignore inconvenient facts.  I get the impression that the commentator on my library post simply can't bring himself to accept that Brent library usage has gone up because it contradicts his deeply felt prejudices.  I am reminded of a twitter exchange I had with Liberal Democrat councillor Alison Hopkins a while ago, where she ended up denouncing "cold statistics" in a way that seemed to me tantamount to saying "If my opinions are contradicted by the facts; I ignore the facts."

Ignoring the facts and trying to shout down people who say things you don't like does not seem to be a good way to design policy.