What prevents me from really getting into lengthy discussions and hot topic debates, is the fact that I'm at work for twelve hours a day. I try to read everything, but some things I don't get to. If I post a reply, I'm short and to the point. I don't dilly-dally thoughts back in forth in a post.
The most I get to post is on the weekends, Saturdays and Sundays are perhaps the best time to catch me online. Unfortunately, there are very few people mixing it up on here over the weekends. Its relatively dead. So I logout and go out for a while, come back log back in... nothing.
I can't stand looking in the usenet forums, alt.politics etc. I'll scan the topics to see if anything worthy of "Rants and Raves" is out there. Never. Same old bullshit... price of gas, Bush, terrorism, and Islam. And if there is anything interesting, you have to wade through the muck to find decent replies on the topic.
I wouldn't say that I'm part of the problem, I'd like to be part of the solution.