Renaming topic to The Bunker - views?

[ThomasRichard]

Several posters supported the renaming of this board to The Bunker, so as to avoid the nutters wrong sort of discussion from more extreme elements. OliviaMNHQ canvassed support during another thread but to make it easier, let's put the topic name discussion in one place.

Personally, I'm all for The Bunker.

YY HoldMeCloser. Agree totally.

See I'm afraid I completely disagree with you Hold. This is an internet forum for chat. We can talk about anything we like and if I had posted a thread in chat about being american and carrying a gun every day (just to use a recent example) that would have prompted debate and Im sure it would have been a lively thread given that we don't have guns in the UK. It's highly unlikely though that anyone would have come on and said "you can't talk about guns here its not allowed." Of course its bloody allowed.

Likewise if there had been a thread in chat entitled "if the zombies came would you share your last tube of pringles with your neighbour or save them for yourself?" that thread would have produced far more people willing to admit they'd scoff the pringles and not be sharing them out amongst the local villagers, one each. That thread/those threads were a disgrace quite frankly, full of bullies with their own agendas.

This is a forum for debate. It is not for anyone else to come on and say that they don't like what they are reading and so we all need to shut up or tone out down We are not "picking a fight" with anybody, that's why we wanted the board in the first place. This isn't about the apocalypse but if I want to start a thread about the apocalypse and zombies I will.

Why is this starting up again? It died down! Are people missing the attention they got or something?

People moved on, there hasn't been a whinge about this board for ages. Let it frigging drop!

That's understandable you feel that way, I am just saying don't make the best the enemy of the good. If you carry on doing what's "right", what's "fair" or what you're "entitled" to do, you may wind up destroying the forum. Because the user base who are interested in hardcore stuff will be too small, or because MN Towers doesn't want to deal with the drama or bad publicity. I'm not saying it's fair. I'm just saying to take it into account.

And remember, just as any MNer is entitled to come here and start a thread about the collapse of the NHS or the collapse of the power supply, well, other MNers are equally as entitled to come here and say they think that's stupid fearmongering. Free debate works both ways - if people keep pushing niche opinions, they are going to get pushback from people who don't think the scenarios are likely at all.

And that pushback is not going to be good for the forum, whatever it's called.

I am not going to engage in the argument again but just to say I am the rest of MN, we all are. I post on chat, homes and gardens, employment matters, legal matters, AIBU, S&B all sorts. I work from home and get very bored and so I'm pretty much on here all day every day. Its not a them and us situation.

And I are that there will always be people who disagree and come on and say so (see my earlier post where I said exactly that). There's no problem with that.

There is a problem though with people coming on and saying "tone it down you can't talk about this".

The boards been tootling along quite happily without any of that hold and even if they did then so what?

But as obviously as there are some who are tiresum people who thinks the Internet is there just for 'debate' then the rest of us are able to leave them to their witterings. Everyone's happy then

"(I could already point to a handful of posts promoting stuff that's illegal, for example, that taken out of context look REALLY bad)"

I've no idea what is being referred to here- care to share?

The only thing I can think of was the recent gun mentioned by an American for whom it was presumably legal and was not intended to be provocative but obviously caused a big reaction as carrying handguns is alien, illegal and scary for most Brits.

I like Preppers or The Bunker. I really don't like Emergency Preparedness, it feels too official and staid.

I've PMed you warmastoast. Trying not to dredge up drama.

I agree gamer, I think we should just stick with Preppers. Change it and the hornets nest gets kicked up again. It is what it us and we shouldnt be ashamed if it IMO

I'm not sure if anyone's counting votes but I would vote for Emergency Preparedness as well because boring is probably better in this context. Boring and descriptive, or failing that very silly like zombie apocalypse, are probably best.

Also grammatically 'prepper' is type of person, where as 'emergency preparedness' is an activity (and one most people would agree they already do on occasion). So the latter is more welcoming, because although everyone may be a prepper while preparing for an emergency, it's not a daily activity for many such that they'd give themselves that label (even without the American stereotypes).

Is this forum for a type of activity or a type of person?

If you want a less boring version that includes the two groups (more dedicated preppers and those who just want to feel a bit more prepared) how about Prepare Yourself?

Multiple meanings - prepping, organising, just fiddling around while Rome burns, prepare yourself for this magnificent topic, prepare to be hunted down, Zet prepares herself to bang head against bunker wall, prepare for Bertrand Russell to say but all I need is a banana so it isn't prepping, prepare yourself to sob quietly in corner..... Prepare yourself.

prepare for Bertrand Russell to say but all I need is a banana so it isn't prepping

Does anyone else hear "brace yourself Deidre" when they hear 'prepare yourself'? No? Just me? Filthy mind? Right... Ahem.

I think MN need to run a short poll really with the options above. They'll have ways to make sure votes aren't counted twice etc.

Can anyone PM them to ask? Or is that a daft idea?

Dragging a poster who hasn't posted on this thread into it to make fun of them is bad form. And it's exactly what I'm talking about with setting up an us vs. them thing. Not helpful.

Sorry TonyDanza

What's that from Kacie?

I don't think people are attention-seeking here. It's a new section, people were discussing the name. I don't see how that is a big deal or any cause for drama. It does seem very split though but I'm sure no matter what it's called people will post away.

The problems we have had is that firstly there has been a lot of name-calling posts and goady posts where people have just posted in a really derogatory and frankly rude way. My understanding is that these kinds of posts are against forum rules and I for one shall be reporting them from now on. The second problem is there have been a lot of piss-taking posts and while of course people are allowed their opinions it really does de-rail the threads and makes them hard to read and it's tiresome because most of the time they just really aren't funny. To me it's like we're trying to have a conversation and all these people keep jumping around, waving their arms going look at me I'm so funny and frankly if anything is attention-seeking behaviour then that is.

It's not an us versus them scenario. Oddly enough we all have interests beyond prepping. It's just a spot where we can chat about snow shovels and torches.

I have the weirdest feeling it's from Mrs Doubtfire thick as I can kind of hear it in Robin William's terrible faux-northern accent...

For what it's worth around 19,000 people died four years ago in my area. Every day I drive to work along the road that was destroyed by the tsunami. I see great swathes of land where there is nothing because it was all washed away. I see construction sites where they are trying to rebuild. I meet people who lost friends, family members, their homes, their communities. I see the scars that they still hold in their hearts and the fear of something like that happening again. Because it will happen again and I'm sorry if my decision to prepare against natural disasters seems stupid or trivial or something to joke about but yes, I am tired of the piss-takers and I do think they are utter arseholes. Frankly, if you are not interested in Prepping then fuck off out of the Preppers section.

hebi that must be incredibly difficult and is (I suspect) quite far away from the experience of most people posting here, so it can be hard of us to relate. I'm sorry that you and your community are going through it.

Personally I have a bit of a black sense of humour and I like seeing some good old British sarcasm in the face of something extreme - but I agree it can go too far. And endless mockery is a different thing entirely.

I like preppers too. If people are offended by the topic they can hide it. If people continually hang around the topic.to snipe unhelpfully MNHQ can deal.with?

What about Being Prepared or Be Prepared? Like the scouts something anyone can relate to.

I have never seen any comments making fun of people for prepping for heavy snow, power cuts, car trouble, or disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, or tornados if you live in a region in danger from them.

People push back against guns and weaponry, and what they see as overstating risk and panicking people.

I think that both of these are always going to be flashpoints. There is a very bitter debate about gun control in the US so it always going to be a controversial subject here where guns are so much more restricted. And as for the second issue - look, some people think that the NHS and the power grid are extremely vulnerable and liable to be overwhelmed. Other people think they aren't and suggesting that they are is fearmongering. I don't think there are facts and figures to settle the matter to either sides' satisfaction so ultimately there is going to be debate over that.

Finally I want to say - I have been watching prepping debates since the Y2K debacle and when I push back against things and say "I don't think this is likely" I am not doing it because I like a fight or I want to make people feel stupid. I am doing it because I have seen people waste a lot of money on "prepping" for stuff that was never going to happen. The prepping scene is rife with scams and nonsense (that's in the US I mean, not here). And it concerns me because firstly I hate to see people wasting hard earned cash, but even more importantly because I believe that having extra cash on hand is one of the best defenses against the sort of emergencies that are most likely to occur. The sort where you need to pay for a hotel room quickly or replace damaged belongings without waiting fucking months don't get me started on the cheque from the insurance company. And every pound people spend on stuff they will never need is a pound they won't have when they might really need it.

I think echoing the Scouts with 'Be Prepared' is the best idea.

Traditional, still upper lip, a bit bracing and no hint of tinfoil hats.

stiff upper lip

(I think that was an autocorrect, but why dammit!)