Re: Why some people do not post - why some people leave the list

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

To Suzanne and her like-minded morally indignant followers:

In reading your post, I am reminded of George Orwell's "Animal Farm,"
where it comes to light that some believe that "all animals are created
equal, but some animals are more equal than others." You seem to be
applying a double standard to what you think should be considered
acceptable on this list.

On one hand you exhort, "The techwr-l list might once again be free and
open!" Yet of Andrew's posts, you write, "His posts began to stop the
voices of others. And when told, he would not back down."

When told by whom? You? Somebody else who didn't agree? What would
"backing down" consist of - changing his mind and agreeing with you? Or
simply delivering his message with more sugar coating? And whose voice did
he stop? Obviously not yours.

And as far as the list being "free and open" as you call it: Yeah it IS
free for YOU, unless you care to make an economic contribution. But it
ain't free for Eric. And apparently it ain't *open* to Andrew.

Unlike many Internet BB's, this is a privately-owned list. This is not a
communally-held list hosted by an educational organization, with its
stewardship passed on from one volunteer moderator to another. Eric OWNS
this list. It costs him money. And whether he is "buddy-buddy" with Andrew
or not, it's his choice as to what is acceptable. And he made it CLEAR
that he considered Andrew's input acceptable.

It's not our list: it's Eric's. And I said it to Steve Hudson (from whom I
learned tons of stuff), and I'll modify it for you:

It's Techwr-L, not Steve-L. And it ain't Suzanne-L either.

In your quest to silence the less-equal-than-you Mr. Plato, you write,
"when people won't post questions because they have become afraid of a
possible response from one personality, that is a problem that should be
addressed."

Interestingly, my recent (and admittedly far from scientific) poll on
lurking yielded not a single response claiming to fear the wrath of a
single member, even though that was one of the choices I suggested (the
option was labeled "Scared of a particular List member"). I received a
large number of replies offlist, none of which cited this reason.

Maybe Andrew wasn't that scary. Who knows? Maybe some of us can actually
withstand a public disagreement with a verbally well-armed foe.

Incidentally, for those who might think I'm an Andrew-loving yes-man, a
search through the archives will yield several instances where my
non-Andrew-like opinions were crucified, drawn, and quartered by The
Apparently Evil One. (There's one about "tender users" in which I fared
particularly poorly.) We did not always agree. But I consistently enjoyed
reading his opinions, and supported his right to voice them.

Finally, of this free-as-long-as-YOU-agree list, you say, "... complaints
to Eric from other listmembers have not changed anything. Therefore I have
no confidence left in the integrity of the techwr-l list."

Your concept of integrity in this case seems to be tied directly to
whether you agree with certain other members of this list, some of whom
apparently are more equal than others. Personally, I think the list itself
is fine, but I've had my faith in the integrity of some of its members
lowered considerably this week.

Suzanne, l have been educated by your posts in the past - I've even quoted
you in one of my sig lines. But I've also been offended by your posts. The
same can be said for Andrew, whose posts have both educated and offended
me. But Andrew has never suggested that I (or you) leave the list, despite
occasionally massive differences between our philosophies. Because despite
what you'd assert, it also wasn't Andrew-L, and he knew that.

You say you've lost faith in the list's integrity. So what are you going
to do about it? I would never ask you to leave the list, nor suggest that
you should.

But if you don't like the list, I'll be happy to show you to the virtual
door.


-Keith Cronin
________________________

I don?t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.
-Groucho Marx


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